Photo: John Baker · CC BY-SA 2.0Dover ranks above 94% of UK towns on households in flats: 29%
Households in detached houses: 11%, below 93% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Dover was home to 36,349 people in 15,764 households. Census figures put married adults and civil partners at 38% locally. With a median age of 40, Dover is younger than four fifths of UK towns.
Dover’s population moved +5% on 2011, less than in 64% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Dover’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 36,600 people in 2011; 38,300 in 2024.
Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+23%) and the 16 to 29 least (−8%). In one year, mid-2013 to mid-2014, the population rose by 450, the most of any year.
11% of residents are 15 to 24, more than in 83% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 25–29: 7% of residents. Fewer residents aged 65 and over than in 77% of UK towns: 18%. Elsewhere, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In St Mary's Bay, the oldest of Kent’s towns by this measure, it is 42%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Dover, 40. 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.
A higher share of full-time students than 64% of UK towns, at 5.1%
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in nearly a quarter of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 32% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Residents who moved in within the year: a tenth of the total. The share of full-time students across England’s towns is 7.9%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Dover: 34% of households are one person living alone, above 80% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Kent’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Here 28% of households have dependent children, where the figure across England’s towns is 29%. The comparison figure for one-person households is 30% across England’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults: 3.7% of the total.
A larger share of households without a car or van than 94% of UK towns: 29%
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
Nearly two in five households live in a terraced house (England’s towns: 24%). Every 3th household or so has no car or van.
A higher share of residents born outside the UK than 78% of UK towns, at 11%
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
The figure for residents whose main language is English is 93% in Dover and 90% across England’s towns. For comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (6.8%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.3%).
Residents with no religion: 45%, a higher share than 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: 87% of Dover · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
On residents who describe themselves as Christian, 46% here is much the same as across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. For Dover, the census puts residents who describe themselves as White British at 87%.
More adults who have never married than 91% of UK towns: 40%
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 9.8%, against 8.7% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns. 1,105 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 22% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 22% of Dover’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 21% have no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 36 in Buckland & St Radigunds to 52 in Kearsney, River & Whitfield
The town’s 5 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Kearsney, River & Whitfield is the oldest area, with 30% aged 65 or over; Buckland & St Radigunds the youngest (median age 36). Families with children are most common in Buckland & St Radigunds (34% of households).
Among 198 UK towns of 25,000 to 49,000 people, the 60th 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 Hatfield (30.3), the youngest, and Rustington (56.2), the oldest. Nearest to Dover in age: Newark-on-Trent (40), Braintree (40), Havant (40) and Walton-on-Thames (40.1).
Nearby, 6 of 7 towns have older populations than Dover
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dover | 36,349 | — | 40 | 18% | 28% |
| Guston | 1,684 | 1.3 mi | 25.5 | 6.9% | 49% |
| Whitfield | 6,509 | 1.8 mi | 44.7 | 24% | 28% |
| St Margaret's at Cliffe | 2,399 | 4 mi | 57 | 36% | 18% |
| Capel-le-Ferne | 1,962 | 4.1 mi | 59.8 | 40% | 14% |
| Sibertswold | 1,619 | 4.7 mi | 54.3 | 32% | 23% |
| Eythorne | 1,487 | 4.7 mi | 51.6 | 25% | 22% |
| Kingsdown | 1,687 | 5.7 mi | 60.8 | 41% | 17% |
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.
- “Kent’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Kent (or England), summed the same way as Dover’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. Dover’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 37,540 people in 2021, against 36,349 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 Dover’s residents
What is the population of Dover?
The 2021 Census counted 36,349 people in Dover’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 38,300 people in mid-2024, 5% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Dover?
The median age was 40 at the 2021 Census, younger than 80% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Dover?
87% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dover?
45% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1% were Muslim and 5.4% didn’t answer.
Is Dover good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Buckland & St Radigunds (34% of households). Schools are on Dover’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.