Photo: Phil Champion · CC BY-SA 2.046% said they have no religion, more than in 80% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, the share of households in flats is 23%; Dursley has 17%. 9.4% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a lower share than in 62% of UK towns. The town had 7,935 residents in 3,455 households at the 2021 Census. In Dursley, just over a quarter of households live in a detached house.
+14% since 2011, a pace 74% of UK towns didn’t match
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Dursley’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 6,800 people in 2011; 7,700 in 2024.
The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2013 to mid-2014: 160 people. The 65 and over age group moved most (+33%); the 30 to 44 group moved least (−1%).
Younger than 66% of UK towns: half of Dursley is under 42.5
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 50–54: 7.5% of residents. Few places have so few residents aged 65 and over: 19% here, fewer than in just over two thirds of UK towns. In Minchinhampton, the oldest of Gloucestershire’s towns by this measure, it is 34%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Dursley, 42.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Dursley: 9.2% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, above 60% 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%.
Here 4.7% of adults are full-time students, where the figure across England’s towns is 7.9%. On average, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
A larger share of shared households of unrelated adults than 57% of UK towns: 2.5%
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Gloucestershire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Households with dependent children: 29%, near enough the figure across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns. Here, 30% of households are one person living alone.
Above 54% of UK towns: 21% of households live in a terraced house
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
On the census count, 15% of households have no car or van. The benchmark for households in terraced houses across England’s towns: 24%.
6.9% born outside the UK, more than in 55% 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 (4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). The wider picture: 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. 13% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns.
Dursley ranks below 55% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as White British: 91%
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: 91% of Dursley · Gloucestershire’s towns 87% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 46%, close to the figure across England’s towns. To put it in context, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (5.1%), Mixed or multiple (1.8%) and Indian (0.3%).
A larger share of adults who have never married than 58% of UK towns: 34%
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
Across England’s towns, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care; in Dursley, 9.7%. The usual figure: nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. For Dursley, the census puts married adults and civil partners at 47%.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 35% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 35% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 15% hold no qualification (18%).
Ranked by age, 121st youngest of 424 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tidworth is the youngest (28.4); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Dursley in age: Hethersett (42.5), Earl Shilton (42.5), Brandon (42.6) and Clayton-le-Moors (42.6).
Dursley is younger than 6 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dursley | 7,935 | — | 42.5 | 19% | 29% |
| Cam | 7,730 | 1.3 mi | 49.2 | 25% | 24% |
| Wotton-under-Edge | 4,966 | 3.3 mi | 47.6 | 26% | 25% |
| Kingswood | 1,409 | 4 mi | 43.6 | 18% | 36% |
| Charfield | 2,833 | 4.5 mi | 42.3 | 17% | 34% |
| Leonard Stanley and King's Stanley | 3,584 | 4.5 mi | 46.6 | 25% | 26% |
| Berkeley | 2,250 | 4.5 mi | 46 | 24% | 24% |
| Eastington | 1,218 | 4.6 mi | 44.7 | 21% | 27% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Gloucestershire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Gloucestershire (or England), summed the same way as Dursley’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. Dursley’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 7,463 people in 2021, against 7,935 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 Dursley’s residents
What is the population of Dursley?
The 2021 Census counted 7,935 people in Dursley’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 7,700 people in mid-2024, 14% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Dursley?
The median age was 42.5 at the 2021 Census, younger than 66% of UK towns. 9.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Dursley?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 87% across Gloucestershire’s towns. 6.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dursley?
46% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 6.8% didn’t answer.
Is Dursley good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Dursley’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.