Photo: Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SA 4.0Fortuneswell sits above 97% of UK towns for households in flats (34%)
Set against 21% across England’s towns, nearly one in ten households live in a detached house in Fortuneswell. The town had 4,554 residents in 1,882 households at the 2021 Census. The census found that 35% of adults are married or in a civil partnership here. Lower than in 82% of UK towns: 24% of households have dependent children.
What the Census says about Fortuneswell’s people
More with no religion than most
53% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 37% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
A town of flats
34% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 97% of UK towns. 25% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
A +16% change since 2011: faster than 78% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Fortuneswell’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,000 people in 2011; 4,700 in 2024.
The steepest year was mid-2018 to mid-2019, up 490 people. Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+51%) and weakest among the 30 to 44 (−4%).
A median age of 45.9: Fortuneswell is older than 61% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 55–59: nearly one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. For Fortuneswell, the census puts residents aged 65 and over at 18%. At 9.9%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is higher than in 56% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Fortuneswell, 45.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
44% women, 56% men
About 79 women for every 100 men. Across England, 51% of residents are women. A large institution, such as a prison, barracks, boarding school, university or care home, can tilt a town’s split: the census counts the people living there as residents.
In Fortuneswell, 4.2% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 75% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Residents who moved in within the year are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 11%. As a yardstick, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
One-person households make up 38% in Fortuneswell, more than in 97% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Dorset’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
At 3.7%, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is in line with the figure across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, one-person households come to 30%. A household here holds 2.1 people on average.
Fortuneswell: 36% of households live in a terraced house, above 91% of UK towns
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Where 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns, Fortuneswell has 25%.
7% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 56% of UK towns
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 25%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Across England’s towns, nine in ten residents have English as their main language; in Fortuneswell, 98%. Typically, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.5%).
Fortuneswell ranks above 97% of UK towns on residents with no religion: 53%
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 93% of Fortuneswell · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian trails 96% of UK towns: 37%. The Muslim share of residents is 1%. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White British are common here: 93%, more than in 53% of UK towns.
Above 81% of UK towns: 38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
For 143 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. The benchmark for adults who have never married across England’s towns: 39%. Fortuneswell has more unpaid carers than 60% of UK towns, at 9.7%.
26% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 26% of adults in Fortuneswell, 34% across England’s towns; 17% have no qualification, against 18%.
Of 695 UK towns its size (3,000 to 6,000 people), the 308th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe the oldest (64.7). Nearest to Fortuneswell in age: Welton (45.9), Hungerford (45.9), St Agnes (45.9) and Undy and Magor (45.9).
Nearby, 5 of 7 towns have older populations than Fortuneswell
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fortuneswell | 4,554 | — | 45.9 | 18% | 24% |
| Grove | 1,032 | 1.2 mi | 33.9 | 12% | 30% |
| Weston | 5,208 | 1.3 mi | 46.6 | 24% | 25% |
| Southwell | 1,700 | 2.2 mi | 55 | 33% | 19% |
| Weymouth | 55,540 | 4 mi | 50.2 | 27% | 21% |
| Chickerell | 3,973 | 4.8 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 27% |
| Dorchester | 21,358 | 10.2 mi | 48.7 | 28% | 23% |
| Crossways | 2,494 | 10.6 mi | 49 | 27% | 24% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Dorset’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Dorset (or England), summed the same way as Fortuneswell’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Fortuneswell’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,554 people in 2021, against 4,554 in the built-up area.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Fortuneswell’s residents
What is the population of Fortuneswell?
The 2021 Census counted 4,554 people in Fortuneswell’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 4,700 people in mid-2024, 16% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Fortuneswell?
The median age was 45.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 61% of UK towns. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Fortuneswell?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Fortuneswell?
53% said they had no religion and 37% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1% were Muslim and 5.8% didn’t answer.
Is Fortuneswell good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Fortuneswell’s schools page.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.