According to Office for National Statistics data the population of the Wimborne Minster built-up area as of 2014[update] was 15,552.

[1][2] The town and its administrative area are served by eleven councillors plus one from the nearby ward of Cranfield.

[4] Wimborne Minster is part of the Mid Dorset and North Poole parliamentary constituency.

It is famed for its chained library and the tomb of King Æthelred, elder brother of Alfred the Great, as well as the tombs of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and his duchess, the maternal grandparents of King Henry VII of England.

The exhibition also includes a model railway based on Thomas the Tank Engine, which was opened by Christopher Awdry, and expanded in 2014.

[6] The legacy and position of the town crier date back to the English Civil War.

[7] Every year Wimborne hosts the longest fireworks display in Dorset, as part of its Guy Fawkes celebrations; a county record that it has held since 2004.

The bonfire and pyrotechnics display is held each year in the grounds of St Michael's Church of England Middle School and is well supported by many thousands of people from the town, Colehill village and the surrounding area.

Instead, with the cooperation of local businesses and Wimborne Minster Town Council,[11] the Folk Festival committee made use of Café @ The Allendale, a local community hub, to provide food and meals for those in difficulties, e.g. as a result of having to self-isolate or not being able to work during the lockdowns.

Queen Elizabeth's School has very close links with the Minster and was founded by Lady Margaret Beaufort in 1497.

has been in existence in its present form since 1950 and is based in Leigh Park, Gordon Road on the eastern side of the town.

Home decoration company Farrow & Ball began in the town, and is still headquartered nearby in Ferndown.

Wimborne was used as a reversing point on the Somerset and Dorset, but its importance was reduced when an avoiding line was built from Bailey Gate to Broadstone Junction.

The station was closed to passengers in 1964 and sundries (parcels and light goods) in 1966, as a result of the Beeching Axe programme.