Photo: Robert Graham · CC BY-SA 2.0

59.3Median age

Who lives here · ONS Census 2021

Older than 99% of UK towns: half of Hamsterley Mill is over 59.3

5.2% of households have no car or van, against 24% across England’s towns. One-person households: nearly a fifth of the total. Few places have so few households with dependent children: 16% here, fewer than in 98% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census Hamsterley Mill was home to 313 people in 134 households.

39%aged 65 or over 3.5%born abroad 134households

Ages

Hamsterley Mill ranks above 99% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 39%

Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.

Hamsterley MillEngland’s towns

0–410–1420–2430–3440–4450–5460–6470–7480–84

No age band is larger than 70–74: just over one in ten residents, 2.3 times the share across England’s towns. By way of comparison, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns. The census found that 9% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Hamsterley Mill.

Broad ages · share of residents

Under 159.3%

15 to 249%

25 to 4411%

45 to 6432%

65 and over39%

Hamsterley MillCounty Durham’s townsEngland’s towns

Women and men · all residents

51% women, 49% men

Hamsterley Mill

England

WomenMen

About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.

Students & newcomers

Hamsterley Mill ranks below 98% of UK towns on residents who moved in within the year: 5.7%

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

Full-time students4.3%

Higher managerial and professional31%

Lower managerial and professional26%

Intermediate11%

Small employers and self-employed11%

Supervisory and technical2.9%

Semi-routine5.4%

Routine4.6%

Never worked or long-term unemployed3.6%

Hamsterley MillCounty Durham’s townsEngland’s towns

Address a year before the Census

Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.

Hamsterley Mill

6.7%

England’s towns

11%

Moved within the UKTerm-time addressMoved from abroad

Moved in within a year

residents, 5.7%; England’s towns 11%

Of them from abroad

0.3× England’s share

58% of Hamsterley Mill’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 10% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. Compared with other places, full-time students are scarce here: 4.3%, fewer than in nearly three quarters of UK towns. As a yardstick, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.

Households

A lower share of shared households of unrelated adults than 99% of UK towns, at 0.8%

Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.

Living alone, 66+ 14%Living alone, under 66 5.2%Families with dependent children 16%Couples and families, no young children 63%Shared houses and other 0.8%

Against County Durham’s towns and England’s towns

Hamsterley Mill

County Durham’s towns

England’s towns

People per household

1 person19%

2 people49%

3 people20%

4 people6.6%

5 or more5.2%

England’s towns.

The typical household size is 2.3 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Typically, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns.

Homes & cars

Hamsterley Mill: 99% of households live in a detached house, above 99% of UK towns

Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.

Type of home

Hamsterley Mill

County Durham’s towns

England’s towns

DetachedSemi-detachedTerracedFlat or maisonetteCaravan or other

Cars or vans · share of households

No car or van5.2%

One24%

Two47%

Three or more24%

Hamsterley MillCounty Durham’s townsEngland’s towns

Where people were born

In Hamsterley Mill, 100% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 99% 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%

Hamsterley Mill

3.5%

County Durham’s towns

5.2%

England’s towns

18%

EU countriesRest of EuropeMiddle East and AsiaAfricaAmericas, Oceania, other

Main language · residents aged 3 and over

English is main language100%

Another main language, speaks English very well or well0.3%

Another main language, little or no English0%

Hamsterley MillCounty Durham’s townsEngland’s towns

Against a figure of 18% across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK in Hamsterley Mill comes in at 3.5%. The share of residents whose main language is English across England’s towns is 90%. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.9%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1.6%).

Ethnicity & religion

Below 97% of UK towns: 27% of residents said they have no religion

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

Hamsterley MillCounty Durham’s townsEngland’s towns

Other White2.2%

Asian2.9%

Mixed0.3%

Black0%

Other0%

0%6%12%

White British, not charted: 95% of Hamsterley Mill · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.

Religion · all residents

Hamsterley MillCounty Durham’s townsEngland’s towns

No religion27%

Christian65%

Muslim2.9%

Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist1.9%

Other religion0%

Didn’t answer4.2%

0%40%80%

With residents who describe themselves as Christian at 65%, Hamsterley Mill is ahead of 98% of UK towns on that count. Elsewhere, 37% of residents said they have no religion across England’s towns. 95% of residents describe themselves as White British.

Relationships & caring

Above 99% of UK towns: 15% of residents give unpaid care

Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.

Partnership status · residents 16 and over

Never married or in a civil partnership17%

Married or civil partnership67%

Separated1.1%

Divorced6.1%

Widowed8.2%

Hamsterley MillCounty Durham’s townsEngland’s towns

45residents give unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age: 15%, against 8.7% in England’s towns

Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over

Up to 19 hours a week6.9%

20 to 49 hours3.3%

50 hours or more4.6%

Two thirds of adults are married or in a civil partnership; across England’s towns the figure is 44%. Measured more widely, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Across Hamsterley Mill, 17% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.

Qualifications

A degree-level qualification for 48% of adults

Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.

Highest qualification · residents 16 and over

No qualifications10%

Apprenticeship6.1%

A levels or similar14%

Degree level48%

Hamsterley MillCounty Durham’s townsEngland’s towns

48% of Hamsterley Mill’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns; 10% have none (18%).

Neighbours

No nearby town is as old as Hamsterley Mill

Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.

Blackhall MillDiptonBurnopfieldChopwellMedomsleyRowlands GillHigh SpenHamsterley Mill

under 3838–4444–5050–5656+

Town	People	Away	Median age	65+	Homes with children
Hamsterley Mill	313	—	59.3	39%	16%
Blackhall Mill	1,528	1.6 mi	47.3	25%	23%
Dipton	2,653	1.7 mi	45.2	23%	27%
Burnopfield	2,998	1.8 mi	45.9	24%	25%
Chopwell	2,530	1.8 mi	43.6	22%	20%
Medomsley	1,216	1.8 mi	49.6	25%	25%
Rowlands Gill	5,254	1.8 mi	49	26%	24%
High Spen	1,933	2 mi	49	24%	25%

More about Hamsterley Mill’s residents

Health, work and homes have their own pages

HealthLife expectancy, early deaths and Census health, adjusted for age Work & commuteIncome, the claimant count, jobs and how people get to work Cost of livingOwners and renters, prices, rents and council tax SchoolsEvery primary and secondary, with results and inspections

How to read these numbers

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 Hamsterley Mill’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 Hamsterley Mill’s residents

What is the population of Hamsterley Mill?

The 2021 Census counted 313 people in Hamsterley Mill’s built-up area.

What is the average age in Hamsterley Mill?

The median age was 59.3 at the 2021 Census. 9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 39% were 65 or over.

How diverse is Hamsterley Mill?

95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 3.5% were born outside the UK.

What religion are people in Hamsterley Mill?

27% said they had no religion and 65% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2.9% were Muslim and 4.2% didn’t answer.

Is Hamsterley Mill good for families?

16% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Hamsterley Mill’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.