Photo: Jack Bromby · Public domain97% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 97% of UK towns
Set against 4.3% across England’s towns, 1.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Billingham. Meanwhile, more households in terraced houses than in nearly three quarters of UK towns: 27%. This County Durham town had 33,917 residents and 15,016 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 44.2 (younger than 52% of UK towns). Here, 18% of households live in a detached house.
What the Census says about Billingham’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Billingham at 36,100 in 2011 and 34,500 in 2024, down 4%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 97% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Many carers
3,635 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 11% of those 5 and over: more than in 91% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Billingham changed by −4% from 2011 to 2024, slower than 97% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Billingham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 36,100 people in 2011; 34,500 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +23% for the 65 and over to −25% for the 16 to 29.
Residents aged 65 and over make up 21% in Billingham, less than in 54% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 55–59: 8% of residents. Across the comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Half of Billingham’s residents are under 44.2, younger than in 52% of UK towns. In Lanchester, the oldest of County Durham’s towns by this measure, it is 32%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Billingham, 44.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Residents who moved in within the year: 6.6%, a lower share than 91% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for 25% of Billingham’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 32%, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. Locally, 5.4% of adults are full-time students.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Smaller households than 63% of UK towns: 2.2 people on average
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against County Durham’s towns and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
Across England’s towns, 30% of households are one person living alone; in Billingham, 32%. Fewer households with dependent children than in 57% of UK towns: 27%.
Billingham sits below 68% of UK towns for households in flats (7.8%)
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
At 24%, households without a car or van sit close to the figure across England’s towns. Set beside that, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
2.9% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 92% of UK towns
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 25%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Of residents born abroad, 12% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents were born outside the UK. The census found that 99% of residents have English as their main language in Billingham.
More residents who describe themselves as Christian than 66% of UK towns: 52%
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 97% of Billingham · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion make up 42%, against 37% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
In Billingham, 11% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 91% of UK towns
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
For 1,328 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. As a reference point, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Adults who have never married are more common here than in 62% of UK towns. Where 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns, Billingham has 45%.
24% of adults hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
20% of Billingham’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 24% have one at degree level (34%).
From a median age of 37 in Billingham East & Haverton Hill to 59 in Billingham West, Stillington & Longnewton
The town’s 5 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Billingham West, Stillington & Longnewton is the oldest area, with 39% aged 65 or over; Billingham East & Haverton Hill the youngest (median age 37). Families with children are most common in Billingham East & Haverton Hill (31% of households).
201 UK towns of 24,000 to 46,000 people: this is the 49th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Hatfield is the youngest (30.3); Rustington the oldest (56.2). Nearest to Billingham in age: Wilmslow (44.1), Melton Mowbray (44.1), Tadworth and Epsom Downs (44.2) and Fleetwood (44.4).
No nearby town is as old as Billingham
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billingham | 33,917 | — | 44.2 | 21% | 27% |
| Wynyard | 4,040 | 3.1 mi | 40.6 | 12% | 39% |
| Stockton-on-Tees | 84,824 | 3.2 mi | 40.6 | 19% | 28% |
| Thornaby-on-Tees | 23,352 | 4.7 mi | 39.5 | 19% | 28% |
| Middlesbrough | 148,232 | 5 mi | 37.5 | 17% | 30% |
| Stillington | 1,407 | 5.4 mi | 40.4 | 15% | 36% |
| Hartlepool | 88,001 | 5.5 mi | 42.3 | 20% | 28% |
| Eston | 29,625 | 6.2 mi | 42 | 20% | 28% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “County Durham’s towns” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in County Durham (or England), summed the same way as Billingham’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Billingham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 33,813 people in 2021, against 33,917 in the built-up area.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Billingham’s residents
What is the population of Billingham?
The 2021 Census counted 33,917 people in Billingham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 34,500 people in mid-2024, 4% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Billingham?
The median age was 44.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 52% of UK towns. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Billingham?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 2.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Billingham?
42% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Billingham good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Billingham East & Haverton Hill (31% of households). Schools are on Billingham’s schools page.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.