Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.00.4% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
28% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership (England’s towns: 39%). Bishop Middleham had 1,136 residents and 506 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 49. Residents who describe themselves as White British: 98% of the total. Households with dependent children are rarer here than in just over four fifths of UK towns.
Older than 80% of UK towns: half of Bishop Middleham is over 49
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 65 and over tops 69% of UK towns: 24%. No age band is larger than 50–54: nearly one in ten residents.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 87 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Bishop Middleham ranks below 99% of UK towns on residents who moved in within the year: 5.6%
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%.
Here 5.3% of adults are full-time students, where the figure across England’s towns is 7.9%. Across the comparison, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Smaller households than 66% 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.
At 3.4%, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is in line with the figure across England’s towns. Lower than in 56% of UK towns: 29% of households are one person living alone.
42% of households live in a terraced house, a share 95% of UK towns don’t reach
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
In Bishop Middleham, 27% of households live in a detached house, beside 21% across England’s towns. At 10%, the share of households without a car or van is lower than in nearly four fifths of UK towns. Households in terraced houses: 24% across England’s towns, for comparison.
In Bishop Middleham, 2.8% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 94% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.4%). Bishop Middleham has more residents whose main language is English than nearly four fifths of UK towns, at 99%. For comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
59% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 92% of UK towns
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: 98% of Bishop Middleham · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
There is little gap on residents with no religion: 37%, about the same as across England’s towns. The usual figure: 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
52% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 76% 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
35 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Unpaid carers are more common here than in four fifths of UK towns. By way of comparison, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 35% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Bishop Middleham, 35% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 16% have no qualification at all (18%).
No nearby town is as old as Bishop Middleham
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Bishop Middleham’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Bishop Middleham’s residents
What is the population of Bishop Middleham?
The 2021 Census counted 1,136 people in Bishop Middleham’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Bishop Middleham?
The median age was 49 at the 2021 Census. 9.1% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bishop Middleham?
98% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 2.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bishop Middleham?
37% said they had no religion and 59% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 3.8% didn’t answer.
Is Bishop Middleham good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Bishop Middleham’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). 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.