Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
3,877 residents make their home in this town in County Durham, North East.
Cheap to live in, with trade-offs. Work and incomes lag (D): the mean household earns £41,890 a year. Overall, Esh Winning earns a C: better than 31% of UK towns, and #26 of 52 in County Durham. Its strongest is cost of living: the median home sold for £116,000, 2.7 years of area income. It is easy to get around without a car (B+): on the way to work, 17% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Health is a weak point (D): life expectancy is 77.8 for men and 82.3 for women.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP.
The 3 things Esh Winning 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 Esh Winning is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 2 buildings inside Esh Winning’s built-up area.
30% 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 Esh Winning.
People 65 and over make up just over a fifth of the town, higher than both County Durham’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%). Aged 15 to 24: nearly one in ten residents. Half the people of Esh Winning are older than 45.4.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Esh Winning | County Durham | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 26% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.3% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 20% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · County Durham and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Its only school is listed below. At the 5 primary schools within 3 km, nearly three in five pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). The town’s primary school has 287 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esh Winning AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 287 | C |
Asked at the census, nearly three quarters of residents of Esh Winning said they were in good or very good health. Also worth knowing: the town has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 2.6 miles away. Men in Esh Winning can expect to live to 77.8, women to 82.3 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Esh Winning | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 74% | 77% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.8% | 7.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 25% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
13% rent privately, lower than both County Durham’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (21%). Home ownership stands at 56% of households. The median sale, £116,000, comes from 135 standard sales inside Esh Winning’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £212,000 | 24 |
| Semi-detached | £105,000 | 66 |
| Terraced | £90,000 | 45 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 20.7 reports per 1,000, above both County Durham’s towns (16) and England’s towns (7.8). A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 311 offences in Esh Winning and 102 cases of nuisance behaviour. Per 1,000 residents, 12.6 burglaries and acts of damage are recorded a year. Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Esh Winning has more crime per resident than 83% 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
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Every one of Esh Winning’s 2 listed buildings sits at Grade II, the most common listing. For its size, Esh Winning has 5 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, lower than both County Durham’s towns (7) and England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 18% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Jobs per working resident: 0.3. Working mainly from home: 18% of workers, below both County Durham’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (31%). 82% of commuters drove to work at the census. Of the commuters living in Esh Winning, 9% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Esh Winning. Best known first.
CastleBrancepeth Castle4.8 km outside town, to the southeast
Theme parkDiggerland3.2 km outside town, to the northeastAttractionAttractionUshaw Historic House, Chapels & Gardens2.5 km outside town, to the northeastZooZooPotter's Tropical Village3.3 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
8 notable people were born in Esh Winning.
Pat Glass: Jude and Paul, CC BY-SA 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esh Winning | 3,877 | — | C | A− | C− | D |
| Langley Park | 4,031 | 2.3 | C− | A− | C− | C− |
| New Brancepeth | 1,280 | 2.5 | — | A | D | D |
| Billy Row | 1,254 | 2.9 | — | A | C+ | C− |
| Ushaw Moor and Bearpark | 6,483 | 3 | C | A− | D | D |
| Lanchester | 3,510 | 3.7 | B+ | B+ | B | B− |
| Brandon | 9,508 | 3.7 | B− | A− | D | D |
| Burnhope | 1,465 | 3.7 | — | A− | C+ | C+ |
New Brancepeth, Billy Row and Burnhope 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 £116,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £90,000, semi-detached houses £105,000 and detached houses £212,000.
2 on Historic England’s list.
Police recorded 311 crimes inside Esh Winning’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 54% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Town in County Durham, England
Esh Winning is a built-up area of 3,877 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.