Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 1,127 in County Durham, North East.
Gainford has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is hazard risk (A): 0% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Its weakest is schools (D−): primary results beat 5% of towns in England. The median home sold for £230,000 in the last three years, 5.4 times what households in the County Durham council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Gainford 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 Gainford is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Gainford’s built-up area.
44% 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 Gainford.
That puts Gainford above both County Durham’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%). People aged 15 to 24 make up 8.1% of the town. The median resident of Gainford is 53.5 years old.
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Gainford | County Durham | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.1% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 17% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 31% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.1% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 38% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · County Durham and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gainford Church of England Primary School and PreschoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 42 | C− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
On this, Gainford is above both County Durham’s towns (7) and England’s towns (39). Gainford’s listed buildings include Church of St Mary, Grade I. Gainford has 36 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 2 Grade I, 1 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 28% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
In the comparison, Gainford comes below both County Durham’s towns (41%) and England’s towns (45%). At the census, 8% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
For Gainford, that is below both County Durham’s towns (36.6) and England’s towns (22). Burglary and damage come to 10.4 per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 50 crimes inside Gainford’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 11 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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
At the census, 5.5% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, below County Durham’s towns (7.3%) and close to England’s towns (5.2%). The nearest A&E to Gainford is Darlington Memorial Hospital, 7 miles away. 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.
| Census 2021 | Gainford | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 77% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.5% | 7.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Gainford sits below both County Durham’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (21%) on this measure. Owners make up 73% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £272,500 | 16 |
| Semi-detached | £222,500 | 22 |
| Terraced | £177,500 | 14 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gainford | 1,127 | — | — | B− | A− | C+ |
| Staindrop | 1,339 | 3.6 | — | B | C+ | C+ |
| Evenwood | 1,587 | 5.2 | — | A− | D | C |
| Cockfield | 1,351 | 5.3 | — | A | C | C |
| Heighington | 1,548 | 5.7 | — | B | A− | A− |
| West Auckland | 3,107 | 5.7 | D | A− | D− | D |
| Shildon | 9,650 | 6.8 | D | A− | D− | D− |
| School Aycliffe | 1,590 | 6.8 | — | B− | A | B− |
Staindrop, Evenwood, Cockfield, Heighington and School Aycliffe have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Primary results trail 95% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by County Durham council.
That is 13.1 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Church of St Mary.
Against all UK towns, it grades A−. Police recorded 50 crimes inside Gainford’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 30% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Village in County Durham, England
Gainford is a built-up area of 1,127 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.