Social housing in Dorset
12.3% of households in Dorset are social housing — council or housing-association homes — according to the 2021–22 Census. That is below the UK average of 17.5%.
How much social housing is there in Dorset?
Dorset ranks 279th of 374 UK local authorities by social-housing share. Of its 169,276 households, 20,821 are social homes (12.3%) — renting from the council or a housing association.
How does Dorset compare with the UK average?
At -5.2 percentage points versus the UK average of 17.5%, Dorset sits below the national level.
Dorset at a glance
Beyond housing, here is what the map's other datasets say about Dorset.
Schools
On the Department for Education's register, Dorset has 184 schools — 163 state-funded and 21 independent. That includes 119 primary and 28 secondary schools. Of the 86 with a published Ofsted grade, 79% are Good or Outstanding.
Nurseries
There are 158 nurseries and pre-schools on Ofsted's childcare register in Dorset, offering about 5,571 registered childcare places. Childminders are not counted — Ofsted withholds their addresses.
Deprivation
The median neighbourhood in Dorset sits in decile 6 of 10 on its nation's deprivation index, and 4% of its 223 neighbourhoods fall in the most-deprived national fifth.
House prices
The median neighbourhood price is about £3,867 per m², from Land Registry sold prices matched to EPC floor areas.
Broadband
Median available download speed is about 1,000 Mbit/s — what can be ordered, not what residents have bought (Ofcom Connected Nations).
Explore Dorset
See Dorset through the other lenses on the interactive map — house prices, recorded crime and anti-social behaviour, road & rail noise, deprivation and broadband:
Which areas are similar to Dorset?
Figures: 2021–22 Census · Page updated 15 August 2026 · Download the full dataset (CSV, all 374 councils).