Wimborne Minster
Wimborne Minster is a town in Dorset, England, with a population of around 15,552. It has 1 GP surgery, 4 pharmacies, and around 13 restaurants and cafés, along with 21 bus stops. There were around 26 recorded street crimes in June 2026, most commonly violence & sexual offences. This page gathers weather, crime, food hygiene, transport, flood risk, house prices, population, deprivation and your local MP for the Wimborne Minster 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.
My Area Score
Good
Ranked 118th of 294 English council areas — better than 60% of them.
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
17°COvercast
- Today: 21° / 12° · 15% rain
- Tomorrow: 20° / 17° · Patchy rain nearby
Source: WeatherAPI
Daylight
Sunrise 06:37Sunset 19:31
12h 54m of daylight today
Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec
Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk
Air quality
25US AQI · Good
Main pollutant: ozone
Source: WAQI · Bournemouth, United Kingdom
Crime
49 reported · July 2026▲ 53% YoY
- Violence & sexual offences22
- Anti-social behaviour18
- Public order4
- Criminal damage & arson2
Neighbourhood team: Poole North · Dorset
Local policing priorities
- Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Location: Tower Park Issue: Young people causing ASB in the area of Tower Park is a priority we have looked a…
- ASB and Shoplifting Location: Redland Retail Park Issue: A review of our hotspot data showed that there is work to be undertaken in this…
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
197 food businesses within 2 miles
- 172 rated 4–5 ★ (158 top)
- 0 rated 0–2 (poor)
Source: Food Standards Agency
Flood risk
Buses & trains
- Nearest station: Hamworthy (6.9 km)
- 20 bus stops within ~½ mile
Live trains from Hamworthy (6.9 km):
Loading live departures…
Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail
House prices
£325,410 average▲ 1.6% YoY
Across Dorset · to 2026-06
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 · Asda (11.9 km)
- Cheapest diesel: 191.9p · Asda (3.7 km)
21 stations within ~8 miles
Source: CMA fuel price scheme
EV charging
42 charging locations within ~8 km
- 21 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
- Fastest nearby: 150 kW
- Nearest: Merley Court Holiday Park (0.2 km)
Source: Open Charge Map
Sport & leisure
- Sports centres1
- Swimming pools5
- Sports pitches5
- Golf courses2
- Playgrounds8
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)
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
- Within the Green Belt
- 18 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
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
- Schools1
- GPs & clinics2
- Pharmacies1
- Parks & greens9
- Restaurants & cafés1
Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)
Local businesses
20,515 active business enterprises in the area
Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)
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
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 Mid Dorset and North Poole:
- Cap Academy Trust CEO Pay and Protect School Funding for Children646 local signatures · 3,627 nationwide
- Make a public animal abuser register & automatically ban ownership371 local signatures · 242,705 nationwide
- Ban anyone convicted of terrorism offences from standing for public office347 local signatures · 205,058 nationwide
- Review the evidence and fund the addition of SMA to the Newborn Screening Test320 local signatures · 151,287 nationwide
- Hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership286 local signatures · 163,883 nationwide
Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-08-06
Notable places nearby
Merley House, Wimborne · 0.4 kmMerley House in Ashington, Wimborne, Dorset, England, is a building of historical significance and is Grade I listed on the English Heritage Register. It was built in 1752 by the bibliophile Ralph Willett and remained…
Oakley, Dorset · 0.4 kmOakley is a village community in Dorset, England. Sitting just south of the River Stour it borders the suburb of Merley and the village of Canford Magna to the East and South and the Town of Wimborne 2 km to the North…
Merley · 0.9 kmMerley is a large housing estate in Poole, a mile (2 km) south of Wimborne Minster. Originally called Myrle, Merley was a manor in the tithing of Great Canford. The village merges with that of Oakley, and the housing…
Lady Wimborne Bridge · 1.0 kmThe Lady Wimborne Bridge is a former railway bridge built in 1853, and now a listed building. Its highly ornate design reflects the power of landowners over British railway companies in the mid-nineteenth century. Bu…
River Allen, Dorset · 1.1 kmThe River Allen is a river in Dorset in South West England. It flows for 14 miles (23 km) to its confluence with the River Stour at Wimborne Minster. It has two main tributaries, the Gussage Stream and the Crichel Str…
Ashington, Dorset · 1.2 kmAshington is a hamlet in Dorset, England. It is in the unitary authority of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, between the village of Corfe Mullen and the market town of Wimborne Minster.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)
Nearby towns
Compare Dorset with nearby areas
Frequently asked questions
- Where is Wimborne Minster?
- Wimborne Minster is a town in Dorset, England, in the Dorset local authority.
- What is the population of Wimborne Minster?
- Wimborne Minster has an approximate settlement population of 15,552.
- How deprived is Wimborne Minster?
- The Dorset local authority, which includes Wimborne Minster, is less deprived than the average in England on the IoD2019.