Photo: Neil Owen · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Marnhull is over 59.5, older than 99% of UK towns
16% of households have dependent children; across England’s towns the figure is 29%. Compared with other places, households in detached houses are common here: 56%, more than in 94% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 1,466 people lived in Marnhull, in 692 households. The census found that 7.3% of households have no car or van locally.
What the Census says about Marnhull’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Marnhull’s residents are under 59.5 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 40% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
In Marnhull, 40% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 70–74: 11% of residents, 2.2 times the share across England’s towns. 6.4% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 99% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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.
Marnhull ranks below 98% of UK towns on full-time students: 3.2%
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%.
Across England’s towns, a third of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Marnhull, 38% and 19%. Measured more widely, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Census figures put residents who moved in within the year at 10% here.
Marnhull households average 2.1 people, smaller than in 93% 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.
With shared households of unrelated adults at 3%, Marnhull is ahead of 77% of UK towns on that count. Locally, 29% of households are one person living alone.
Only 6.9% of households live in a terraced house in Marnhull
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 in flats make up 3.1%, against 23% across England’s towns. The wider picture: nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents whose main language is English than 90% of UK towns: 99%
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (2%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%). Marnhull has fewer residents born outside the UK than 68% of UK towns, at 4.6%.
97% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 93% of UK towns don’t reach
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: 97% of Marnhull · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (2.1%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Pakistani (0.1%). 59% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a higher share than in 93% of UK towns. By way of comparison, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Residents with no religion: 33%, below 87% of UK towns.
22% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, below 98% 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 40 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Compared with other places, married adults and civil partners are common here: 57%, more than in 94% of UK towns. For adults who have never married, the comparison across England’s towns is 39%. At 8.2%, unpaid carers sit close to the figure across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 35% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 35% of adults in Marnhull, 34% across England’s towns; 19% have no qualification, against 18%.
A younger town than 1 of the 7 around it: Marnhull
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marnhull | 1,466 | — | 59.5 | 40% | 16% |
| Stalbridge | 2,367 | 2.8 mi | 55.6 | 35% | 20% |
| Sturminster Newton | 3,565 | 2.9 mi | 48.2 | 28% | 24% |
| Henstridge | 1,579 | 3.5 mi | 48.9 | 27% | 24% |
| Templecombe | 1,657 | 4.8 mi | 46.9 | 25% | 24% |
| Gillingham | 11,009 | 5 mi | 48.5 | 27% | 24% |
| Child Okeford | 1,159 | 5.1 mi | 60.3 | 42% | 17% |
| Motcombe | 1,366 | 5.9 mi | 52.7 | 28% | 22% |
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 Marnhull’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 Marnhull’s residents
What is the population of Marnhull?
The 2021 Census counted 1,466 people in Marnhull’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Marnhull?
The median age was 59.5 at the 2021 Census. 6.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 40% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Marnhull?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 4.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Marnhull?
33% said they had no religion and 59% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Marnhull good for families?
16% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Marnhull’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.