South West

Dorset Council: house prices, jobs and local statistics

Dorset Council is a unitary authority in the South West, home to 379,579 people at the 2021 census. The average house price was £325,154 in July 2026, down 0.1% on a year earlier and up 10.3% on five years before. On the ONS figure for July 2026 it had the 127th highest average price of 360 council areas. 2.3% of residents aged 16 to 64 were claiming unemployment-related benefits in August 2026, against 3.9% across the UK. Median full-time pay for people living here was £37,462 a year in 2025 (UK: £39,039). The biggest employing sector is retail, wholesale & motor trade, with 14.6% of the 151,010 employee jobs counted in 2024.

Dorset Council house prices

Average price, July 2026

£325,154

South West: £302,298

Change over 1 year

−0.1%

South West: −0.2%

Change over 5 years

+10.3%

Since July 2021

Detached
£515,191
Semi-detached
£329,926
Terraced
£264,878
Flat or maisonette
£167,282
First-time buyers
£254,490

UK House Price Index, July 2026: HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, Land and Property Services NI and the ONS. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. About the index.

Ten years of prices and sales in the house price explorer

Jobs, pay and unemployment in Dorset Council

Claimant rate, August 2026

2.3%

4,900 people aged 16 to 64. UK: 3.9%

Employment rate, Apr 2025-Mar 2026

80.1%

UK: 75.4% · Annual Population Survey

Unemployment rate, Apr 2025-Mar 2026

4.6%

UK: 4.5%

Economically inactive

16.0%

UK: 21.0%

Median full-time pay, 2025

£37,462 a year

UK: £39,039

Median weekly pay, 2025

£737

UK: £767

The claimant count is people claiming unemployment-related benefits as a share of residents aged 16 to 64; the unemployment rate is the survey measure of people out of work and looking. Pay is for full-time employees who live in the area.

Claimant count, Annual Population Survey and Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (resident analysis), via Nomis. Source: Office for National Statistics, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Two years of claimant counts and ten of pay in the jobs explorer

What Dorset Council does for a living

Employee jobs, 2024

151,010

147,525 in 2019

Businesses, 2026

18,000

Largest sectors by share of employee jobs, 2024
SectorShare of jobsGreat Britain
Retail, wholesale & motor trade14.6%13.6%
Health & social care13.2%14.1%
Hotels, pubs & restaurants12.6%7.8%
Manufacturing10.6%7.2%
Education9.3%8.6%
Professional & scientific8.6%9.2%

Business Register and Employment Survey 2024 (Great Britain only). UK Business Counts 2026. Both via Nomis. Source: Office for National Statistics, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Every sector and business size in the industries explorer

Who lives in Dorset Council

Residents, 2021

379,579

People per km², 2021

152

England and Wales: 395

Aged 65 and over

29.5%

England and Wales: 18.4%

Aged under 15

14.2%

England and Wales: 17.3%

Homes owned

70.4%

England and Wales: 61.5%

Homes rented privately

16.3%

England and Wales: 20.3%

Homes socially rented

12.3%

England and Wales: 17.1%

Degree or higher (16+)

31.5%

England and Wales: 33.8%

No qualifications (16+)

15.8%

England and Wales: 18.2%

Good or very good health

80.7%

England and Wales: 82.0%

Born in the UK

93.5%

England and Wales: 83.2%

Census 2021 topic summaries (TS001, TS006, TS007A, TS054, TS067, TS037, TS004), via Nomis. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0.

Any neighbourhood's census profile in the census explorer

How Dorset Council ranks among UK councils

39 official indicators are published for Dorset Council; 32 of them have a better and a worse direction and are ranked here. A rank of 1st is the best (lowest unemployment, highest pay, and so on).

Where it ranks best

Where it ranks worst

ONS Explore local statistics, latest figure for each indicator, ranked among council areas with a published figure; Office for National Statistics content licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, each indicator’s producer named on its linked ONS page.

All 39 indicators in the area scorecard

Health in Dorset Council

  • Life expectancy (male) (2025)82.1 years · England 80.0 · 12th highest of 151
  • Life expectancy (female) (2025)85.4 years · England 83.8 · 16th highest of 151
  • Healthy life expectancy (male) (2022 - 24)65.3 years · England 60.9 · 13th highest of 151
  • Healthy life expectancy (female) (2022 - 24)65.6 years · England 61.3 · 16th highest of 151
  • Under-75 mortality, all causes (2025)247.4 per 100k · England 321.0 · 12th lowest of 151
  • Adult smoking prevalence (2024)9.9% · England 10.4 · 64th lowest of 148
  • Adults overweight or obese (2024/25)66.3% · England 64.6 · 82nd lowest of 153

OHID Fingertips (fingertips.phe.org.uk), Office for Health Improvement & Disparities. Upper-tier local authorities, England. © Crown copyright. Read 2026-09-02. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. England only: published for upper-tier local authorities.

The full health profile in the health explorer

Schools and children in Dorset Council

  • School readiness (good development at Reception) (2024/25)69.7% · England 68.3 · 57th highest of 153
  • GCSE Attainment 8 score (2024/25)44.1 score · England 46.0 · 110th highest of 153
  • 16–17 year-olds NEET or activity not known (2025/26)4.7% · England 5.8 · 72nd lowest of 150
  • Children in absolute low-income families (2024/25)15.5% · England 19.8 · 51st lowest of 153

OHID Fingertips (fingertips.phe.org.uk), Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, carrying DfE / ONS education measures. Upper-tier local authorities, England. © Crown copyright. Read 2026-09-04. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. England only: published for upper-tier local authorities.

Nearby schools and more in the education explorer

Nearby council areas

Other council areas in the South West

About these figures

Dorset Council (E06000059) is a unitary authority in the South West, one of 361 council areas this site covers. Every figure on this page is read from the official source named beneath it and carries its own date; the page is rebuilt at most once a day. Survey figures carry sampling error, so small differences between neighbouring councils are often noise. For a single street or neighbourhood rather than the whole council area, search a postcode on the dashboard.

Sources

  • HM Land Registry UK House Price Index (landregistry.data.gov.uk). Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right, OGL v3.0.
  • Office for National Statistics via Nomis (nomisweb.co.uk): claimant count, Annual Population Survey, ASHE, BRES, UK Business Counts and Census 2021. Source: Office for National Statistics, OGL v3.0.
  • ONS Explore local statistics (ons.gov.uk/explore-local-statistics), OGL v3.0.
  • OHID Fingertips (fingertips.phe.org.uk), Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.
  • Council area names and codes: mySociety, UK local authority names and codes (CC BY 4.0), from the ONS Register of Geographic Codes.