Towns and cities in Dorset by population

By James Burfield, SEO consultant, Bath · Page updated 18 September 2026 · ONS mid-year estimates · GeoNames

All 93 populated places in Dorset, ranked by current population. The largest is Weymouth, with 53,416 people.

Every place in Dorset, ranked

Do not add these figures together to get Dorset's population. Settlement boundaries overlap, so the rows below sum to more than the area actually holds: 285,471 against an official 389,947. The ONS figure above is the one to quote. Why figures differ.

389,947

population of Dorset (ONS, mid-2024)

towns & places

Weymouth

largest place

#	Place	Population
1	Weymouth	53,416
2	Ferndown	17,650
3	Dorchester	16,879
4	Verwood	13,360
5	Portland	12,710
6	Bridport	12,295
7	Blandford Forum	11,694
8	Swanage	10,454
9	Sherborne	9,523
10	Gillingham	8,822
11	Easton	7,800
12	Wareham	7,592
13	Shaftesbury	7,314
14	St Leonards	5,984
15	Manston	5,261
16	Overcombe	4,971
17	Lyme Regis	4,712
18	West Bay	4,084
19	Sturminster Newton	3,501
20	Fortuneswell	3,381
21	Lytchett Matravers	3,315
22	Chickerell	2,966
23	Beaminster	2,957
24	Alderholt	2,848
25	Wool	2,724
26	Bovington Camp	2,586
27	Stalbridge	2,396
28	Three Legged Cross	1,492
29	Sturminster Marshall	1,490
30	Marnhull	1,483
31	Bourton	1,480
32	Charminster	1,366
33	Corfe Castle	1,355
34	Charmouth	1,352
35	Bere Regis	1,304
36	Arne	1,297
37	Maiden Newton	1,268
38	Shillingstone	1,170
39	Puddletown	1,158
40	Child Okeford	1,114
41	Pimperne	1,109
42	Yetminster	1,105
43	Milborne St Andrew	1,062
44	Charlton Marshall	1,026
45	Motcombe	1,014
46	Iwerne Minster	978
47	Bradford Abbas	975
48	Sixpenny Handley	906
49	Cerne Abbas	784
50	Chideock	686
51	Burton Bradstock	682
52	Winterborne Stickland	653
53	Winterbourne Abbas	652
54	Winterborne Kingston	643
55	Stourpaine	617
56	Cranborne	606
57	Mosterton	604
58	East Stour	573
59	Portesham	566
60	Broadwindsor	558
61	Spetisbury	555
62	Halstock	546
63	Abbotsbury	481
64	Long Burton	470
65	Tolpuddle	452
66	Hazelbury Bryan	445
67	Corscombe	445
68	Stourton Caundle	439
69	Piddlehinton	403
70	Durweston	398
71	Morcombelake	372
72	Buckhorn Weston	356
73	Chetnole	344
74	Netherbury	343
75	Owermoigne	334
76	Fontmell Magna	333
77	West Lulworth	332
78	Nether Compton	328
79	Winfrith Newburgh	326
80	Trent	317
81	Whitchurch Canonicorum	312
82	Studland	299
83	Cheselbourne	296
84	Ridge	289
85	Loders	276
86	Worth Matravers	275
87	East Lulworth	241
88	Iwerne Courtney	232
89	Osmington	227
90	Compton Abbas	216
91	Farnham	183
92	Tarrant Hinton	160
93	Tarrant Monkton	123

Common questions

What is the population of Dorset?

389,947, on the ONS mid-2024 estimate for Dorset. The individual towns listed on this page sum to more than that, because settlement boundaries overlap; the ONS figure is the one to quote for the area as a whole.

What is the largest town in Dorset?

Weymouth, with 53,416 residents on current figures. This page ranks all 93 recorded places in Dorset by population, each linking to its own page with sources and, where held, a 2005 comparison.