Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 9,717 in County Durham, North East.
Crook grades C− overall against UK towns: better than 15% of UK towns, and #42 of 52 in County Durham. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): median sale £115,000, 2.7 years of area income; rent £650 a month. Its weakest is jobs & income (D): mean household income £38,604; 3.8% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
The 3 things Crook 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 Crook is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 5 buildings inside Crook’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
29% 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 Crook.
Police figures for Crook’s built-up area: 1,009 crimes and 280 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence came to 45.4 per 1,000 residents a year, higher than both County Durham’s towns (35.8) and England’s towns (22). Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Crook has more crime per resident than 95% of them.
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
Of its 3 schools, one is shown below, with the reason. 60% of pupils at the town’s 3 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 42, with 40% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crook Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 342 | C |
At the census, 77% of people in Crook called their health good or very good, near County Durham’s towns (77%) and lower than England’s towns (82%). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 7.8% of the town. Women here live to 80.5 on average and men to 77.3 (2019–23). One GP practice serves the town; 75% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Crook | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 77% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.8% | 7.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 24% | 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.
16% rent privately, below County Durham’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. From September 2023 to August 2026, 350 homes sold inside Crook’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £115,000. That is the middle of 350 standard sales inside the town’s built-up area over three years, against £277,000 in the typical UK town.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £221,000 | 94 |
| Semi-detached | £129,875 | 72 |
| Terraced | £93,999 | 178 |
| Flat or maisonette | £60,000 | 6 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Historic England’s list names 5 listed buildings in Crook: 1 Grade II*. Conservation areas cover nearly a tenth of the town’s land, higher than both County Durham’s towns (0%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
On foot, by bike or by bus and train: that was how 15% of commuters travelled at the census. Working mainly from home: 20% of workers, lower than both County Durham’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (31%). For every resident in work, Crook has 0.7 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
People 65 and over make up just over a fifth of the town, about level with County Durham’s towns (21%) and above England’s towns (18%). Young adults of 15 to 24 are a tenth of the population. At 44.3, the median resident of Crook sits in the middle of the age range.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Crook | County Durham | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 23% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.9% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 22% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · County Durham and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Crook. Best known first.
CastleWitton Castle3.9 km outside town, to the southHistoric siteHistoric siteBinchester Roman Fort4.9 km outside town, to the southeastAttractionAttractionHarperley Camp (WW2 POW camp)2 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
5 listed buildings in Crook.
Premises Occupied by Jg Forster and Ye Olde Horse Shoe Inn: Photo: Andrew Curtis · CC BY-SA 2.0 · War Memorial, Piers and Chain: Photo: Jake Ian Russ · CC BY-SA 3.0
22 notable people were born in Crook.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crook | 9,717 | — | C− | A | D | D |
| Billy Row | 1,254 | 1.7 | — | A | C+ | C− |
| Willington | 5,685 | 2.3 | D | A− | D− | D− |
| Tow Law | 1,796 | 3.6 | — | A− | D | D− |
| Toft Hill and High Etherley | 1,865 | 4.2 | — | A− | B+ | C |
| Esh Winning | 3,877 | 4.5 | C | A− | C− | D |
| Bishop Auckland | 23,359 | 4.9 | D | A− | D− | D |
| Wolsingham | 2,428 | 5.5 | — | B | B | B− |
Billy Row, Tow Law, Toft Hill and High Etherley and Wolsingham 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 £115,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £60,000, terraced houses £93,999, semi-detached houses £129,875 and detached houses £221,000.
Police recorded 1,009 crimes inside Crook’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 44% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
GCSE results trail 72% of towns in England, and primary results trail 61% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Crook has 3 state schools; places are handled by County Durham council.
Town in County Durham, England
Crook is a built-up area of 9,717 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.
