Photo: Jonathan Hutchins · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 48.5: Gillingham is older than 77% of UK towns
28% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, against 39% across England’s towns. Few places have as many residents who describe themselves as Christian: 54% here, more than in 74% of UK towns. Gillingham counted 11,009 residents and 4,965 households at the 2021 Census. Census figures put households with dependent children at 24% locally.
Since 2011, Gillingham has changed by +1%, slower than 80% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Gillingham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 11,600 people in 2011; 11,700 in 2024.
Between mid-2022 and mid-2023 the population rose by 230, its biggest one-year gain. The 65 and over age group changed most (+28%) and the 30 to 44 least (−16%).
Above 80% of UK towns: 27% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 55–59: 7.5% of residents. Few places have as many residents aged 15 to 24: 9.8% here, more than in 50% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents are 65 or over. In Ashley Heath, the oldest of Dorset’s towns by this measure, it is 42%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Gillingham, 48.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Fewer full-time students than 78% of UK towns: 4.2%
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 29% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 29% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Locally, 8.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. Across England’s towns, the share of full-time students is 7.9%.
Gillingham households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 77% 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.
30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns, against 32% in Gillingham. For Gillingham, the census puts shared households of unrelated adults at 2.3%.
35% of households live in a detached house, more than in 67% 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
Households without a car or van make up 13%, against 24% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house across England’s towns. Across Gillingham, 12% of households live in a flat or apartment.
Only 96% of residents have English as their main language in Gillingham
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
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (4.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%). Higher than in 61% of UK towns: 7.6% of residents were born outside the UK. To put it in context, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 13% of those born abroad (England’s towns: 21%).
Only 38% of residents said they have no religion in Gillingham
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 Gillingham · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 93%, against 73% across England’s towns. The usual figure: 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (4.6%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and African (0.3%).
Above 56% of UK towns: 49% of adults are married or in 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
Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 8.8%, close to the figure across England’s towns. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 288. As a reference point, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
25% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 25% of Gillingham’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 18% have no qualification (18%).
Ranked by age, 77th oldest of 397 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Gillingham in age: Chipping Sodbury (48.3), Polegate (48.4), Beccles (48.6) and Stakeford (48.7).
4 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Gillingham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gillingham | 11,009 | — | 48.5 | 27% | 24% |
| Motcombe | 1,366 | 2.8 mi | 52.7 | 28% | 22% |
| Mere | 2,808 | 3.6 mi | 55.4 | 35% | 17% |
| Shaftesbury | 9,163 | 4.6 mi | 44.2 | 24% | 26% |
| Marnhull | 1,466 | 5 mi | 59.5 | 40% | 16% |
| Wincanton | 6,744 | 5.9 mi | 41.9 | 22% | 28% |
| Templecombe | 1,657 | 6.6 mi | 46.9 | 25% | 24% |
| Henstridge | 1,579 | 6.8 mi | 48.9 | 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 Gillingham’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. Gillingham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 11,286 people in 2021, against 11,009 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 Gillingham’s residents
What is the population of Gillingham?
The 2021 Census counted 11,009 people in Gillingham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 11,700 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Gillingham?
The median age was 48.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 77% of UK towns. 9.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Gillingham?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 7.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Gillingham?
38% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 6.4% didn’t answer.
Is Gillingham good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Gillingham’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.