Photo: Brendan and Ruth McCartney · CC BY-SA 2.0Southwell is older than 97% of UK towns: a median age of 55
Households with dependent children make up 19%, against 29% across England’s towns. Across Southwell, 98% of residents describe themselves as White British. Higher than in 91% of UK towns: 56% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. Its 792 households held 1,700 residents at the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Southwell’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Southwell’s residents are under 55 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 33% 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).
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 96% of UK towns: 33%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 60–64: one in ten residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. The share of residents aged 15 to 24 stands at 7.9%. As a yardstick, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
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.
In Southwell, 3.2% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 98% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 30% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 26% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). As a reference point, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. On the census count, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Southwell households average 2.1 people, smaller than in 87% 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.
Across England’s towns, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home; in Southwell, 2.7%. For Southwell, the census puts one-person households at 29%.
Households in terraced houses: 36%, a higher share than 91% 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
Compared with 24% across England’s towns, 11% of households have no car or van here. Census figures put households in flats at 3.9% in Southwell. The village has more households in detached houses than 72% of UK towns, at 38%.
In Southwell, 3.1% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 90% 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
Residents whose main language is English: 100%, above 99% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.5%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.6%).
Southwell ranks above 72% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 53%
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: 98% of Southwell · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Here, just over two in five residents said they have no religion. As a reference point, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
Southwell ranks below 97% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 23%
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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 65. More unpaid carers than in 87% of UK towns: 11%. Elsewhere, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
24% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 24% of its adults qualified to degree level, Southwell compares with 34% across England’s towns; another 16% hold no qualification (18%).
Every neighbour of Southwell has a younger population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwell | 1,700 | — | 55 | 33% | 19% |
| Weston | 5,208 | 0.9 mi | 46.6 | 24% | 25% |
| Grove | 1,032 | 1.8 mi | 33.9 | 12% | 30% |
| Fortuneswell | 4,554 | 2.2 mi | 45.9 | 18% | 24% |
| Weymouth | 55,540 | 6.1 mi | 50.2 | 27% | 21% |
| Chickerell | 3,973 | 6.8 mi | 45.3 | 23% | 27% |
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 Southwell’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 Southwell’s residents
What is the population of Southwell?
The 2021 Census counted 1,700 people in Southwell’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Southwell?
The median age was 55 at the 2021 Census. 7.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 33% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Southwell?
98% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 3.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Southwell?
41% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 4.3% didn’t answer.
Is Southwell good for families?
19% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Southwell’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.