Curious About Swanage?
If you've ever wondered exactly how many people live in Swanage, how the town's population has shifted over the past couple of decades, or what the average house here actually sells for, Virtual Swanage has just made that a lot easier to find out. A new Facts and Figures page has gone live, pulling together data from the last three UK censuses, 1991, 2001, 2011 and 2021, along with figures from the ONS and HM Land Registry, all in one place.
What's on the page
The headline numbers come from the 2021 Census, and they paint a pretty clear picture of who calls Swanage home. The town's population sits at 9,426, down from 9,601 in 2011, a modest but notable decline over the decade. Split roughly 48% male and 52% female, the age profile stands out most: 35.6% of residents are 65 or older, compared with 30.5% across Dorset Council and just 18.9% for England and Wales as a whole. It's a strong reminder of just how much older Swanage's population skews compared with the national picture.
There's plenty more beyond age and headcount. The page covers ethnicity and religion (97% White British, with 54.3% identifying as Christian and 36.8% as having no religion), self-reported health, and household data, 4,512 households in total, just over half owner-occupied, with the average house price coming in at £423,000. There are also details on car ownership, employment and retirement figures, and even some local temperature records thrown in for good measure.
Why it's worth a look
Pages like this don't often make for exciting headlines, but they're genuinely useful, whether you're a resident curious about how the town is changing, a student working on a local geography project, or just someone who likes knowing the numbers behind the place they live. It's a handy updated reference that didn't really exist in one place before.
You can explore the full breakdown for yourself on the Swanage Facts and Figures page.