Photo: Trish Steel · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 54: Chilmark is older than 95% of UK towns
57% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, against 44% across England’s towns. Chilmark is home to 482 residents in 220 households, by the 2021 Census. Households in detached houses: 53% of the total. At 18%, the share of households with dependent children is lower than in 97% of UK towns.
A lower share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 79% of UK towns, at 8.8%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
26% of residents are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. On average, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
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.
Fewer full-time students than 99% of UK towns: 2.6%
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%.
42% of Chilmark’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 18% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year: 10% of the total. Full-time students make up 7.9% across England’s towns.
Below 84% of UK towns: 25% of households are one person living alone
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Wiltshire’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
With shared households of unrelated adults at 3.2%, Chilmark is ahead of 81% of UK towns on that count. Across the comparison, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. On average, 2.2 people share a household.
Chilmark sits below 99% of UK towns for households in flats (1.4%)
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
Set against 24% across England’s towns, 7.7% of households live in a terraced house in Chilmark. One household in 13 has no car or van. The wider picture: 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
A larger share of residents born outside the UK than 74% of UK towns: 10%
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 (7.1%) or in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1.5%). 98% of residents have English as their main language, a higher share than in 58% of UK towns. For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%.
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: 92% of Chilmark · Wiltshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Where 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns, Chilmark has 35%. Elsewhere, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. The groups that follow White British are Other White (6.2%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Chinese (0.4%). Residents who describe themselves as White British are rarer here than in 52% of UK towns.
24% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, below 95% 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
6 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Lower than in 71% of UK towns: 8.6% of residents give unpaid care. Across the comparison, nearly two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
38% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 38% of adults in Chilmark, 34% across England’s towns; 12% have no qualification, against 18%.
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 1 are older than Chilmark
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chilmark | 482 | — | 54 | 26% | 18% |
| Tisbury | 2,274 | 2.5 mi | 52.9 | 31% | 20% |
| Wilton | 4,300 | 7.9 mi | 45.4 | 24% | 23% |
| Shaftesbury | 9,163 | 8.5 mi | 44.2 | 24% | 26% |
| Motcombe | 1,366 | 8.6 mi | 52.7 | 28% | 22% |
| Shrewton | 1,722 | 9.2 mi | 52.4 | 25% | 22% |
| Mere | 2,808 | 9.6 mi | 55.4 | 35% | 17% |
| Warminster | 18,018 | 9.8 mi | 46 | 24% | 24% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Wiltshire’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Wiltshire (or England), summed the same way as Chilmark’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 Chilmark’s residents
What is the population of Chilmark?
The 2021 Census counted 482 people in Chilmark’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Chilmark?
The median age was 54 at the 2021 Census. 8.8% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Chilmark?
92% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Wiltshire’s towns. 10% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Chilmark?
35% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 7.5% didn’t answer.
Is Chilmark good for families?
18% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Chilmark’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.