Photo: Chris Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Dunster is over 58.9, older than 99% of UK towns
Asked about religion, 30% answered none, against 37% across England’s towns. There were 192 households in Dunster at the 2021 Census, home to 389 residents. Adults who have never married: 22% of the total. Compared with other places, one-person households are common here: 34%, more than in 81% of UK towns.
In Dunster, 4.4% of residents are aged 15 to 24, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 60–64 than any other five-year age: 13% of residents, 2.2 times the share across England’s towns. To put it in context, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. Here, 35% of residents are 65 or over.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 85 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.
In Dunster, 2.8% of adults are full-time students, fewer than in 99% 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%.
37% of Dunster’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 15% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year are more common here than in 75% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Households with dependent children: 14%, a lower share than 99% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Somerset’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults are about as common here as across England’s towns, at 3.7%. Households with dependent children: 29% across England’s towns, for comparison. Each household has 2 people on average.
27% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 75% 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
By its share of households without a car or van (13%), Dunster is below 64% of UK towns. Locally, 12% of households live in a flat or apartment. Against that, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Dunster: 8.5% of residents born outside the UK
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (3.9%) or in the Middle East and Asia (2.6%). Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. More residents whose main language is English than in 69% of UK towns: 98%.
Dunster sits above 97% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (62%)
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 Dunster · Somerset’s towns 89% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (4.1%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Chinese (0.3%). Measured more widely, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British; in Dunster, 93%.
13% of residents give unpaid care, a share 99% of UK towns don’t reach
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
Married adults and civil partners: 55%, above 89% of UK towns. Against that, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 16.
A degree-level qualification for 37% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Dunster, 37%, and 15% have none, against 18%.
Around Dunster, 1 of 5 towns have a higher median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dunster | 389 | — | 58.9 | 35% | 14% |
| Minehead | 11,752 | 1.8 mi | 54.3 | 34% | 18% |
| Watchet | 3,643 | 5.2 mi | 51.8 | 31% | 19% |
| Williton | 2,433 | 5.7 mi | 52.1 | 32% | 20% |
| Porlock | 1,178 | 6.6 mi | 64 | 48% | 10% |
| Wiveliscombe | 2,316 | 11.4 mi | 51 | 29% | 23% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Somerset’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Somerset (or England), summed the same way as Dunster’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 Dunster’s residents
What is the population of Dunster?
The 2021 Census counted 389 people in Dunster’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Dunster?
The median age was 58.9 at the 2021 Census. 4.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 35% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Dunster?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 89% across Somerset’s towns. 8.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dunster?
30% said they had no religion and 62% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 6.9% didn’t answer.
Is Dunster good for families?
14% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Dunster’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.