# Shaftesbury Town in Dorset, South West. Shaftesbury is a town in Dorset, South West. Median sale price £275,000 in 2025. Recorded crime 72.6 per 1,000 people. About 9,389 people. Town. Code E63006198. In: [Towns](https://openindex.co.uk/places/towns) › [Dorset](https://openindex.co.uk/dorset) Shaftesbury is an ONS built-up area: the land built up as one town, whatever council it is in. Figures for Shaftesbury add up the census output areas (or, for claimants, the neighbourhoods) that sit mostly inside it, so they are close to, but not exactly, the town’s own. ## Key figures - **Median sale price: £275,000** (2025). The median price paid for a home in Shaftesbury was £275,000 in 2025. Joint 496th most expensive of 1,092. Source: Worked out by Open Index from HM Land Registry Price Paid Data. Published 28 September 2026. https://openindex.co.uk/town/shaftesbury#f-house-sales-median-price - **Population: 9,163** (2021). Shaftesbury had 9,163 usual residents at the census (ONS Census 2021). 172nd least populated of 1,209. Source: Census 2021, England and Wales and Scotland's Census 2022 and Census 2021, Northern Ireland, 2021. Published 21 July 2026. https://openindex.co.uk/town/shaftesbury#f-population - **People in radon Affected Area squares: 100%** (2022). About 100% of people in Shaftesbury live in a 1 km square that the radon atlas marks as a radon Affected Area. UK 44%. Source: Worked out by Open Index from the UKHSA and BGS radon atlas and census output areas. Published 1 December 2022. https://openindex.co.uk/town/shaftesbury#f-radon-affected-share - **Gigabit broadband coverage: 91.5%** (January 2026). In Shaftesbury, 91.5% of homes and businesses could get gigabit-capable broadband in January 2026 (Ofcom). UK 87.8%. Source: Connected Nations (Ofcom), January 2026. Published 13 May 2026. https://openindex.co.uk/town/shaftesbury#f-gigabit-coverage ## On the map - [Radon Affected Area by town](https://openindex.co.uk/map/radon-affected-areas#place=E63006198) (Worked out by Open Index · 2022): About 100% of people in Shaftesbury live in a 1 km square that the radon atlas marks as a radon Affected Area. - [Sales per year by town](https://openindex.co.uk/map/house-sales-per-year#place=E63006198) (Worked out by Open Index · 2025): 202 homes were sold in Shaftesbury in 2025. - [Crime and ASB by town](https://openindex.co.uk/map/recorded-crime#place=E63006198) (Police recorded crime and outcomes (data.police.uk) · August 2026): Crime and anti-social behaviour for Shaftesbury. - [Population by town](https://openindex.co.uk/map/population#place=E63006198) (Census 2021, England and Wales): Shaftesbury had 9,163 usual residents at the census. ## How Shaftesbury compares Each town against every other town the measure covers. | Measure | Shaftesbury | Rank | Compared with | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Median sale price | £275,000 | joint 45th cheapest | 116 towns, South West · 2025 | | Population | 9,163 | 18th least populated | 116 towns, South West · 2021 | | People in radon Affected Area squares | 100% | joint most people in radon Affected Areas | 116 towns, South West · 2022 | | Gigabit broadband coverage | 91.5% | joint 47th highest | 116 towns, South West · Jan 2026 | ## Is Shaftesbury safe? What police records show In the 12 months to August 2026, police recorded crimes and anti-social behaviour in Shaftesbury at a rate of 72.6 per 1,000 people. That compares with 83.5 per 1,000 people across South West. Across England as a whole, the recorded crime rate was 96.3 per 1,000 people. In August 2026 alone, 60 cases of crime and anti-social behaviour were recorded in Shaftesbury. In the 12 months to August 2026, the most common types were violence and sexual offences (204), anti-social behaviour (183) and other crime (83). A year earlier, the recorded crime rate in Shaftesbury was 75.3 per 1,000 people. Worked out by Open Index from police.uk crime records and ONS and NISRA population estimates. Rates are per resident, so places that many people work in or visit, such as Westminster, the City of London and other city centres, have far higher rates than their residents alone would suggest. ## Deprivation in Shaftesbury, neighbourhood by neighbourhood - Deprivation is ranked by neighbourhood, so Shaftesbury has no single figure. Of its 5 neighbourhoods with a rank: - Decile 4: 1 neighbourhood - Decile 