Photo: Malc McDonald · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Wool is under 37.6, younger than 90% of UK towns
The share of households with dependent children is 33%, against 29% across England’s towns. Census day 2021: 5,044 residents and 1,883 households in Wool. 25% of households are one person living alone. Households without a car or van are rarer here than in 77% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Wool’s people
Younger than most towns
Half of Wool’s residents are under 37.6 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 14% are 15 to 24 and 17% are 65 or over. 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.
Wool grew +9% from 2011 to 2024, faster than 58% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Wool’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; 6,000 in 2024.
Mid-2023 to mid-2024 brought the biggest yearly rise, 550 people. The 65 and over age group changed most (+23%) and the 16 to 29 least (−2%).
A young town: 14% of residents are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Compared with 18% across England’s towns, 17% of residents are 65 or over here. The wider picture: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wool, 37.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Wool is a garrison town: service personnel living in barracks count as residents.
In Wool, 5.4% of adults are full-time students, more than in 71% 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%.
Where 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, Wool has 12%. Full-time students make up 7.9% across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Larger households than 90% of UK towns: 2.5 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.
Compared with 4.3% across England’s towns, 2.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here.
Households in flats make up 7.2% in Wool, less than in 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
At 24%, households in terraced houses sit close to the figure across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment. Locally, 29% of households live in a detached house.
9.3% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 71% 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
Here 98% of residents have English as their main language, where the figure across England’s towns is 90%. The share of residents born outside the UK across England’s towns is 18%. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (4.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.1%).
43% of residents said they have no religion, more than in 65% 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 Wool · Dorset’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (2.4%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and African (1%). On residents who describe themselves as Christian, Wool sits lower than three fifths of UK towns: 48%. Residents with no religion make up 37% across England’s towns. Compared with 73% across England’s towns, 92% of residents describe themselves as White British here.
50% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 61% 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
For 134 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Typically, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Wool has fewer adults who have never married than 53% of UK towns, at 32%. On unpaid carers, 9.2% here is much the same as across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 26% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
15% of Wool’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 26% have one at degree level (34%).
516 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000 people: this is the 45th youngest
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 Bailrigg (18.9), the youngest, and Barton on Sea (65.3), the oldest. Nearest to Wool in age: Finningley (37.2), Stainforth (37.3), Abertridwr and Senghenydd (37.6) and Aberbargoed (37.8).
No nearby town is as young as Wool
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wool | 5,044 | — | 37.6 | 17% | 33% |
| Bere Regis | 1,320 | 4 mi | 50.5 | 28% | 22% |
| Crossways | 2,494 | 4.5 mi | 49 | 27% | 24% |
| Wareham | 5,876 | 4.7 mi | 52.6 | 32% | 21% |
| Sandford | 2,004 | 5.6 mi | 52 | 29% | 26% |
| Milborne St Andrew | 1,090 | 6.2 mi | 52.7 | 28% | 21% |
| Puddletown | 1,193 | 6.4 mi | 51.1 | 28% | 25% |
| Lytchett Matravers | 3,455 | 7.7 mi | 48.8 | 28% | 27% |
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 Wool’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. Wool’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,377 people in 2021, against 5,044 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 Wool’s residents
What is the population of Wool?
The 2021 Census counted 5,044 people in Wool’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 6,000 people in mid-2024, 9% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Wool?
The median age was 37.6 at the 2021 Census, younger than 90% of UK towns. 14% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wool?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Dorset’s towns. 9.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wool?
43% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Wool good for families?
33% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wool’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.