A median age of 53.1: Gaunt's Common is older than 94% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, the share of households in detached houses is 21%; Gaunt's Common has 84%. 336 residents in 130 households: that is Gaunt's Common at the 2021 Census. In Gaunt's Common, 17% of households are one person living alone. Households in terraced houses are rarer here than in 99% of UK towns.
Above 92% of UK towns: 31% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
50–54 is the most common age band: just over one in ten residents, 1.6 times the share across England’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 are rarer here than in nearly three fifths of UK towns. Against that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
5.4% of adults are full-time students, a share 71% of UK towns don’t reach
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: 8%, below nearly two thirds of UK towns. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Bigger households than 94% of UK towns: 2.6 people each on average
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.
Set against 4.3% across England’s towns, 1.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Gaunt's Common. Census figures put households with dependent children at 29% in the village.
Fewer flats than 99% of UK towns: 0.8% of households
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
Households without a car or van: 5.3% here and 24% across England’s towns. As a reference point, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
A higher share of residents whose main language is English than 99% of UK towns, at 100%
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents born abroad were most often born in the Middle East and Asia (1.5%), then in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.2%). Lower than in nearly four fifths of UK towns: 3.9% of residents were born outside the UK. The wider picture: 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns.
Gaunt's Common: 96% of residents describe themselves as White British, above 82% of UK towns
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: 96% of Gaunt's Common · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Compared with 37% across England’s towns, 40% of residents said they have no religion here. Meanwhile, on residents who describe themselves as Christian, Gaunt's Common sits higher than 75% of UK towns: 54%. Against that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. The groups that follow White British are Other White (2.1%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Indian (0.3%).
Gaunt's Common ranks above 99% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 70%
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
Where nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns, Gaunt's Common has 12%. Adults who have never married account for 18%. Married adults and civil partners: 44% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 46% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 46% of adults in Gaunt's Common, 34% across England’s towns; 12% have no qualification, against 18%.
A younger town than 3 of the 7 around it: Gaunt's Common
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaunt's Common | 336 | — | 53.1 | 31% | 29% |
| Wimborne Minster | 16,629 | 3.3 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 26% |
| Three Legged Cross | 1,129 | 3.4 mi | 48.3 | 29% | 29% |
| Verwood | 13,706 | 4.2 mi | 49 | 28% | 26% |
| West Moors | 10,432 | 4.2 mi | 56.5 | 38% | 19% |
| Ferndown | 13,267 | 4.5 mi | 58.6 | 40% | 17% |
| Merley | 5,489 | 4.7 mi | 48.7 | 30% | 25% |
| West Parley | 3,665 | 5.5 mi | 57.7 | 38% | 18% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Gaunt's Common’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Gaunt's Common’s residents
What is the population of Gaunt's Common?
The 2021 Census counted 336 people in Gaunt's Common’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Gaunt's Common?
The median age was 53.1 at the 2021 Census. 9.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Gaunt's Common?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 3.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Gaunt's Common?
40% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Gaunt's Common good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Gaunt's Common’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). 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.