Photo: Neil Owen · CC BY-SA 2.020% of households have dependent children, fewer than in 95% of UK towns
With one-person households at 41%, Sherborne is ahead of 99% of UK towns on that count. The 2021 Census put the town’s population at 10,359, in 4,713 households. Here, 33% of households live in a terraced house. 55% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 80% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Sherborne’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Sherborne’s residents are under 50.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 32% 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) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
A +15% change since 2011: Sherborne grew faster than 76% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Sherborne’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 9,500 people in 2011; 10,900 in 2024.
The steepest year was mid-2013 to mid-2014, up 230 people. The 65 and over age group moved most (+33%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−3%).
32% of residents are 65 or over, a share 94% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
15–19 is the most common age band: one in ten residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. With a median age of 50.2, Sherborne is older than 86% of UK towns. On average, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Sherborne, 50.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 87 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.
In Sherborne, 13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 94% of UK towns
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%.
On full-time students, 8.5% here is much the same as across England’s towns. The wider picture: 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Households here average 2 people, below 99% 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.
Set against 4.3% across England’s towns, 2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Sherborne.
Households in flats: 15%, a higher share than 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
23% of households live in a detached house (England’s towns: 21%). Across Sherborne, 19% of households have no car or van.
More residents born abroad than 70% of UK towns: 9% in Sherborne
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
The largest groups were born in EU countries (3.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.7%). At 98%, the share of residents whose main language is English is lower than in half of UK towns. Measured more widely, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. 19% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns.
In Sherborne, 35% of residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 83% 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 Sherborne · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Next after White British come Other White (4.1%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and Chinese (0.6%). Measured more widely, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White British are scarce here: 92%, fewer than in 51% of UK towns.
Sherborne sits below 83% of UK towns for unpaid carers (8%)
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
Sherborne sits close to the norm on married adults and civil partners: 44%, about the same as across England’s towns. Census figures put adults who have never married at 32% locally. The comparison figure for unpaid carers is 8.7% across England’s towns.
Among adults, 36% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
15% of Sherborne’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 36% have one at degree level (34%). Many of the 15% whose highest qualification is A levels are students working towards a degree.
Ranked by age, 57th oldest of 455 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Stoke Gifford (27.8), the youngest, and Seaton (61), the oldest. Nearest to Sherborne in age: Breaston and Draycott (50.1), North Walsham (50.2), Cockermouth (50.3) and Wroughton (50.3).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 1 are older than Sherborne
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherborne | 10,359 | — | 50.2 | 32% | 20% |
| Milborne Port | 3,207 | 2.8 mi | 47.8 | 26% | 24% |
| Barwick and Stoford | 1,095 | 4.7 mi | 47.9 | 28% | 24% |
| Yeovil | 50,170 | 5.1 mi | 40 | 19% | 28% |
| Templecombe | 1,657 | 5.7 mi | 46.9 | 25% | 24% |
| Henstridge | 1,579 | 5.8 mi | 48.9 | 27% | 24% |
| Stalbridge | 2,367 | 6.4 mi | 55.6 | 35% | 20% |
| Ilchester | 2,062 | 8 mi | 35.3 | 14% | 37% |
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 Sherborne’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. Sherborne’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 10,359 people in 2021, against 10,359 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 Sherborne’s residents
What is the population of Sherborne?
The 2021 Census counted 10,359 people in Sherborne’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 10,900 people in mid-2024, 15% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Sherborne?
The median age was 50.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 86% of UK towns. 13% of residents were 15 to 24 and 32% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sherborne?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sherborne?
35% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 8.1% didn’t answer.
Is Sherborne good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Sherborne’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.