County Durham demographics.
County Durham · Census 2023 · latest available data
A data-driven statistical profile of County Durham — town populations, census figures, and key demographic indicators drawn from the latest available official data.
Population
67,736,802
World share: 0.84 %
Median age
40.1
Global rank: #21
Urban population
85.5 %
57,900,076 people
Density
280 / km²
People per km²
Fertility rate
1.57
Births per woman
- 01 / Population
Who lives here, and how that is changing.
Headline population counts, density and household structure, with the six-year growth trend.
- Population basics
- Total population
- 67,736,8022023
- Population density
- 280 / km²UK average
- Yearly change
- 0.34 %227,866
- Urban population
- 85.5 %57,900,076
- Net migration
- 165,790Annual net
- World population
- 0.84 %8,045,311,447
- Population trend
Total resident population in thousands. A rising line means net growth from births and inward migration.
- 02 / Age & gender
The shape of the population pyramid.
Age band distribution split by gender, with dependency and vital statistics.
- Age pyramid
Share of the total population in each age band, split by gender - wide middle bands indicate a strong working-age base.
- Vital statistics
- Median age
- 39.4 yrs40.2 yrs
- Dependency ratio
- 58.456.9
- Male
- 49.3%49.0%
- Female
- 50.7%51.0%
- Aged 65+
- 16.4%18.4%
- 03 / Housing & households
Tenure, dwelling type and household composition.
Census 2021 housing indicators for the area, benchmarked against England.
- Tenure & conditions
- Home ownership
- 61.0%62.5%
- Social rented
- 17.0%17.1%
- Private rented
- 22.0%20.4%
- Overcrowded households
- 6.1%8.4%
- No central heating
- 1.3%1.5%
- Property type mix
Composition of the housing stock by build type, as a share of all dwellings.
- Tenure split
How households occupy their homes - the owned versus rented balance drives local market liquidity.
- 04 / Employment & economy
Where the jobs and the output are.
Labour market headlines and the sector composition of local employment.
- Labour market
- Economically active
- 76.2%75.7%
- Unemployed
- 3.4%3.5%
- Full-time employees
- 42.1%41.6%
- Self-employed
- 11.8%12.4%
- Students (economically active)
- 5.6%5.2%
- Retired
- 20.9%21.6%
- Top employment sectors
Share of total employment by industry - a concentrated profile signals exposure to one sector's cycle.
- 05 / Education & qualifications
Attainment and the local skills base.
School performance and the qualification profile of working-age residents.
- Attainment & schools
- Level 4+ qualification
- 40.2%33.9%
- No qualifications
- 16.0%18.1%
- Apprenticeship
- 5.1%5.3%
- Full-time students 16+
- 8.4%7.9%
- Schoolchildren aged 5–15
- 12.6%12.4%
- Qualification levels
Highest qualification held by residents aged 16+. Level 4+ covers degree-level and above.
- 06 / Health & wellbeing
Life expectancy, access and deprivation.
Population health outcomes alongside primary care capacity and deprivation ranking.
- Health indicators
- Very good health
- 48.6%48.5%
- Good health
- 33.1%33.7%
- Bad or very bad health
- 5.8%5.2%
- Disabled (day-to-day limited)
- 18.2%17.3%
- Provides unpaid care
- 9.1%8.9%
- Life expectancy (male)
- 79.1 yrs79.4 yrs
- Life expectancy (female)
- 82.9 yrs83.1 yrs
- Healthy life expectancy
- 62.4 yrs63.1 yrs
- IMD decile
- 5 of 10-
- Deprivation
5
IMD decile out of 10 (1 = most deprived). The United Kingdom shows variation across regions, with pockets of both high affluence and concentrated deprivation.
- 07 / Ethnicity, language & religion
The cultural make-up of the area.
Census-based breakdowns of ethnic group, country of birth, language and religion.
- Ethnic group
Share of residents by broad census ethnic group.
- Religion
Stated religion at the last census, as a share of residents.
- Origin & language
- Born in the UK
- 83.6%83.2%
- Born outside the UK
- 16.4%16.8%
- English as main language
- 94.2%91.1%
- Cannot speak English well
- 1.4%1.9%
- 08 / Transport & commuting
How people move around.
Commuting modes, journey times, car ownership and network connectivity.
- Mode of travel to work
Primary commute mode for working residents, including those who mainly work from home.
- Network & journey times
- Average commute
- 29 min28 min
- No car or van
- 24.0%23.5%
- 2+ cars or vans
- 34.0%33.1%
- Work mainly from home
- 17.0%21.0%
- Car ownership
Households by number of cars or vans available.
— 09 / Political & administrative
Who governs, and how engaged residents are.
Administrative structure, council tax levels, political control and turnout.
