Photo: Gordon Hatton · CC BY-SA 2.0Half of Cockfield is over 51.2, older than 90% of UK towns
Households in terraced houses: 49% here and 24% across England’s towns. Few places have as many one-person households: 38% here, more than in 97% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 1,351 people lived in Cockfield, in 669 households. 1.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
What the Census says about Cockfield’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Cockfield’s residents are under 51.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 27% are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. Ages ↓
Many carers
153 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 12% of those 5 and over: more than in 95% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
A larger share of residents aged 65 and over than 82% of UK towns: 27%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 50–54 than any other five-year age: 9.3% of residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. As a yardstick, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 9.5% in Cockfield.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
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.
Below 83% of UK towns: 7.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier
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%.
In Cockfield, a fifth of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 36% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The share of full-time students stands at 5.1%. As a yardstick, 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.
Cockfield ranks below 93% of UK towns on households with dependent children: 21%
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.
In Cockfield the average household is 2 people, beside 2.4 across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
3.9% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 88% of UK towns
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
By its share of households in detached houses (15%), Cockfield is below 86% of UK towns. Still, just over a fifth of households have no car or van, a higher share than in 81% of UK towns. Against that, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
In Cockfield, 99% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 97% 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
Here 3.3% of residents were born outside the UK, where the figure across England’s towns is 18%. Measured more widely, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1.4%), then in Africa (0.7%).
98% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 99% 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 Cockfield · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
In Cockfield, 33% of residents said they have no religion, beside 37% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for residents who describe themselves as White British is 73% across England’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: three fifths of the total.
Cockfield: 12% of residents give unpaid care, above 95% 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
Against a figure of 39% across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married in Cockfield comes in at 33%. Across the comparison, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. On the census count, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 20%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
27% of Cockfield’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 20% have one at degree level (34%).
A younger town than 3 of the 7 around it: Cockfield
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cockfield | 1,351 | — | 51.2 | 27% | 21% |
| Evenwood | 1,587 | 2 mi | 46.5 | 23% | 23% |
| Staindrop | 1,339 | 2.2 mi | 51.8 | 29% | 22% |
| Toft Hill and High Etherley | 1,865 | 3.5 mi | 51 | 27% | 22% |
| West Auckland | 3,107 | 3.6 mi | 45.9 | 23% | 27% |
| Gainford | 1,127 | 5.3 mi | 53.5 | 31% | 24% |
| Bishop Auckland | 23,359 | 5.7 mi | 44.4 | 21% | 27% |
| Barnard Castle | 5,783 | 6.4 mi | 51.8 | 30% | 20% |
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 Cockfield’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 Cockfield’s residents
What is the population of Cockfield?
The 2021 Census counted 1,351 people in Cockfield’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Cockfield?
The median age was 51.2 at the 2021 Census. 9.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cockfield?
98% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 3.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cockfield?
33% said they had no religion and 60% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6.4% didn’t answer.
Is Cockfield good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Cockfield’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.