Photo: Mike Faherty · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 33.9: Grove is younger than 97% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, just over a fifth of households live in a detached house; in Grove, 6.9%. In 2021, the Census found 1,032 residents in the village, living in 259 households. Here, 26% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. Compared with other places, households in terraced houses are common here: 42%, more than in 95% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Grove’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Grove’s residents are under 33.9 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 22% are 15 to 24 and 12% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A village people move to
27% of residents gave a different address a year before the 2021 Census, 2.6 times the share across England’s towns. Students & newcomers ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Grove ranks above 99% of UK towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 22%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 20–24: 15% of residents, 2.5 times the share across England’s towns. Just over one in ten residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 95% of UK towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
28% women, 72% men
About 40 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.
Grove sits below 99% of UK towns for full-time students (2.4%)
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%.
In Grove, 17% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 32% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents who moved in within the year are common here: 27%, more than in 99% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Grove sits below 87% of UK towns for one-person households (25%)
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 2.3 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. Add to that, more households with dependent children than in 75% of UK towns: 30%. Locally, 3.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Households without a car or van make up 13% in Grove, less than in 61% 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
With households in flats at 9.6%, Grove is behind 56% of UK towns on that count. Typically, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
Grove sits above 68% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (8.6%)
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 Africa (3%), then in EU countries (2.3%). 97% of residents have English as their main language, fewer than in 63% of UK towns. For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%.
Only 41% of residents describe themselves as Christian in Grove
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: 81% of Grove · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 81%, against 73% across England’s towns. On average, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Locally, just over two in five residents said they have no religion.
59% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 99% of UK towns
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
The share of unpaid carers stands at 9.2%. Set beside that, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
20% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
20% of Grove’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 17% have none (18%).
Every neighbour of Grove has an older population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grove | 1,032 | — | 33.9 | 12% | 30% |
| Weston | 5,208 | 1 mi | 46.6 | 24% | 25% |
| Fortuneswell | 4,554 | 1.2 mi | 45.9 | 18% | 24% |
| Southwell | 1,700 | 1.8 mi | 55 | 33% | 19% |
| Weymouth | 55,540 | 5.1 mi | 50.2 | 27% | 21% |
| Chickerell | 3,973 | 6 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 27% |
| Crossways | 2,494 | 10.9 mi | 49 | 27% | 24% |
| Dorchester | 21,358 | 11.1 mi | 48.7 | 28% | 23% |
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 Grove’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 Grove’s residents
What is the population of Grove?
The 2021 Census counted 1,032 people in Grove’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Grove?
The median age was 33.9 at the 2021 Census. 22% of residents were 15 to 24 and 12% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Grove?
81% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 8.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Grove?
42% said they had no religion and 41% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 6.4% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Grove good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Grove’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.