My Area UK

Sturminster Newton

Sturminster Newton is a village in Dorset, England, with a population of around 3,501. It has 1 GP surgery, 1 pharmacy, 1 park, and around 1 restaurant and café, with 4 bus stops and the average sold house price is around £399,755. There were around 24 recorded street crimes in June 2026, most commonly anti-social behaviour. This page gathers weather, crime, food hygiene, transport, flood risk, house prices, population, deprivation and your local MP for the Sturminster Newton area — all from official UK open data.

On deprivation, the Dorset area is less deprived than the average in England (IoD2019). The wider council area has around 379,579 residents at roughly 152 people per km².

Council
Dorset
County
Dorset
Constituency
North Dorset
Police force
Dorset
55/ 100

My Area Score

Good

Ranked 118th of 294 English council areas — better than 60% of them.

Low crime86
Home affordability30
Affordable rents51
Good schools16
Life expectancy87
Low deprivation62
Employment82
Low council tax0

A percentile blend of eight open measures (100 = best in England); bars show this area’s England-wide percentile on each. See the rankings · methodology

Weather

16°CPartly Cloudy

  • Today: 17° / 11° · 8% rain
  • Tomorrow: 17° / 11° · Overcast

Source: WeatherAPI

Daylight

Sunrise 06:33Sunset 19:39

13h 6m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

Air quality

38US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Bournemouth, United Kingdom

Crime

33 reported · July 2026 43% YoY

  • Anti-social behaviour16
  • Violence & sexual offences8
  • Public order4
  • Shoplifting2

Neighbourhood team: North Dorset Rural · Dorset

Local policing priorities

  • ASB (Anti-Social Behaviour) Location: Sturminster Newton- Stour Castle. Issue: Drug related ASB by those residing and visiting specific a…
  • Drug Related ASB. Location: Rivers Mead- Sturminster Newton Issue: There has been an increase in reported ASB linked to drugs in the vici…

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

Road safety

686 reported road collisions (2024)

156 killed or seriously injured · 883 casualties · 18.1 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

Food hygiene

43 food businesses within 2 miles

  • 40 rated 4–5 ★ (39 top)
  • 0 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

Flood risk

No active flood warnings nearby.

Buses & trains

  • 4 bus stops within ~½ mile

Live trains from Templecombe (11.4 km):

Loading live departures…

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

House prices

£325,410 average 1.6% YoY

Across Dorset · to 2026-06

Detached£515,144
Semi-detached£330,336
Terraced£264,807
Flat£167,991

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

Private rents

£1,051 average monthly rent 4.8% YoY

  • 1 bed £728
  • 2 bed £961
  • 3 bed £1,184

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-07

Affordability

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

Fuel prices

  • Cheapest petrol: 167.9p · Shell (11.9 km)
  • Cheapest diesel: 189.9p · Shell (11.9 km)

1 station within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

EV charging

4 charging locations within ~8 km

  • Fastest nearby: 43 kW
  • Nearest: Station Road Car Park 2 (0.1 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

Sport & leisure

  • Sports centres1
  • Swimming pools3
  • Sports pitches19
  • Playgrounds12

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Population

379,579 residents in Dorset · 152/km²

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

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Deprivation

Less deprived than the average in England

Ranked 197 of 317 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

3% of neighbourhoods are in England’s most deprived 10%

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019

Council tax

£2,765 a year · Band D, 2026-27

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

A £1,843
B £2,151
C £2,458
D £2,765
E £3,379
F £3,994
G £4,608
H £5,530

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

Schools

184 schools · 51,332 pupils

119 primary · 18 secondary · 47 other

Ofsted: 68 of 86 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (79%)

158inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Secondary schools:

  • Beaminster SchoolGood
  • Dorset Studio SchoolGood
  • Gillingham SchoolGood
  • Shaftesbury SchoolGood
  • The Blandford SchoolGood
  • The Swanage SchoolGood
  • The Woodroffe SchoolGood
  • Wey Valley AcademyGood
  • All Saints' Church of England AcademyRequires improvement
  • Budmouth Academy WeymouthRequires improvement
  • Queen Elizabeth's SchoolRequires improvement
  • Ferndown Upper School
  • Lytchett Minster School
  • Sturminster Newton High School
  • The Gryphon School
  • The Purbeck School
  • The Sir John Colfox Academy
  • The Thomas Hardye School

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Dorset

Care & health services

385 CQC-registered services

  • Care homes121
  • GP practices59
  • Dentists84
  • Homecare agencies86
  • Hospitals & hospices14

CQC ratings: 96% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 2 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Dorset

Heritage & planning

  • In a conservation area (Sturminster Newton Conservation Area)
  • Not in the Green Belt
  • 110 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

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

Planning decisions

662 applications decided

92.4% granted · 612 granted, 50 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1

Your MP

Simon Hoare

Conservative

North Dorset

Recent votes:

  • AyeHealth Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 145
  • NoRepresentation of the People Bill: Third Reading
  • NoRepresentation of the People Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 88
  • AyeRepresentation of the People Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 67

Source: UK Parliament

Council control

Liberal Democrat / Green coalition

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

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

Amenities nearby

  • Schools4
  • GPs & clinics1
  • Pharmacies1
  • Supermarkets1
  • Parks & greens4
  • Restaurants & cafés1

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Local businesses

20,515 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

Jobs

174 jobs advertised · £35,171 avg

e.g. Delivery Opportunities Near Me? - Deliver with Uber Eats, Deliver with Uber Eats - Sign Up and Start Earning, Sign Up as A Delivery Person - Earn With Uber Eats

Source: Adzuna

Local economy

£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

Energy efficiency

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

Grid electricity

58% low-carbon electricity

Solar 34% · Imports 30% · Wind 14% · Gas 13%

76 gCO₂/kWh · low intensity

Latest estimate for South England · National Grid ESO

Health

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

Wellbeing

  • 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

Local petitions

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in North Dorset:

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-08-06

Notable places nearby

  • Sturminster Newton · 0.1 km

    Sturminster Newton is a town and civil parish situated on the River Stour in the north of Dorset, England. The town is at the centre of the Blackmore Vale, a large dairy agriculture region around which the town's econ…

  • Sturminster Newton railway station · 0.1 km

    Sturminster Newton railway station was a station in the town of Sturminster Newton, in the English county of Dorset. It was located on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway.

  • St Mary's Church, Sturminster Newton · 0.3 km

    St Mary's Church is a Church of England Parish Church in Sturminster Newton, Dorset. The present church dates from a rebuild in 1486 by the abbots of Glastonbury. The church was heavily modified in the 19th century, b…

  • Rixon, Dorset · 0.5 km

    Rixon is a village near Sturminster Newton in Dorset, England.

  • Sturminster Newton Castle · 0.7 km

    Sturminster Newton Castle is a site consisting of the remains of a medieval manor house within an Iron Age hillfort, near Sturminster Newton in Dorset, England. The ruins are privately owned.

  • Sturminster Newton High School · 0.8 km

    Sturminster Newton High School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Sturminster Newton in the English county of Dorset.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)

Frequently asked questions

Where is Sturminster Newton?
Sturminster Newton is a town in Dorset, England, in the Dorset local authority.
What is the population of Sturminster Newton?
Sturminster Newton has an approximate settlement population of 3,501.
How deprived is Sturminster Newton?
The Dorset local authority, which includes Sturminster Newton, is less deprived than the average in England on the IoD2019.