Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 1,351: a village in County Durham, North East.
Cost of living is where it shines: the median home sold for £95,000, 2.2 years of area income. Its schools beat most: primary results beat 68% of towns in England. The local economy is weaker than most (D−): households earn a mean £41,400 a year, and 4% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Hazard risk is lower than in most UK towns (A).
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency. With fewer than 2,500 residents, Cockfield has subject grades but no overall one.
The 3 things Cockfield 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 Cockfield is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Cockfield’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
56% 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 Cockfield.
58 standard sales inside Cockfield’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £95,000. Private rents average £650 a month across the County Durham council area. 64% of households own their home, near County Durham’s towns (62%) and higher than England’s towns (61%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £242,500 | 6 |
| Semi-detached | £93,787 | 14 |
| Terraced | £90,000 | 38 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Key Stage 2 results at the 4 primary schools within 3 km: nearly two thirds of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Below is its only school. Its one primary school teaches 115 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cockfield Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 115 | B− |
Reported offences in Cockfield came to 102 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 17. Violence comes to 31.6 per 1,000 residents a year. For its size, Cockfield records more crime per resident than 88% of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people. There were 7.4 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), lower than both County Durham’s towns (16.5) 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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
For its size, Cockfield has 59 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, above both County Durham’s towns (7) and England’s towns (39). The town has 8 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade II*. Also worth knowing: it has one scheduled monument.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
27% of residents have a disability, higher than both County Durham’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (17%). One GP practice serves the town; 95% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Cockfield is Darlington Memorial Hospital, 11.3 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Cockfield | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 71% | 77% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 9.5% | 7.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 27% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like 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.
86% of commuters drove, above County Durham’s towns (80%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. Cockfield counts 0.2 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Cockfield has a median age of 51.2. People 65 and over make up 27% of the town. Young adults of 15 to 24 are nearly one in ten residents, lower than both County Durham’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (12%). Among adults, 20% have a degree.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
| Cockfield | County Durham | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.5% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 32% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 27% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 27% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.2% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 20% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · County Durham and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
7 notable people were born in Cockfield.
Jeremiah Dixon: Illustrator unknown; published by Ginn and Company., Public domain · Robert Dixon: Unidentified photographer, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cockfield | 1,351 | — | — | A | C | C |
| Evenwood | 1,587 | 2 | — | A− | D | C |
| Staindrop | 1,339 | 2.2 | — | B | C+ | C+ |
| Toft Hill and High Etherley | 1,865 | 3.5 | — | A− | B+ | C |
| West Auckland | 3,107 | 3.6 | D | A− | D− | D |
| Gainford | 1,127 | 5.3 | — | B− | A− | C+ |
| Bishop Auckland | 23,359 | 5.7 | D | A− | D− | D |
| Barnard Castle | 5,783 | 6.4 | B+ | C+ | C+ | C+ |
Evenwood, Staindrop, Toft Hill and High Etherley and Gainford have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get 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 £95,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £90,000, semi-detached houses £93,787 and detached houses £242,500.
That is 2.4 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Police recorded 102 crimes inside Cockfield’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 50% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Village in County Durham, England
Cockfield is a built-up area of 1,351 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.