— Governance
- Parliamentary constituencies
- 12
- Council type
- Metropolitan / two-tier
- Council tax (Band D)
- £2,148
- Political control
- Labour majority
- General election turnout
- 62.4%
- Local election turnout
- 31.8%
— 10 / Crime & safety
Recorded crime and its composition.
Police.uk recorded offences, normalised per 1,000 residents and split by offence type.
— Headline rates
- Crime rate per 1,000
- 94.689.7
- Police force
- West Yorkshire Police—
- Year-on-year change
- -2.8%-1.4%
— Crime type breakdown
Share of all recorded offences by category over the last 12 months.
— 11 / Environment & climate
Green space, air quality and climate risk.
Environmental quality indicators and exposure to flooding across the area.
— Environmental indicators
- Green space coverage
- 38.4%40.1%
- NO₂ (annual mean)
- 21 µg/m³18 µg/m³
- PM2.5 (annual mean)
- 9.4 µg/m³9.1 µg/m³
- Area at flood risk
- 6.2%8.0%
- Annual rainfall
- 812 mm838 mm
- Sunshine hours
- 1,4101,493
— 12 / UK Cities
Population of major UK cities.
Top 10 UK cities by population, sourced from the latest available census and administrative data.
| # | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | London | 7,556,900 |
| 2 | Birmingham | 984,333 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 864,122 |
| 4 | Nottingham | 729,977 |
| 5 | Sheffield | 685,368 |
| 6 | Bristol | 617,280 |
| 7 | Glasgow | 591,620 |
| 8 | Leicester | 508,916 |
| 9 | Edinburgh | 464,990 |
| 10 | Leeds | 455,123 |
— 12b / County Towns
Town populations within the county.
Built-up area populations across the 2001, 2011 and 2021 census years.
| # | Town | 2001 | 2011 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durham | 42,452 | 46,819 | 50,515 |
| 2 | Consett | 24,145 | 28,165 | 29,885 |
| 3 | Newton Aycliffe | 25,657 | 25,964 | 25,766 |
| 4 | Chester-le-Street | 23,962 | 24,255 | 23,555 |
| 5 | Bishop Auckland | 21,755 | 22,763 | 23,354 |
| 6 | Seaham | 20,847 | 22,107 | 21,680 |
| 7 | Spennymoor | 17,443 | 17,962 | 20,419 |
| 8 | Peterlee | 21,245 | 19,532 | 19,743 |
| 9 | Stanley | 17,241 | 18,912 | 19,427 |
| 10 | Crook | 8,494 | 9,588 | 9,714 |
| 11 | Shildon | 9,820 | 9,545 | 9,651 |
| 12 | Brandon | 8,573 | 9,037 | 9,506 |
| 13 | Ferryhill | 9,906 | 9,237 | 8,857 |
| 14 | Annfield Plain | 7,256 | 7,445 | 7,779 |
| 15 | Pelton (/ Ouston) | 7,586 | 7,411 | 7,304 |
| 16 | Murton | 6,942 | 7,676 | 7,244 |
| 17 | Easington | 7,020 | 7,055 | 6,965 |
| 18 | Horden | 8,074 | 7,707 | 6,807 |
| 19 | Ushaw Moor (/ Bearpark) | 5,725 | 6,224 | 6,486 |
| 20 | Barnard Castle | 5,402 | 5,679 | 5,784 |
| 21 | Willington | 5,184 | 5,511 | 5,686 |
| 22 | Sacriston | 4,725 | 4,996 | 5,193 |
| 23 | Wingate | 4,448 | 4,987 | 5,033 |
| 24 | Sedgefield | 4,170 | 4,846 | 4,986 |
| 25 | Shotton Colliery | 4,265 | 4,359 | 4,946 |
| 26 | Bowburn | 3,675 | 4,119 | 4,840 |
| 27 | Chilton | 4,100 | 3,956 | 4,698 |
| 28 | Blackhall Colliery | 5,223 | 4,785 | 4,575 |
| 29 | Coxhoe | 4,306 | 4,422 | 4,544 |
| 30 | Langley Park | 4,118 | 4,149 | 4,030 |
| 31 | Esh Winning | 4,081 | 3,666 | 3,883 |
| 32 | Great Lumley | 3,843 | 3,684 | 3,630 |
| 33 | Lanchester | 3,668 | 3,543 | 3,508 |
| 34 | Leadgate | 3,502 | 3,561 | 3,338 |
| 35 | Wheatley Hill | 3,181 | 3,144 | 3,150 |
| 36 | West Auckland | 3,088 | 3,111 | 3,113 |
