Photo: mwanasimba from La Réunion · CC BY-SA 2.0Osmington is older than 99% of UK towns: a median age of 61
Households in detached houses are more common here than in 97% of UK towns. Census day 2021: 208 residents and 96 households in Osmington. The share of households without a car or van stands at 5.2%. Across England’s towns, 29% of households have dependent children; in the village, 15%.
Osmington: 42% of residents are 65 or over, above 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
70–74 is the most common age band: 13% of residents, 2.8 times the share across England’s towns. Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 4.3% in Osmington. The wider picture: 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
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.
A lower share of full-time students than 97% of UK towns, at 3.3%
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%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 13%, above 94% of UK towns. The share of full-time students across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Only 27% of households in Osmington are one person living alone
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.
The figure for shared households of unrelated adults is 3.1% in Osmington and 4.3% across England’s towns. For one-person households, the comparison across England’s towns is 30%. A household here holds 2.2 people on average.
A smaller share of households in flats than 99% of UK towns: 1%
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
Here 18% of households live in a terraced house, where the figure across England’s towns is 24%. As a yardstick, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Residents whose main language is English: 100%, a higher share than 99% of UK towns
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
7.7% of residents were born outside the UK; across England’s towns the figure is 18%. Elsewhere, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.9%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.9%).
More residents who describe themselves as Christian than 89% of UK towns: 57%
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: 94% of Osmington · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Where 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns, Osmington has 36%. Still, the village has more residents who describe themselves as White British than 67% of UK towns, at 94%. As a reference point, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
A lower share of adults who have never married than 99% of UK towns, at 15%
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
Married people and civil partners make up 62% of adults, against 44% across England’s towns. On unpaid carers, Osmington sits higher than 54% of UK towns: 9.5%. The wider picture: 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 4.
Among adults, 40% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 40% of adults in Osmington (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 12% (England’s towns: 18%).
The towns around Osmington are all younger
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Osmington | 208 | — | 61 | 42% | 15% |
| Weymouth | 55,540 | 3.9 mi | 50.2 | 27% | 21% |
| Crossways | 2,494 | 4.4 mi | 49 | 27% | 24% |
| Dorchester | 21,358 | 4.9 mi | 48.7 | 28% | 23% |
| Chickerell | 3,973 | 5.2 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 27% |
| Fortuneswell | 4,554 | 6.3 mi | 45.9 | 18% | 24% |
| Charminster | 1,732 | 6.7 mi | 49.7 | 28% | 26% |
| Grove | 1,032 | 6.8 mi | 33.9 | 12% | 30% |
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 Osmington’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 Osmington’s residents
What is the population of Osmington?
The 2021 Census counted 208 people in Osmington’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Osmington?
The median age was 61 at the 2021 Census. 4.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 42% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Osmington?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 7.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Osmington?
36% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4.4% didn’t answer.
Is Osmington good for families?
15% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Osmington’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.