Photo: Christine Johnstone · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 55.6: Cotherstone is older than 97% of UK towns
Households with dependent children make up 21%, against 29% across England’s towns. Census figures put residents with no religion at 32% in Cotherstone. On households in flats, Cotherstone sits lower than 99% of UK towns: 0.4%. At the 2021 Census Cotherstone was home to 554 people in 263 households.
Only 6.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Cotherstone
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 60–64, with just over one in ten residents, 2.1 times the share across England’s towns. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are common here: 31%, more than in 92% of UK towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
4.2% of adults are full-time students, below 77% of UK towns
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%.
Nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier; across England’s towns the figure is 11%. Measured more widely, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Households here average 2.1 people, below 87% 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.
One-person households: 28%, below 65% of UK towns. What’s more, at 1.9%, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is lower than in 75% of UK towns.
9.6% of households have no car or van, fewer than in 84% 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 (43%), Cotherstone is above 82% of UK towns. Households in terraced houses: 30% of the total. Across the comparison, nearly a quarter of households have no car or van across England’s towns.
Only 2.9% of Cotherstone’s residents were born outside the UK
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
With residents whose main language is English at 100%, Cotherstone is ahead of 99% of UK towns on that count. The largest groups were born in Africa (1.1%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.9%). Against that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
More residents who describe themselves as White British than 98% of UK towns: 97%
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: 97% of Cotherstone · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 46% across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian in Cotherstone comes in at 62%. The share of residents who describe themselves as White British across England’s towns is 73%.
Married adults and civil partners: 64%, a higher share than 99% 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
By its share of adults who have never married (19%), Cotherstone is below 99% of UK towns. Across Cotherstone, just over one in ten residents give unpaid care. The usual figure: 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
42% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Cotherstone, 42% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 18% have no qualification at all (18%).
Every neighbour of Cotherstone has a younger population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cotherstone | 554 | — | 55.6 | 31% | 21% |
| Startforth | 1,391 | 2.9 mi | 38.3 | 23% | 22% |
| Barnard Castle | 5,783 | 3.1 mi | 51.8 | 30% | 20% |
| Staindrop | 1,339 | 7.1 mi | 51.8 | 29% | 22% |
| Cockfield | 1,351 | 7.5 mi | 51.2 | 27% | 21% |
| Evenwood | 1,587 | 9.5 mi | 46.5 | 23% | 23% |
| Gainford | 1,127 | 10 mi | 53.5 | 31% | 24% |
| Toft Hill and High Etherley | 1,865 | 10.8 mi | 51 | 27% | 22% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Cotherstone’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 Cotherstone’s residents
What is the population of Cotherstone?
The 2021 Census counted 554 people in Cotherstone’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Cotherstone?
The median age was 55.6 at the 2021 Census. 6.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 31% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cotherstone?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 2.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cotherstone?
32% said they had no religion and 62% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6.1% didn’t answer.
Is Cotherstone good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Cotherstone’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.