Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Warminster ranks below 77% of UK towns on households with dependent children: 24%
Residents aged 65 and over are more common here than in 68% of UK towns. Warminster had 18,018 residents in 7,970 households at the 2021 Census. 13% of households live in a flat or apartment. The typical household size is 2.2 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns.
Slower growth than 59% of UK towns: Warminster changed by +6% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Warminster’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 17,700 people in 2011; 18,700 in 2024.
In one year, mid-2019 to mid-2020, the population rose by 250, the most of any year. Change by age ran from +32% for the 65 and over to −10% for the 16 to 29.
Warminster is older than 61% of UK towns: a median age of 46
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Compared with 12% across England’s towns, 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24 here. 55–59 is the most common age band: 7% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Warminster, 46. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Below 88% of UK towns: 3.9% of adults are full-time students
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 account for 32% of Warminster’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 29%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Here, 13% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
One-person households make up 32% in Warminster, more than in 67% of UK towns
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.
4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns, against 2.8% in Warminster. Across England’s towns, one-person households come to 30%.
A larger share of households without a car or van than 61% of UK towns: 18%
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
With households in terraced houses at 23%, Warminster is ahead of 62% of UK towns on that count. Against that, 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns. Households in detached houses: 29% of the total.
A larger share of residents born outside the UK than 76% of UK towns: 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 largest groups were born in EU countries (5.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.7%). Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are scarce here: 96%, fewer than in 73% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents were born outside the UK. Nearly a fifth of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 21% across England’s towns.
90% of residents describe themselves as White British, fewer than in 61% 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: 90% of Warminster · Wiltshire’s towns 84% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
By its share of residents with no religion (40%), Warminster is below 57% of UK towns. Residents who describe themselves as Christian account for 51%. Across England’s towns, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British.
Fewer adults who have never married than 61% of UK towns: 31%
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 475 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. On unpaid carers, Warminster sits lower than 59% of UK towns: 9%. The comparison figure for adults who have never married is 39% across England’s towns. Married adults and civil partners make up 48%, against 44% across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 27% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 27% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 18% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 40 in Warminster East to 51 in Warminster Central
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.
Warminster Central is the oldest area, with 29% aged 65 or over; Warminster East the youngest (median age 40). Families with children are most common in Warminster East (30% of households).
90th highest median age among 308 UK towns of 13,000 to 24,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Warminster in age: Harwich (46), Stratton St Margaret (46), Darton (46.1) and Nantwich (46.1).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 5 are older than Warminster
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warminster | 18,018 | — | 46 | 24% | 24% |
| Dilton Marsh | 1,958 | 3.3 mi | 50.4 | 26% | 23% |
| Westbury | 16,394 | 4 mi | 40.9 | 19% | 29% |
| Bratton | 1,172 | 5.3 mi | 52.6 | 29% | 23% |
| Frome | 27,904 | 6.1 mi | 42.6 | 20% | 29% |
| Beckington | 1,001 | 6.2 mi | 50.2 | 28% | 27% |
| North Bradley | 1,555 | 6.4 mi | 51.5 | 31% | 24% |
| Southwick | 1,856 | 6.8 mi | 46.9 | 26% | 28% |
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 Warminster’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. Warminster’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 18,175 people in 2021, against 18,018 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 Warminster’s residents
What is the population of Warminster?
The 2021 Census counted 18,018 people in Warminster’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 18,700 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Warminster?
The median age was 46 at the 2021 Census, older than 61% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Warminster?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 84% across Wiltshire’s towns. 11% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Warminster?
40% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6.4% didn’t answer.
Is Warminster good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Warminster East (30% of households). Schools are on Warminster’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.