| 37 | Burnopfield | 2,929 | 2,929 | 2,995 |
| 38 | South Hetton | 2,618 | 3,032 | 2,874 |
| 39 | Trimdon | 3,007 | 2,958 | 2,838 |
| 40 | Sherburn | 2,735 | 2,824 | 2,802 |
| 41 | Dipton | 2,261 | 2,632 | 2,656 |
| 42 | Thornley | 2,526 | 2,457 | 2,544 |
| 43 | Witton Gilbert | 2,288 | 2,419 | 2,529 |
| 44 | Coundon (/ Leeholme) | 2,490 | 2,376 | 2,526 |
| 45 | Wolsingham | 2,340 | 2,503 | 2,427 |
| 46 | Cornforth | 2,409 | 2,501 | 2,424 |
| 47 | Tanfield Lea | 2,665 | 2,586 | 2,401 |
| 48 | Fishburn | 2,454 | 2,588 | 2,384 |
| 49 | West Rainton | 2,255 | 2,316 | 2,323 |
| 50 | Urpeth | 2,177 | 2,120 | 2,052 |
| 51 | Bournmoor | 2,117 | 2,082 | 1,996 |
| 52 | Toft Hill (/ High Etherley) | 2,073 | 1,929 | 1,864 |
| 53 | Tow Law | 1,682 | 1,831 | 1,796 |
| 54 | Trimdon Colliery | 1,553 | 1,780 | 1,789 |
| 55 | Whitehill | 1,286 | 1,370 | 1,679 |
| 56 | Evenwood | 1,679 | 1,608 | 1,590 |
| 57 | School Aycliffe | 968 | 1,402 | 1,588 |
| 58 | Stanhope | 1,644 | 1,602 | 1,572 |
| 59 | Castleside | 1,394 | 1,544 | 1,534 |
| 60 | Newfield | 976 | 1,050 | 1,529 |
| 61 | Blackhall Mill | 1,154 | 1,573 | 1,527 |
| 62 | Burnhope | 1,181 | 1,421 | 1,469 |
| 63 | Kelloe | 1,475 | 1,502 | 1,436 |
| 64 | Startforth | 1,313 | 1,361 | 1,391 |
| 65 | Cockfield | 1,401 | 1,402 | 1,353 |
| 66 | Staindrop | 1,327 | 1,310 | 1,334 |
| 67 | New Brancepeth | 1,077 | 1,144 | 1,280 |
| 68 | Billy Row | 999 | 1,015 | 1,256 |
| 69 | Trimdon Grange | 1,331 | 1,304 | 1,232 |
| 70 | Medomsley | 1,265 | 1,283 | 1,218 |
| 71 | Haswell | 1,007 | 1,248 | 1,186 |
| 72 | High Pittington | 1,226 | 1,175 | 1,145 |
| 73 | Bishop Middleham | 1,231 | 1,151 | 1,137 |
| 74 | Gainford | 1,010 | 1,133 | 1,129 |
| 75 | High Shincliffe | 1,177 | 1,141 | 1,044 |
| 76 | Eldon Lane (/ Coundon Grange) | 1,156 | 1,142 | 998 |
| 77 | Sherburn Hill | 816 | 831 | 954 |
| 78 | Tantobie | 965 | 926 | 933 |
| 79 | Craghead | 931 | 943 | 921 |
| 80 | Nettlesworth (/ Kimblesworth) | 854 | 824 | 899 |
| 81 | Middleton-in-Teesdale | 943 | 934 | 882 |
| 82 | Ebchester | 924 | 871 | 852 |
| 83 | Byers Green | 809 | 858 | 829 |
| 84 | Kirk Merrington | 722 | 799 | 754 |
| 85 | Hobson | 632 | 694 | 708 |
| 86 | West Pelton | 740 | 700 | 678 |
| 87 | Hunwick | 635 | 683 | 656 |
| 88 | Frosterley | 617 | 636 | 573 |
| 89 | Witton-le-Wear | 528 | 567 | 571 |
| 90 | Cotherstone | 552 | 594 | 554 |
— 13 / English Regions
Regional population comparison.
Population figures for English regions across the 2001, 2011 and 2021 census years.
| Region | 2001 | 2011 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 4,172,174 | 4,533,222 | 4,880,054 |
| East of England | 5,388,140 | 5,846,965 | 6,335,074 |
| North East England | 2,515,442 | 2,596,886 | 2,647,013 |
| North West England | 6,729,764 | 7,052,177 | 7,417,397 |
| South East England | 8,000,645 | 8,634,750 | 9,278,065 |
| South West England | 4,928,434 | 5,288,935 | 5,701,186 |
| West Midlands | 5,267,308 | 5,601,847 | 5,950,757 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 4,964,833 | 5,283,733 | 5,480,777 |
— Data sources
- ONS — population, age, ethnicity, housing
- Nomis — employment, earnings, qualifications
- Census 2021 (Nomis) — area vs England comparisons
- Police.uk — crime data
- MHCLG — Index of Multiple Deprivation
- Postcodes.io / GeoNames — boundary mapping