Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 23,359 residents, it is a large town in County Durham, North East.
Police record more crime here than in most towns (D−): police record 56.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 36.4 home and vehicle crimes. Residents’ health trails most towns (D): men here can expect to live to 75.3, women to 79.5. Homes are affordable: the median home sold for £144,000, 3.4 years of area income. The overall grade lands at D, #49 of 52 in County Durham. That leaves it better than 9% of UK towns. Incomes are on the low side: the mean household earns £39,087 a year.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP.
The 3 things Bishop Auckland 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 Bishop Auckland is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 92 buildings inside Bishop Auckland’s built-up area, 9 of them Grade I, and 2 scheduled monuments.
26% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Bishop Auckland. Best known first.
Historic house · English HeritageAuckland Castlein town
Art galleryMining Art Galleryin town
MuseumLocomotion - The National Railway Museum at Shildon3 km outside town, to the southeast · 94K visitors a year
CastleWitton Castle3.2 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumFaith Museumin townMuseumMuseumThe Bishopsin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Bishop Auckland.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 38.2 reports per 1,000, higher than both County Durham’s towns (16) and England’s towns (7.8). The 12 months to August 2026 brought 3,588 recorded crimes inside Bishop Auckland’s built-up area, and 965 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 36% 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.
55% of pupils at the town’s 8 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). St Anne's CofE Primary School’s results beat 85% of schools in England like it. Of its 15 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. Attainment 8 at the town’s 3 secondary schools averages 42.6, and 37% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Anne's CofE Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 238 | A |
| St John's Catholic School & Sixth Form CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,229 | C+ |
At the census, 24% of people here had a disability, higher than both County Durham’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (17%). Self-reported good health: 76% of Bishop Auckland’s residents. The nearest A&E to Bishop Auckland is Darlington Memorial Hospital, 9.6 miles away. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects nearly a tenth of the town.
| Census 2021 | Bishop Auckland | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 77% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.2% | 7.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 24% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes from before 1919 make up just over a quarter of the total, higher than both County Durham’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (16%). Bishop Auckland’s listed buildings include Auckland Castle, Grade I. At the top of the list, 9 are Grade I and 2 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
From September 2023 to August 2026, 1,032 homes sold inside Bishop Auckland’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £144,000. Private rents average £650 a month across the County Durham council area. 18% of households are private tenants.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £229,997 | 314 |
| Semi-detached | £143,500 | 320 |
| Terraced | £85,000 | 357 |
| Flat or maisonette | £48,000 | 41 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 19% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The census found 17% of commuters going to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Work in town: 33% of resident commuters. Bishop Auckland counts 1.1 jobs per working resident. Working mainly from home: nearly a fifth of workers, below County Durham’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (31%) alike.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Young adults of 15 to 24 are 11% of residents, below County Durham’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. At 44.4, the median resident of Bishop Auckland sits in the middle of the age range. Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Bishop Auckland | County Durham | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 23% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7% | 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
92 listed buildings in Bishop Auckland, 9 of them Grade I.
Church of St Helen: Photo: Vivienne Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0 · St Helen Hall: Photo: peter robinson · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Almshouses: Photo: Dave Bevis · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Green Tree Public House: Photo: Andrew Abbott · CC BY-SA 2.0
95 notable people were born in Bishop Auckland.
Ross Turnbull: Ross_Turnbull_in_2009.jpg: p_a_h from United Kingdom derivative work: Ytoyoda, CC BY 2.0 · Robert Kaye Greville: Benjamin Haydon, Public domain · Fiona Hill: Kuhlmann /MSC, CC BY 3.0 de · John James Jackson: John_James_Jackson, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Tony McMahon: Wonker, CC BY 2.0 · David Dowson: https://www.flickr.com/photos/andymitchellmiddleton/, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop Auckland | 23,359 | — | D | A− | D− | D |
| Shildon | 9,650 | 2.1 | D | A− | D− | D− |
| Coundon and Leeholme | 2,522 | 2.1 | C− | A | D− | D− |
| West Auckland | 3,107 | 2.2 | D | A− | D− | D |
| Toft Hill and High Etherley | 1,865 | 2.7 | — | A− | B+ | C |
| Evenwood | 1,587 | 3.8 | — | A− | D | C |
| Willington | 5,685 | 4.2 | D | A− | D− | D− |
| School Aycliffe | 1,590 | 4.4 | — | B− | A | B− |
Toft Hill and High Etherley, Evenwood and School Aycliffe have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 1.6 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Auckland Castle. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £144,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £48,000, terraced houses £85,000, semi-detached houses £143,500 and detached houses £229,997.
GCSE results trail 76% of towns in England, and primary results trail 78% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Large town in County Durham, England
Bishop Auckland is a built-up area of 23,359 people, in the County Durham 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.