5: 2 neighbourhoods - Decile 8: 1 neighbourhood - Decile 9: 1 neighbourhood Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2025. Decile 1 is the most deprived tenth of neighbourhoods in England. ## Neighbourhoods in Shaftesbury | Area | People (census) | Recorded crime per 1,000 | Deprivation decile | Gigabit broadband | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Dorset 003A](https://openindex.co.uk/dorset/neighbourhood/e01020454) | 2,014 | 130.3 per 1,000 | 4 | 87.1% | | [Dorset 003B](https://openindex.co.uk/dorset/neighbourhood/e01020456) | 1,819 | 75.6 per 1,000 | 5 | 88.3% | | [Dorset 003C](https://openindex.co.uk/dorset/neighbourhood/e01020457) | 1,597 | 28.3 per 1,000 | 8 | 96.3% | | [Dorset 003D](https://openindex.co.uk/dorset/neighbourhood/e01034374) | 2,184 | 51.5 per 1,000 | 5 | 95.1% | | [Dorset 003E](https://openindex.co.uk/dorset/neighbourhood/e01034375) | 1,546 | 67.1 per 1,000 | 9 | 94.8% | ## Your MP - [North Dorset](https://openindex.co.uk/constituency/north-dorset): Simon Hoare (Conservative), MP since July 2024. As of 18 October 2026. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0. Source: UK Parliament, Members API. ## Council [Dorset](https://openindex.co.uk/dorset) ## Postcode districts covering Shaftesbury [SP7](https://openindex.co.uk/postcode/sp7) ## Middle areas in Shaftesbury [Shaftesbury](https://openindex.co.uk/dorset/shaftesbury) ## Towns near Shaftesbury [Gillingham](https://openindex.co.uk/town/gillingham-dorset), [Blandford Forum](https://openindex.co.uk/town/blandford-forum), [Warminster](https://openindex.co.uk/town/warminster), [Sherborne](https://openindex.co.uk/town/sherborne), [Verwood](https://openindex.co.uk/town/verwood), [Frome](https://openindex.co.uk/town/frome) ## Shaftesbury in brief Shaftesbury is a town in Dorset, South West. About 9,389 people lived in Shaftesbury in mid-2024 (worked out by Open Index from ONS small-area estimates); the median price paid for a home was £275,000 in 2025 across 202 sales (HM Land Registry) and police recorded crimes and anti-social behaviour at a rate of 72.6 per 1,000 people in the 12 months to August 2026 (police.uk). The median price paid for a home in Shaftesbury was £275,000 in 2025. Shaftesbury had 9,163 usual residents at the census. About 100% of people in Shaftesbury live in a 1 km square that the radon atlas marks as a radon Affected Area. In Shaftesbury, 91.5% of homes and businesses could get gigabit-capable broadband in January 2026. ## About - Type: Town - Code: E63006198 - Constituency: [North Dorset †](https://openindex.co.uk/constituency/north-dorset) - Council: [Dorset †](https://openindex.co.uk/dorset) - Region: [South West](https://openindex.co.uk/south-west) - Nation: [England](https://openindex.co.uk/england) - Area: 3.05 km² - People, mid-2024: 9,389* - Neighbourhoods: 5 - Output areas: 30 * People: worked out by Open Index from neighbourhood estimates, shared out by where people lived at the census (by area in Northern Ireland). This area's edges do not follow neighbourhood edges, so the figure is close but not exact. † Best fit: the constituency and council this town mostly lies in. Its edges do not follow theirs. ## Next door [Gillingham](https://openindex.co.uk/town/gillingham-dorset), [Blandford Forum](https://openindex.co.uk/town/blandford-forum), [Warminster](https://openindex.co.uk/town/warminster), [Sherborne](https://openindex.co.uk/town/sherborne), [Verwood](https://openindex.co.uk/town/verwood), [Frome](https://openindex.co.uk/town/frome) ## Latest updates for Shaftesbury - August 2026 house prices published: HM Land Registry and partners · Oct 2026. - September 2026 rent published: ONS private rents · Oct 2026. - Dental practices updated: NHS England · Oct 2026. - Schools updated: Ofsted · Oct 2026. The same figures as JSON: https://openindex.co.uk/v1/places/E63006198 ## How to cite Source: Open Index, openindex.co.uk. Link to this page, https://openindex.co.uk/town/shaftesbury, or to one figure with its anchor, https://openindex.co.uk/town/shaftesbury#f-house-sales-median-price. Open Index's own text and the figures it works out are licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Source data keeps its publishers' licences, named with each figure. Give each figure's period and source with it. Snapshot 2026.10.10. The HTML page: https://openindex.co.uk/town/shaftesbury