Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 33,917 in County Durham, North East.
Billingham grades C overall against UK towns: better than 30% of UK towns, and #28 of 52 in County Durham. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): median sale £145,000, 2.9 years of area income; rent £735 a month. Its weakest is safety (D): 38.6 violent and sexual offences and 24.3 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 18%.
The 3 things Billingham does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Billingham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 10 buildings inside Billingham’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
1% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Billingham.
16% rent privately, lower than both County Durham’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (21%). The median sale, £145,000, comes from 1,163 standard sales inside Billingham’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Social housing holds 17% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £231,000 | 225 |
| Semi-detached | £145,000 | 629 |
| Terraced | £115,000 | 292 |
| Flat or maisonette | £78,000 | 17 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Oakdene Primary Academy’s results beat 96% of schools in England like it. Three of its 13 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. At the town’s 10 primary schools, 58% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billingham South Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 452 | C− |
| St Michael's Catholic AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 892 | B− |
| Oakdene Primary AcademyTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 299 | A+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Billingham’s listed buildings include the Church of St Cuthbert, Grade I. Per 10,000 residents, Billingham counts 3 listed buildings, below County Durham’s towns (7) and England’s towns (39) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Billingham logged 3,094 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 537 complaints of anti-social conduct. Among the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Billingham has more crime per resident than 82% of them. There were 18.5 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both County Durham’s towns (16) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences were two fifths of the crimes.
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
Just over a fifth of residents have a disability, close to County Durham’s towns (22%) and above England’s towns (17%). Self-reported good health: 77% of Billingham’s residents. 6 GP practices serve the town; 78% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 7.1% of people here described their health as bad or very bad.
| Census 2021 | Billingham | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 77% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.1% | 7.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 18% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
15% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below both County Durham’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (27%). For every resident in work, Billingham has 1 jobs. Household income averages £47K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
People 65 and over make up 21% of the town, near County Durham’s towns (21%) and higher than England’s towns (18%). The 15-to-24 age group makes up 9.7% of residents. Billingham has a median age of 44.2 years.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Billingham | County Durham | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.7% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.9% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 24% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · County Durham and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Billingham. Best known first.
Art galleryMiddlesbrough Institute of Modern Art1.2 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumDorman Museum2.1 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumTeessaurus Park300 m outside town, to the southeast
Historic houseAcklam Hall3.8 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumTransporter Bridge Visitor Centre200 m outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
25 notable people were born in Billingham.
Jamie Bell: Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Eddie Jobson: Lrheath, CC BY-SA 3.0 · James Wharton: ©House of Lords / photography by Roger Harris, CC BY 3.0 · Paul Smith: Stuart Sevastos, CC BY 2.0 · Martin Barnaby Madden: Bain News Service, Public domain · Tony Barras: hounddog7, CC BY 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billingham | 33,917 | — | C | A | D | D |
| Wynyard | 4,040 | 3.1 | A− | C+ | A− | A− |
| Stockton-on-Tees | 84,824 | 3.2 | C+ | A | D− | D |
| Thornaby-on-Tees | 23,352 | 4.7 | C− | A | D− | D− |
| Middlesbrough | 148,232 | 5 | C− | A− | D− | D |
| Stillington | 1,407 | 5.4 | — | A | C | B |
| Hartlepool | 88,001 | 5.5 | C− | A− | D− | D |
| Eston | 29,625 | 6.2 | D | A | D− | D− |
Stillington has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £145,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £78,000, terraced houses £115,000, semi-detached houses £145,000 and detached houses £231,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
GCSE results trail 63% of towns in England, and primary results trail 66% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Large town in County Durham, England
Billingham is a built-up area of 33,917 people, in the Stockton-on-Tees council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.