Photo: John Norris · CC BY-SA 2.0More flats than 95% of UK towns: 29% of households in Poole
73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns, against 87% in Poole. Here, just over one in ten households live in a terraced house. The city has fewer households with dependent children than 63% of UK towns, at 26%. At the 2021 Census Poole was home to 141,009 people in 61,099 households.
From 2011 to 2024, 59% of UK towns grew faster than Poole: +5%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Poole’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the city.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 137,700 people in 2011; 145,200 in 2024.
The steepest year was mid-2022 to mid-2023, up 1,200 people. Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+19%) and 16 to 29 least (−8%).
23% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 56% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 50–54 than any other five-year age: 7.2% of residents. Half of Poole’s residents are over 44.6, older than in 51% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. In Ashley Heath, the oldest of Dorset’s towns by this measure, it is 42%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Poole, 44.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Poole sits above 64% of UK towns for full-time students (5.2%)
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%.
10% of residents lived at another address a year earlier (England’s towns: 11%). Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A larger share of shared households of unrelated adults than 93% of UK towns: 4.3%
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.
Households in Poole hold 2.3 people on average (England’s towns: 2.4). One-person households are more common here than in 57% of UK towns.
Households in detached houses make up 37% in Poole, more than in 71% 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
17% of households have no car or van (England’s towns: 24%). Across England’s towns, 21% of households live in a detached house.
12% born outside the UK, more than in 79% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Where 21% of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 16%. Across Poole, 94% of residents have English as their main language. Elsewhere, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Poole ranks above 66% of UK towns on residents with no religion: 43%
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: 87% of Poole · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (6.8%), Mixed or multiple (2%) and Indian (1%). The share of residents with no religion across England’s towns is 37%. Few places have so few residents who describe themselves as Christian: 47% here, fewer than in 66% of UK towns.
47% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 58% 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
3,521 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are common here: 33%, more than in 55% of UK towns. Typically, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. At 9.2%, unpaid carers sit close to the figure across England’s towns.
31% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 31% of adults in Poole, 34% across England’s towns; 17% have no qualification, against 18%.
From a median age of 37 in Bearwood to 61 in Branksome Park, Canford Cliffs & Sandbanks
The city’s 17 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Branksome Park, Canford Cliffs & Sandbanks is the oldest area, with 44% aged 65 or over; Bearwood the youngest (median age 37). Families with children are most common in Bearwood (42% of households).
Of 46 UK towns its size (99,000 to 190,000 people), the 3rd oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Salford is the youngest (29.8); Eastbourne the oldest (45.2). Nearest to Poole in age: Blackpool (44), Solihull (44.2), Worthing (44.8) and Eastbourne (45.2).
Poole and its 7 nearest towns: 5 of them are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poole | 141,009 | — | 44.6 | 23% | 26% |
| Bearwood | 4,134 | 2.6 mi | 42.2 | 21% | 27% |
| Upton | 8,401 | 2.9 mi | 44.8 | 23% | 28% |
| Merley | 5,489 | 3.4 mi | 48.7 | 30% | 25% |
| Corfe Mullen | 10,036 | 3.6 mi | 47.8 | 24% | 28% |
| Bournemouth | 196,453 | 4.4 mi | 39.1 | 18% | 25% |
| Wimborne Minster | 16,629 | 4.9 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 26% |
| West Parley | 3,665 | 5 mi | 57.7 | 38% | 18% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Poole’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. Poole’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 142,673 people in 2021, against 141,009 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 Poole’s residents
What is the population of Poole?
The 2021 Census counted 141,009 people in Poole’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 145,200 people in mid-2024, 5% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Poole?
The median age was 44.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 51% of UK towns. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Poole?
87% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 12% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Poole?
43% said they had no religion and 47% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1% were Muslim and 6.6% didn’t answer.
Is Poole good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Bearwood (42% of households). Schools are on Poole’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.