Photo: Robert Graham · CC BY-SA 2.0A higher share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 98% of UK towns, at 97%
One-person households make up 34%, against 30% across England’s towns. For Crook, the census puts households in terraced houses at 39%. 1.6% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, a lower share than in 87% of UK towns. The town counted 9,717 residents and 4,427 households at the 2021 Census.
Slower than most: +3% since 2011, behind 70% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Crook’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 10,000 people in 2011; 10,300 in 2024.
The steepest year was mid-2022 to mid-2023, up 130 people. The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+25%), the 30 to 44 group the smallest (−5%).
10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, a share 67% of UK towns don’t reach
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. With a median age of 44.3, Crook is younger than just over half of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24. No age band is larger than 55–59: 7.5% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Crook, 44.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer full-time students than 62% of UK towns: 4.6%
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 Crook, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier, beside 11% across England’s towns. Set beside that, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
Crook households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 81% 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.
Households with dependent children account for 27%.
Only 6.1% of households live in a flat or apartment in Crook
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
26% of households have no car or van; across England’s towns the figure is 24%. Households in detached houses are rarer here than in 65% of UK towns. To put it in context, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK: 2.4%, a lower share than 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Of residents born abroad, 24% arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. 99% of residents have English as their main language. The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns.
Above 83% of UK towns: 56% of residents describe themselves as Christian
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 Crook · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
On religion, 38% answered “no religion” and 56% Christian, against 37% and 46% across England’s towns.
In Crook, 35% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 66% 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
At 44%, the share of married adults and civil partners is in line with the figure across England’s towns. Census figures put unpaid carers at 10% in Crook. As a yardstick, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 22% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 22% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 23% hold no qualification (18%).
Among 413 UK towns of 7,000 to 13,000 people, the 200th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 28.4 in Tidworth to 61 in Seaton. Nearest to Crook in age: Shaftesbury (44.2), Treorchy (44.2), Market Weighton (44.3) and Darfield (44.3).
6 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Crook
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crook | 9,717 | — | 44.3 | 21% | 27% |
| Billy Row | 1,254 | 1.7 mi | 39.6 | 15% | 29% |
| Willington | 5,685 | 2.3 mi | 44.7 | 22% | 27% |
| Tow Law | 1,796 | 3.6 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 26% |
| Toft Hill and High Etherley | 1,865 | 4.2 mi | 51 | 27% | 22% |
| Esh Winning | 3,877 | 4.5 mi | 45.4 | 22% | 25% |
| Bishop Auckland | 23,359 | 4.9 mi | 44.4 | 21% | 27% |
| Wolsingham | 2,428 | 5.5 mi | 52.1 | 30% | 23% |
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 Crook’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. Crook’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 10,123 people in 2021, against 9,717 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 Crook’s residents
What is the population of Crook?
The 2021 Census counted 9,717 people in Crook’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 10,300 people in mid-2024, 3% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Crook?
The median age was 44.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 51% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Crook?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 2.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Crook?
38% said they had no religion and 56% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Crook good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Crook’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. 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.