Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0More households in terraced houses than 82% of UK towns: 30%
Households average 2.2 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Across Shaftesbury, 34% of households are one person living alone. 17% of households live in a flat or apartment, a higher share than in 76% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Shaftesbury was home to 9,163 people in 4,128 households.
What the Census says about Shaftesbury’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Shaftesbury at 7,300 in 2011 and 9,400 in 2024, up 28%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 93% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
A growing town: +28% since 2011, faster than 93% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Shaftesbury’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 7,300 people in 2011; 9,400 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+42%) and the 16 to 29 group least (+19%). Mid-2011 to mid-2012 brought the biggest yearly rise, 420 people.
Above 63% of UK towns: 24% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 30–34, with 6.6% of residents. More residents aged 15 to 24 than in 66% of UK towns: 10%. By way of 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+
■ Shaftesbury, 44.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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 larger share of residents who moved in within the year than 90% of UK towns: 12%
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in nearly a third of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 27% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Across the comparison, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns. For Shaftesbury, the census puts full-time students at 5%.
In Shaftesbury, 26% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 58% 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.
Locally, 2.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. The wider picture: 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
Fewer households in detached houses than 56% of UK towns: 27%
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
15% of households have no car or van, against 24% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, households in detached houses come to 21%.
8.5% born outside the UK, more than in 67% 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
With residents whose main language is English at 96%, Shaftesbury is behind 68% of UK towns on that count. The largest groups were born in EU countries (4.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.7%). Typically, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 92% in Shaftesbury, less than in 54% 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: 92% of Shaftesbury · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (4.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.4%) and Chinese (0.5%). Residents who describe themselves as White British: 73% across England’s towns, for comparison. Half of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 46% across England’s towns.
Shaftesbury ranks above 59% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 34%
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
For 210 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. On married adults and civil partners, Shaftesbury sits lower than 73% of UK towns: 44%. To put it in context, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 8.4%, from the figure across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 28% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 28% of adults in Shaftesbury (England’s towns: 34%), and no qualification by 16% (England’s towns: 18%).
217th youngest of 482 UK towns of 6,000 to 12,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tidworth is the youngest (28.4); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Shaftesbury in age: Worsbrough (44.2), Hagley (44.2), St Blazey (44.2) and Treorchy (44.2).
The towns around Shaftesbury are all 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaftesbury | 9,163 | — | 44.2 | 24% | 26% |
| Motcombe | 1,366 | 2.1 mi | 52.7 | 28% | 22% |
| Gillingham | 11,009 | 4.6 mi | 48.5 | 27% | 24% |
| Tisbury | 2,274 | 6 mi | 52.9 | 31% | 20% |
| Marnhull | 1,466 | 6.1 mi | 59.5 | 40% | 16% |
| Mere | 2,808 | 6.7 mi | 55.4 | 35% | 17% |
| Child Okeford | 1,159 | 6.8 mi | 60.3 | 42% | 17% |
| Sturminster Newton | 3,565 | 7.2 mi | 48.2 | 28% | 24% |
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 Shaftesbury’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. Shaftesbury’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 9,163 people in 2021, against 9,163 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 Shaftesbury’s residents
What is the population of Shaftesbury?
The 2021 Census counted 9,163 people in Shaftesbury’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 9,400 people in mid-2024, 28% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Shaftesbury?
The median age was 44.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 52% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Shaftesbury?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 8.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Shaftesbury?
41% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 7.4% didn’t answer.
Is Shaftesbury good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Shaftesbury’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. 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.