Photo: Robert Graham · CC BY-SA 2.0Ferryhill sits above 99% of UK towns for one-person households (40%)
Households with dependent children make up 21%, against 29% across England’s towns. 8,857 residents in 4,406 households: that is Ferryhill at the 2021 Census. Locally, 33% of households have no car or van. More households in terraced houses than in 97% of UK towns: 45%.
What the Census says about Ferryhill’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Ferryhill at 8,700 in 2011 and 8,400 in 2024, down 3%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 94% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
A −3% change since 2011: slower than 94% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Ferryhill’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 8,700 people in 2011; 8,400 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +15% for the 65 and over to −14% for the 16 to 29.
A median age of 46.9: Ferryhill is older than 68% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
55–59 is the most common age band: 8% of residents. Higher than in nearly two thirds of UK towns: 24% of residents are 65 or over. In Lanchester, the oldest of County Durham’s towns by this measure, it is 32%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Ferryhill, 46.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A larger share of residents who moved in within the year than 60% of UK towns: 9.2%
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 18% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 36% (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Full-time students are more common here than in 53% of UK towns. As a yardstick, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
2 people per household, fewer than in 98% 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.
4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns, against 1.5% in Ferryhill.
Fewer households in flats than 93% of UK towns: 3%
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
Set against 21% across England’s towns, 12% of households live in a detached house in Ferryhill. The comparison figure for households in flats is 23% across England’s towns.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 88% of UK towns: 3.3%
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1.6%), then in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). Higher than in 69% of UK towns: 98% of residents have English as their main language. As a reference point, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are 16% of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns).
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 89% of UK towns: 96%
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: 96% of Ferryhill · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Where 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns, Ferryhill has 42%. Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 73% across England’s towns. The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian stands at 52%.
A smaller share of married adults and civil partners than 89% of UK towns: 41%
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
364 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Compared with other places, unpaid carers are common here: 11%, more than in 90% of UK towns. Married adults and civil partners make up 44% across England’s towns. Where 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across England’s towns, Ferryhill has 37%.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 19%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Ferryhill’s adults: 19% with a degree-level qualification and 26% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
From a median age of 44 in Spennymoor East & Ferryhill West to 49 in Ferryhill East & Cornforth
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Ferryhill East & Cornforth is the oldest area, with 26% aged 65 or over; Spennymoor East & Ferryhill West the youngest (median age 44). Families with children are most common in Spennymoor East & Ferryhill West (21% of households).
Ranked by age, 154th oldest of 482 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tidworth is the youngest (28.4); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Ferryhill in age: Axminster (46.8), Gowerton (46.8), Nuthall and Watnall (46.9) and Codsall (46.9).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 2 are older than Ferryhill
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ferryhill | 8,857 | — | 46.9 | 24% | 21% |
| Chilton | 4,693 | 1.8 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 25% |
| Cornforth | 2,424 | 1.8 mi | 47.9 | 25% | 20% |
| Spennymoor | 20,401 | 2.3 mi | 42.1 | 20% | 27% |
| Bishop Middleham | 1,136 | 2.5 mi | 49 | 24% | 24% |
| Coxhoe | 4,542 | 2.7 mi | 43.7 | 18% | 28% |
| Coundon and Leeholme | 2,522 | 3.7 mi | 41.1 | 20% | 27% |
| Bowburn | 4,843 | 3.8 mi | 38.3 | 16% | 27% |
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 Ferryhill’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. Ferryhill’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 8,406 people in 2021, against 8,857 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 Ferryhill’s residents
What is the population of Ferryhill?
The 2021 Census counted 8,857 people in Ferryhill’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 8,400 people in mid-2024, 3% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Ferryhill?
The median age was 46.9 at the 2021 Census, older than 68% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ferryhill?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 3.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ferryhill?
42% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 4.7% didn’t answer.
Is Ferryhill good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Spennymoor East & Ferryhill West (21% of households). Schools are on Ferryhill’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.