Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 23,554 residents, it is a large town in County Durham, North East.
Where it does best is schools (A−): primary results beat 95% of towns in England; secondary results beat 59% of towns in England. The trade-off is safety — police record 37.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 18.9 home and vehicle crimes. Set beside UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 72%. Homes sell for a median £167,500, about 3.9 years of what households in the County Durham council area earn. It also trails on health — life expectancy 78.9 for men, 83.2 for women. All told, that adds up to a B overall and a rank of #11 of 52 in County Durham. Set against the rest, it does better than 57% of UK towns.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy and incomes, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things Chester-le-Street 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 Chester-le-Street is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 7 buildings inside Chester-le-Street’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
13% 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 Chester-le-Street. Best known first.
MuseumBeamish Museum4.4 km outside town, to the northwest · 350K visitors a year
CastleLumley Castle200 m outside town, to the east
CastleLambton Castle1.7 km outside town, to the northeast
Abbey or priory · English HeritageFinchale Priory3.3 km outside town, to the southeast
Museum · National TrustWashington Old Hall3.8 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumBowes Railway4.8 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Chester-le-Street.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Violence and sexual offences accounted for 39% of recorded crime. Over the year to August 2026, 2,209 offences were reported in Chester-le-Street, along with 484 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Also worth knowing: there were 19.5 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both County Durham’s towns (16) and England’s towns (7.8).
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.
Secondary results at the town’s 2 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 48.2, with 45% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Bullion Lane Primary School’s results beat nearly every one of schools in England like it. At the town’s 6 primary schools, nearly three quarters of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cestria Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 426 | A+ |
| Park View SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,631 | B− |
| Bullion Lane Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 292 | A+ |
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 13% of the total, lower than both County Durham’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (16%). One scheduled monument lies in Chester-le-Street. The town has one registered historic park or garden.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
69% of households own their home, above both County Durham’s towns (62%) and England’s towns (61%). Private rents average £650 a month across the County Durham council area. Social renters account for 18% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £310,000 | 229 |
| Semi-detached | £185,000 | 319 |
| Terraced | £126,752 | 320 |
| Flat or maisonette | £89,000 | 119 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
3 GP practices serve the town; nearly three quarters of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 78% of Chester-le-Street’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, close to County Durham’s towns (77%) and below England’s towns (82%). At the census, 6.7% of people here described their health as bad or very bad.
| Census 2021 | Chester-le-Street | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 77% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.7% | 7.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 29% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
By car: that was how 81% of commuters travelled at the census. Households had £47K a year before tax, between County Durham’s towns (£43K) and England’s towns (£55K). There are 0.8 jobs in Chester-le-Street for each resident in work. 18% of commuters who live in Chester-le-Street also work there.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
31% of adults hold a degree, between County Durham’s towns (27%) and England’s towns (34%). The 65-and-over age group makes up 25% of residents. Ages in Chester-le-Street split evenly at 48.6: half are older, half younger. People aged 15 to 24 are a tenth of the population.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 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.
| Chester-le-Street | County Durham | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 31% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · County Durham and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
7 listed buildings in Chester-le-Street, 1 of them Grade I.
Concangium Roman fort: Photo: JohnBlackburne · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Queens Head Hotel: Photo: Alexander P Kapp · CC BY-SA 2.0
55 notable people were born in Chester-le-Street.
Bryan Robson: Government of Thailand, CC BY 2.0 · Colin Todd: Original: Robert Collette / Derivative work: Danyele, Public domain · Aidan Chambers: Niccolò Caranti, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Grant Leadbitter: Timmy96, CC0 · Geordie Walker: Tuomas Vitikainen, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chester-le-Street | 23,554 | — | B | A− | C− | C |
| Whitehill | 1,679 | 1.1 | — | B | D | D− |
| Newfield | 1,529 | 1.7 | — | A− | B+ | D |
| Pelton and Ouston | 7,305 | 1.7 | C | B+ | C− | C− |
| Great Lumley | 3,627 | 1.9 | B+ | B+ | B | C− |
| Bournmoor | 1,991 | 2.5 | — | C | D | C− |
| Urpeth | 2,048 | 2.5 | — | A− | A | B |
| Birtley | 13,840 | 2.9 | C | C+ | C− | D |
Whitehill, Newfield, Bournmoor and Urpeth have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Secondary results are closer to the middle, beating 59%.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £167,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £89,000, terraced houses £126,752, semi-detached houses £185,000 and detached houses £310,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Large town in County Durham, England
Chester-le-Street is a built-up area of 23,554 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.
