Photo: Robert Graham · CC BY-SA 2.0Consett sits above 92% of UK towns for households in terraced houses (37%)
In Consett, 1.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, beside 4.3% across England’s towns. On the census count, nearly three in five residents describe themselves as Christian. More one-person households than in 75% of UK towns: 33%. Census day 2021: 29,874 residents and 13,423 households locally.
A +9% change since 2011: faster than 56% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Consett’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 27,500 people in 2011; 29,900 in 2024.
Between mid-2020 and mid-2021 the population rose by 320, its biggest one-year gain. The 65 and over age group changed most (+26%) and the 16 to 29 least (+2%).
Consett is younger than 64% of UK towns: a median age of 42.7
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 50–54: 7.5% of residents. Compared with other places, residents aged 15 to 24 are common here: 10%, more than in 68% of UK towns. With residents aged 65 and over at 19%, Consett is behind 70% of UK towns on that count.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Consett, 42.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Only 6.9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Consett
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%.
29% of Consett’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 30% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, residents who moved in within the year come to 11%. Locally, 5.3% of adults are full-time students.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Consett households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 74% of UK towns
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 Consett, 28% of households have dependent children, beside 29% across England’s towns.
Below 78% of UK towns: 6% of households live in a flat or apartment
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
Against a figure of 21% across England’s towns, the share of households in detached houses in Consett comes in at 20%. On average, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. About one household in 4 lives without a car or van.
A lower share of residents born outside the UK than 77% of UK towns, at 4%
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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%). By way of comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. At 98%, the share of residents whose main language is English is higher than in 54% of UK towns. Since 2017: 14% of those born abroad, against 21% across England’s towns.
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 95%, a higher share than 81% 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: 95% of Consett · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
36% of residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns. The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (2.6%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Indian (0.3%). As a reference point, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
Above 71% of UK towns: 36% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
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
10% of residents give unpaid care, against 8.7% across England’s towns. Adults who have never married make up 39% across England’s towns. In Consett, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 28% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 34% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Consett, 28%, and 18% have none, against 18%.
From a median age of 37 in Bridgehill, Castleside & Harehope Hill to 47 in Benfieldside, Hamsterley & Medomsley
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Benfieldside, Hamsterley & Medomsley is the oldest area, with 23% aged 65 or over; Bridgehill, Castleside & Harehope Hill the youngest (median age 37). Families with children are most common in Bridgehill, Castleside & Harehope Hill (34% of households).
Ranked by age, 103rd oldest of 227 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 31.1 in Egham to 56.2 in Rustington. Nearest to Consett in age: Frome (42.6), Ashington (42.7), Rawtenstall (42.7) and Leyland (42.7).
6 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Consett
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consett | 29,874 | — | 42.7 | 19% | 28% |
| Leadgate | 3,339 | 1.4 mi | 43.2 | 20% | 25% |
| Castleside | 1,532 | 1.9 mi | 50.3 | 27% | 24% |
| Medomsley | 1,216 | 2.3 mi | 49.6 | 25% | 25% |
| Blackhall Mill | 1,528 | 3.5 mi | 47.3 | 25% | 23% |
| Dipton | 2,653 | 3.9 mi | 45.2 | 23% | 27% |
| Annfield Plain | 7,786 | 4 mi | 42 | 20% | 25% |
| Lanchester | 3,510 | 4.4 mi | 52.2 | 32% | 23% |
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 Consett’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Consett’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 29,261 people in 2021, against 29,874 in the built-up area.
- 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 Consett’s residents
What is the population of Consett?
The 2021 Census counted 29,874 people in Consett’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 29,900 people in mid-2024, 9% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Consett?
The median age was 42.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 64% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Consett?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Consett?
36% said they had no religion and 59% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 4.2% didn’t answer.
Is Consett good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Bridgehill, Castleside & Harehope Hill (34% of households). Schools are on Consett’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) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.