Dorset

8°CPatchy rain nearby

• Today: 9° / 7° · 43% rain
• Tomorrow: 11° / 6° · Patchy rain nearby

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 07:08Sunset 16:37

9h 30m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

61US AQI · Moderate

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Bournemouth, United Kingdom

• 5.5 µg/m³ average fine-particle (PM2.5) concentration
• 4.1% of adult (30+) deaths estimated attributable to fine-particle pollution

Lower is better for both figures.

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2024

3 reported · August 2026

• Anti-social behaviour1
• Other theft1
• Violence & sexual offences1

Neighbourhood team: Dorchester · Dorset

Source: data.police.uk (within ~1 mile)

675 reported road collisions (2025)

215 killed or seriously injured · 893 casualties · 17.8 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

7 food businesses within 2 miles

• 5 rated 4–5 ★ (5 top)
• 0 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

• 1 bus stops within ~½ mile

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

£328,589 average▼ 0.4% YoY

Across Dorset · to 2026-08

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

£1,056 average monthly rent▲ 4.9% YoY

• 1 bed £732
• 2 bed £967
• 3 bed £1,191

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-08

9.9× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 9.9 times median annual pay (9.5× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

5,771 property sales in the last 12 months

12 months to May 2026

A busier or quieter market is not by itself good or bad. Monthly counts are small and volatile, so only the annual total is shown.

Source: HM Land Registry UK HPI, 12 months to 2026-05

• Swimming pools1
• Sports pitches5

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

379,579 residents in Dorset · 152/km²

• Under 16: 15%
• 16–64: 55%
• 65+: 30%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

• Moves in from elsewhere in the UK20,787
• Moves out to elsewhere in the UK16,709
• Net moves+4,078

Residential moves between local authorities (counts of moves, not people) · ONS Internal migration, YE Jun 2025

Around the average in England

Ranked 174 of 296 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

2% of neighbourhoods are in England’s most deprived 10%

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2025

£2,765 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (23% of 187,680)

Source: VOA council-tax stock · MHCLG band levels 2026-27

184 schools · 49,648 pupils

119 primary · 18 secondary · 47 other

Ofsted: 67 of 85 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (79%)

157 inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Dorset

388 CQC-registered services

• Care homes120
• GP practices61
• Dentists85
• Homecare agencies87
• Hospitals & hospices14

CQC ratings: 97% of rated services Good or Outstanding

Source: Care Quality Commission · Dorset

• Not in the Green Belt
• 24 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

Source: planning.data.gov.uk (England)

683 applications decided

91.7% granted · 626 granted, 57 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q2

Liberal Democrat majority

• Lab 2
• Con 30
• LD 42
• Grn 4
• Oth 4

Source: Open Council Data UK (CC BY-SA)

• Schools1

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

20,570 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2026)

5,776 jobs advertised · £39,278 avg

e.g. Roadside Vehicle Mechanic, Roadside Technician Nights - Bournemouth, Roadside Rescue Mechanic

Source: Adzuna

£737 median full-time weekly pay

2.3% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£27,403 disposable income per head (2024)

Source: ONS / Nomis (claimant count · ASHE) · ONS regional GDHI

43% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: D · 186,790 certificates

9.9% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

Source: MHCLG EPC statistics · DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty

Life expectancy: 85.4 yrs women · 82.1 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy: 65.6 women · 65.3 men

66% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

• Life satisfaction7.6
• Feeling worthwhile7.9
• Happiness yesterday7.6
• Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)2.9

Average rating out of 10 · ONS personal well-being 2022-23

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in West Dorset:

• Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks572 local signatures · 127,144 nationwide
• Make catapult attacks against animals a standalone criminal offence304 local signatures · 55,084 nationwide
• Remove sentence reductions for guilty pleas in controlling and coercive cases233 local signatures · 105,832 nationwide
• End the mandatory fortification of white flour with folic acid immediately197 local signatures · 76,640 nationwide
• Support the Ceramics Industry and protect British manufacturing jobs and skills188 local signatures · 111,154 nationwide

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-10-05

• 
  Melcombe Horsey · 1.4 km

  Melcombe Horsey is a civil parish in the county of Dorset in South West England. It contains the small settlements of Melcombe Bingham, Bingham's Melcombe and Higher Melcombe, the last being the site of the deserted v…

• 
  Cheselbourne · 1.7 km

  Cheselbourne is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated in the Dorset Downs, 7 miles (11 km) north-east of Dorchester. The parish is at an altitude of 75 to 245 metres and covers an area of 1,175 hecta…

• 
  Ansty, Dorset · 2.4 km

  Ansty is a village in the civil parish of Hilton, in Dorset, England, north of Cheselbourne and west of Milton Abbas. It consists of the settlements of Higher Ansty, Lower Ansty, Pleck and Ansty Cross. The Hall & Wood…

• 
  Hilton, Dorset · 2.7 km

  Hilton is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It is sited at an elevation of 135 metres in a small valley which drains chalk hills in the eastern part of the Dorset Downs, approxima…

• 
  Lyscombe Hill · 2.7 km

  Lyscombe Hill is a hill near Melcombe Bingham about 14 kilometres north-northeast of Dorchester in the county of Dorset, England. It is part of the Dorset Downs and is listed as a so-called HuMP.

• 
  Dorset (district) · 3.2 km

  Dorset is a unitary authority area within the larger ceremonial county of Dorset, South West England. It covers the entire ceremonial county with the exception of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in the south-east.…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)