Photo: Charlesdrakew · Public domainA median age of 52.9: Lymington is older than 94% of UK towns
36% of households are one person living alone; across England’s towns the figure is 30%. At the same time, households with dependent children are rarer here than in 95% of UK towns. Lymington had 14,870 residents in 7,117 households at the 2021 Census. Adults who have never married: 27% of the total.
What the Census says about Lymington’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Lymington’s residents are under 52.9 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.
Lymington changed by +2% from 2011 to 2024, behind 77% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Lymington’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 15,400 people in 2011; 15,700 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+20%) and the 16 to 29 group least (−15%). The steepest year was mid-2020 to mid-2021, up 130 people.
Lymington sits above 94% of UK towns for residents aged 65 and over (32%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
70–74 is the most common age band: 8% of residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. For Lymington, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 8.2%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Lymington, 52.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
Full-time students: 3.8%, a lower share than 90% 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%.
38% of Lymington’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 22% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. To put it in context, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. For Lymington, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 10%.
2.1 people per household, fewer than in 95% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Hampshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
The census found that 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Lymington.
In Lymington, 21% of households live in a flat or apartment, more than in 86% 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
24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns, against 14% in Lymington. Locally, 34% of households live in a detached house. Across England’s towns, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment.
In Lymington, 11% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 76% 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
14% of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. Here, 96% of residents have English as their main language.
Lymington: 55% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 78% 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: 91% of Lymington · Hampshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
At 37%, residents with no religion sit close to the figure across England’s towns. For residents who describe themselves as Christian, the comparison across England’s towns is 46%. Just over nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British.
49% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 55% 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
Some 358 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Across England’s towns, married adults and civil partners come to 44%. Unpaid carers are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 9.6%.
36% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Lymington’s adults: 36% with a degree-level qualification and 15% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
From a median age of 47 in Lymington North & West to 60 in Milford & Lymington South
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Milford & Lymington South is the oldest area, with 43% aged 65 or over; Lymington North & West the youngest (median age 47). Families with children are most common in Lymington North & West (25% of households).
Of 384 UK towns its size (10,000 to 20,000 people), the 15th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Lymington in age: Ponteland (52.5), Haxby (52.7), Woodbridge (53.3) and Burnham-on-Sea (53.3).
A younger town than 4 of the 7 around it: Lymington
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lymington | 14,870 | — | 52.9 | 32% | 20% |
| Everton | 1,615 | 1.9 mi | 62.9 | 47% | 17% |
| Milford on Sea | 4,364 | 2.7 mi | 64.6 | 49% | 12% |
| Hordle | 1,158 | 2.7 mi | 50.9 | 29% | 25% |
| Sway | 2,437 | 3.3 mi | 55.9 | 36% | 22% |
| Ashley | 7,730 | 3.8 mi | 51.2 | 30% | 23% |
| Brockenhurst | 3,484 | 4.5 mi | 55.1 | 34% | 23% |
| New Milton | 11,872 | 4.8 mi | 52.1 | 32% | 20% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Hampshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Hampshire (or England), summed the same way as Lymington’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. Lymington’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 15,845 people in 2021, against 14,870 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 Lymington’s residents
What is the population of Lymington?
The 2021 Census counted 14,870 people in Lymington’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 15,700 people in mid-2024, 2% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Lymington?
The median age was 52.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 94% of UK towns. 8.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 32% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Lymington?
91% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Hampshire’s towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Lymington?
37% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6.8% didn’t answer.
Is Lymington good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Lymington North & West (25% of households). Schools are on Lymington’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.