Photo: Nick Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Dunkirk is older than 91% of UK towns: a median age of 51.8
Households in flats are rarer here than in 99% of UK towns. The 2021 Census counted 298 residents in 122 households. For Dunkirk, the census puts households without a car or van at 6.5%. In Dunkirk, 20% of households have dependent children, beside 29% across England’s towns.
Dunkirk ranks above 92% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 31%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 50–54: nearly one in ten residents, 1.3 times the share across England’s towns. For Dunkirk, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 12%. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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 lower share of full-time students than 63% of UK towns, at 4.5%
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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Dunkirk, 32% and 24%. 9.5% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, more than in 65% of UK towns. For full-time students, the comparison across England’s towns is 7.9%.
Dunkirk ranks above 98% of UK towns on shared households of unrelated adults: 8.2%
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.
A household here has 2.4 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. Just over a quarter of households are one person living alone, fewer than in 79% of UK towns. For comparison, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.
A lower share of households in terraced houses than 83% of UK towns, at 12%
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
Here just over a third of households live in a detached house, where the figure across England’s towns is 21%. Across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses is 24%.
Dunkirk ranks below 70% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 96%
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Nearly one in ten residents were born outside the UK, against 18% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (5.1%) and in Africa (2.7%).
More residents who describe themselves as Christian than 88% of UK towns: 57%
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: 93% of Dunkirk · Kent’s towns 82% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns, against 93% in Dunkirk. By way of comparison, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. The census found that 41% of residents said they have no religion here.
Dunkirk sits below 85% of UK towns for adults who have never married (27%)
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
Compared with 44% across England’s towns, 52% of adults are married or in a civil partnership here. One in ten residents give unpaid care, a higher share than in 67% of UK towns. Set beside that, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 27%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 27% of adults in Dunkirk, 34% across England’s towns; 21% have no qualification, against 18%.
Dunkirk is younger than 1 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunkirk | 298 | — | 51.8 | 31% | 20% |
| Boughton under Blean | 2,274 | 1 mi | 46.1 | 23% | 28% |
| Blean | 1,327 | 2.8 mi | 52.3 | 32% | 22% |
| Rough Common | 1,291 | 2.9 mi | 42.5 | 24% | 27% |
| Chartham | 3,569 | 3.5 mi | 37.6 | 13% | 37% |
| Faversham | 20,941 | 4.3 mi | 43.8 | 22% | 28% |
| Canterbury | 55,107 | 4.3 mi | 27.5 | 13% | 24% |
| Whitstable | 32,185 | 4.7 mi | 51.3 | 29% | 23% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Dunkirk’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Dunkirk’s residents
What is the population of Dunkirk?
The 2021 Census counted 298 people in Dunkirk’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Dunkirk?
The median age was 51.8 at the 2021 Census. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Dunkirk?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 82% across Kent’s towns. 8.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dunkirk?
41% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 1.7% didn’t answer.
Is Dunkirk good for families?
20% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Dunkirk’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). 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.