Photo: Nigel Thompson · CC BY-SA 2.0Older than 97% of UK towns: half of Greatham is over 55.3
Households with dependent children make up 17%, against 29% across England’s towns. Greatham has more households in terraced houses than 96% of UK towns, at 44%. In 2021, the Census found 851 residents locally, living in 411 households. The share of residents with no religion stands at 31%.
Greatham ranks above 94% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 32%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 60–64 than any other five-year age: 9.8% of residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. Typically, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. The census found that nearly one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 in Greatham.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
54% women, 46% men
About 84 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.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 67% of UK towns, at 7.9%
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 Greatham, 25% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 28% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Here, 4.5% of adults are full-time students. Measured more widely, just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
One-person households make up 39% in Greatham, more 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.
Compared with 4.3% across England’s towns, 1.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home here. Each household has 2 people on average. Against that, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Greatham: 20% of households have no car or van, above 71% of UK towns
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
Across England’s towns, 21% of households live in a detached house; in Greatham, 20%. Households without a car or van make up 24% across England’s towns. Locally, 9.1% of households live in a flat or apartment.
A lower share of residents born outside the UK than 99% of UK towns, at 1.9%
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Against a figure of 90% across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English in Greatham comes in at 99%. The share of residents born outside the UK across England’s towns is 18%. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.5%).
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 98% in Greatham, more than in 99% of UK towns
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: 98% of Greatham · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 61% in Greatham and 46% across England’s towns. The share of residents who describe themselves as White British across England’s towns is 73%.
More unpaid carers than 96% of UK towns: 12% of residents
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
With adults who have never married at 28%, Greatham is behind 78% of UK towns on that count. Across England’s towns, 8.7% of residents give unpaid care. 26 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. On married adults and civil partners, Greatham sits lower than 72% of UK towns: 44%.
Qualified to degree level: 25% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Greatham’s adults: 25% with a degree-level qualification and 25% with none, against 34% and 18% across England’s towns.
Every nearby town is younger than Greatham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greatham | 851 | — | 55.3 | 32% | 17% |
| Hartlepool | 88,001 | 2.9 mi | 42.3 | 20% | 28% |
| Billingham | 33,917 | 2.9 mi | 44.2 | 21% | 27% |
| Wynyard | 4,040 | 4.5 mi | 40.6 | 12% | 39% |
| Stockton-on-Tees | 84,824 | 6.1 mi | 40.6 | 19% | 28% |
| Eston | 29,625 | 6.3 mi | 42 | 20% | 28% |
| Middlesbrough | 148,232 | 6.4 mi | 37.5 | 17% | 30% |
| Redcar | 37,666 | 7.1 mi | 43.7 | 21% | 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 Greatham’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Greatham’s residents
What is the population of Greatham?
The 2021 Census counted 851 people in Greatham’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Greatham?
The median age was 55.3 at the 2021 Census. 8.3% of residents were 15 to 24 and 32% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Greatham?
98% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 1.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Greatham?
31% said they had no religion and 61% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.
Is Greatham good for families?
17% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Greatham’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). 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.