Photo: Malc McDonald · CC BY-SA 2.0West Moors is older than 98% of UK towns: a median age of 56.5
The figure for households with dependent children is 19% in West Moors and 29% across England’s towns. In West Moors, 50% of households live in a detached house. Just over one in ten households live in a terraced house, a lower share than in 85% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 10,432 people lived here, in 4,842 households.
What the Census says about West Moors’s people
Older than most towns
Half of West Moors’s residents are under 56.5 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 38% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put West Moors at 10,900 in 2011 and 10,500 in 2024, down 4%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 95% 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.
West Moors changed by −4% from 2011 to 2024, slower than 95% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. West Moors’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 10,900 people in 2011; 10,500 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+13%) and weakest among the 0 to 15 (−15%).
38% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 98% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 70–74, with one in ten residents, 2.1 times the share across England’s towns. To put it in context, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. On the census count, 7.8% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ West Moors, 56.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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 smaller share of full-time students than 98% of UK towns: 3.2%
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%.
Nearly a third of West Moors’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 26% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. For comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Across West Moors, 8.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
Smaller households than 87% of UK towns: 2.1 people on average
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.
3.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, against 4.3% across England’s towns. One-person households: 31% of the total.
West Moors sits below 65% of UK towns for households without a car or van (13%)
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
The share of households in flats tops 63% of UK towns: 13%. The benchmark for households without a car or van across England’s towns: 24%.
98% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 61% 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
Just over a tenth of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. Residents whose main language is English: 90% across England’s towns, for comparison. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%).
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 55% in West Moors, more than in 80% 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: 94% of West Moors · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Nothing unusual on residents with no religion: 37%, close to the figure across England’s towns. 94% of residents describe themselves as White British, a higher share than in 66% of UK towns. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 46% across England’s towns, for comparison. Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (3.2%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Bangladeshi (0.4%).
West Moors 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 make up just over one in ten residents, against 8.7% across England’s towns. Adults who have never married: 39% across England’s towns, for comparison. The share of married adults and civil partners stands at 54%.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 25%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 25% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 21% hold no qualification (18%).
10th highest median age among 455 UK towns of 7,000 to 14,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 27.8 in Stoke Gifford to 61 in Seaton. Nearest to West Moors in age: Bridport (56.2), Swanage (56.4), West Mersea (56.6) and Selsey (57.2).
Older than West Moors: 3 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Moors | 10,432 | — | 56.5 | 38% | 19% |
| Ferndown | 13,267 | 1.3 mi | 58.6 | 40% | 17% |
| West Parley | 3,665 | 2.1 mi | 57.7 | 38% | 18% |
| Ashley Heath | 7,151 | 2.3 mi | 60.6 | 42% | 16% |
| Three Legged Cross | 1,129 | 2.4 mi | 48.3 | 29% | 29% |
| Verwood | 13,706 | 3.9 mi | 49 | 28% | 26% |
| Wimborne Minster | 16,629 | 4 mi | 48.6 | 28% | 26% |
| Bearwood | 4,134 | 4.2 mi | 42.2 | 21% | 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 West Moors’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. West Moors’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 10,650 people in 2021, against 10,432 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 West Moors’s residents
What is the population of West Moors?
The 2021 Census counted 10,432 people in West Moors’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 10,500 people in mid-2024, 4% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in West Moors?
The median age was 56.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 98% of UK towns. 7.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 38% were 65 or over.
How diverse is West Moors?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 6.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in West Moors?
37% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 6.4% didn’t answer.
Is West Moors good for families?
19% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on West Moors’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.