Photo: Derek Harper · CC BY-SA 2.0Wareham is older than 93% of UK towns: a median age of 52.6
Households with dependent children make up 21%, against 29% across England’s towns. At 34%, the share of one-person households is higher than in 82% of UK towns. 5,876 residents in 2,753 households: that is Wareham at the 2021 Census. The share of households in terraced houses stands at 27%.
What the Census says about Wareham’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Wareham’s residents are under 52.6 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 growing town: +8% since 2011, faster than 53% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Wareham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,500 people in 2011; 5,900 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2016 to mid-2017: 180. The 65 and over age group moved most (+29%); the 45 to 64 group moved least (−5%).
More residents aged 65 and over than 93% of UK towns: 32%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 trails 93% of UK towns: 8%. Against that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wareham, 52.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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 Wareham, 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%.
In Wareham, 32% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. 9.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, a higher share than in 59% of UK towns. Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Wareham households average 2.1 people, smaller than in 88% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults are about as common here as across England’s towns: 3.8%.
A higher share of households in flats than 71% of UK towns, at 15%
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, 18% of households have no car or van here. The share of households in flats across England’s towns is 23%. The census found that 29% of households live in a detached house in Wareham.
Residents whose main language is English make up 99% in Wareham, more than in 81% 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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.8%) and in Africa (1.1%). Compared with other places, residents born outside the UK are scarce here: 5.5%, fewer than in 58% of UK towns. For comparison, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Where 21% of those born abroad across England’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 14%.
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 73% of UK towns: 95%
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: 95% of Wareham · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
With residents with no religion at 40%, Wareham is behind nearly three fifths of UK towns on that count. The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian stands at 53%.
In Wareham, 29% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, fewer than in 74% 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
The share of unpaid carers is 10%, against 8.7% across England’s towns. 172 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. For comparison, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 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 Wareham’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 18% have no qualification (18%).
624 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people: this is the 59th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Wareham in age: Long Sutton (52.6), Winchcombe (52.6), Gresford (52.6) and Keswick (52.8).
The towns around Wareham 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wareham | 5,876 | — | 52.6 | 32% | 21% |
| Sandford | 2,004 | 1.2 mi | 52 | 29% | 26% |
| Wool | 5,044 | 4.7 mi | 37.6 | 17% | 33% |
| Lytchett Matravers | 3,455 | 4.8 mi | 48.8 | 28% | 27% |
| Upton | 8,401 | 4.9 mi | 44.8 | 23% | 28% |
| Bere Regis | 1,320 | 6.1 mi | 50.5 | 28% | 22% |
| Corfe Mullen | 10,036 | 6.8 mi | 47.8 | 24% | 28% |
| Poole | 141,009 | 7.4 mi | 44.6 | 23% | 26% |
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 Wareham’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. Wareham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,876 people in 2021, against 5,876 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 Wareham’s residents
What is the population of Wareham?
The 2021 Census counted 5,876 people in Wareham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,900 people in mid-2024, 8% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Wareham?
The median age was 52.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 93% of UK towns. 8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 32% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wareham?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 5.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wareham?
40% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Wareham good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wareham’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.