Photo: Ian Capper · CC BY-SA 2.0Litton Cheney is older than 98% of UK towns: a median age of 57.8
By its share of adults who have never married (21%), Litton Cheney is below 99% of UK towns. The village is home to 357 residents in 170 households, by the 2021 Census. Census figures put households with dependent children at 19% locally. One-person households are rarer here than in 85% of UK towns.
Residents aged 65 and over: 39%, a higher share than 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With residents aged 15 to 24 at 5.6%, Litton Cheney is behind 99% of UK towns on that count. Across the comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 85 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.
Litton Cheney sits below 99% of UK towns for full-time students (2.3%)
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%.
By its share of residents who moved in within the year (12%), Litton Cheney is above 91% of UK towns. For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Households here average 2.1 people, below 88% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 4.1%, near enough the figure across England’s towns.
Litton Cheney ranks below 99% of UK towns on households without a car or van: 4.8%
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
2.4% of households live in a flat or apartment; across England’s towns the figure is 23%. On the census count, 47% of households live in a detached house. Compared with other places, households in terraced houses are scarce here: 17%, fewer than in nearly two thirds of UK towns. For comparison, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
A lower share of residents born outside the UK than 86% of UK towns, at 3.4%
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
The share of residents whose main language is English is 99%, against 90% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. Residents born abroad were most often born in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.4%), then in EU countries (0.8%).
95% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 76% 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: 95% of Litton Cheney · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion: 40%, below 57% of UK towns. Across Litton Cheney, 54% of residents describe themselves as Christian. Against that, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
62% of adults are married or in 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
Some 4 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Unpaid carers are rarer here than in 86% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 54% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 54% of Litton Cheney’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 7.7% have no qualification (18%).
Every nearby town is younger than Litton Cheney
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Litton Cheney | 357 | — | 57.8 | 39% | 19% |
| Bradpole | 1,257 | 5.1 mi | 50.3 | 29% | 23% |
| Maiden Newton | 1,128 | 5.3 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 25% |
| Bridport | 12,294 | 5.5 mi | 56.2 | 35% | 17% |
| Charminster | 1,732 | 7.8 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 26% |
| Beaminster | 2,995 | 8 mi | 57.7 | 39% | 17% |
| Charlton Down | 1,487 | 8.2 mi | 45.6 | 22% | 31% |
| Dorchester | 21,358 | 8.4 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 Litton Cheney’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 Litton Cheney’s residents
What is the population of Litton Cheney?
The 2021 Census counted 357 people in Litton Cheney’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Litton Cheney?
The median age was 57.8 at the 2021 Census. 5.6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 39% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Litton Cheney?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 3.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Litton Cheney?
40% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Litton Cheney good for families?
19% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Litton Cheney’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.