Photo: Gordon Hatton · CC BY-SA 2.0Hamsterley is older than 94% of UK towns: a median age of 53.5
Against a figure of 39% across England’s towns, the share of adults who have never married in Hamsterley comes in at 19%. Lower than in 97% of UK towns: 6.1% of households have no car or van. At the 2021 Census Hamsterley was home to 453 people in 197 households. The census found that 2% of households live in a flat or apartment locally.
Hamsterley ranks below 99% of UK towns on residents aged 15 to 24: 6%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
65–69 is the most common age band: 9.9% of residents, 2.1 times the share across England’s towns. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Below 98% of UK towns: 3.2% of adults are full-time students
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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine or semi-routine work; Hamsterley has 38% and 15%. On average, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. For Hamsterley, the census puts residents who moved in within the year at 4%.
Only 22% of households have dependent children in Hamsterley
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.
A household here has 2.3 people on average; across England’s towns, 2.4. On average, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. Locally, 27% of households are one person living alone. Compared with other places, shared households of unrelated adults are scarce here: 2%, fewer than in just over two thirds of UK towns.
61% of households live in a detached house, a share 97% of UK towns don’t reach
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
Where 24% of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns, Hamsterley has 14%. The usual figure: 21% of households live in a detached house across England’s towns.
Hamsterley ranks below 99% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 1.3%
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents whose main language is English: 100% here and 90% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (0.7%) and in Africa (0.4%).
98% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 99% of UK towns don’t reach
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 Hamsterley · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Christians make up 64% of residents, against 46% across England’s towns. The share of residents with no religion stands at 30%. Elsewhere, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
Hamsterley ranks above 99% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 63%
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
The share of unpaid carers is 12%, against 8.7% across England’s towns. Typically, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
37% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
18% of Hamsterley’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 37% have one at degree level (34%).
No nearby town is as old as Hamsterley
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamsterley | 453 | — | 53.5 | 30% | 22% |
| Toft Hill and High Etherley | 1,865 | 3.2 mi | 51 | 27% | 22% |
| Crook | 9,717 | 3.8 mi | 44.3 | 21% | 27% |
| Evenwood | 1,587 | 4.3 mi | 46.5 | 23% | 23% |
| Cockfield | 1,351 | 4.3 mi | 51.2 | 27% | 21% |
| Wolsingham | 2,428 | 4.7 mi | 52.1 | 30% | 23% |
| West Auckland | 3,107 | 4.8 mi | 45.9 | 23% | 27% |
| Tow Law | 1,796 | 4.9 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 26% |
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 Hamsterley’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’s residents
What is the population of Hamsterley?
The 2021 Census counted 453 people in Hamsterley’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Hamsterley?
The median age was 53.5 at the 2021 Census. 6% of residents were 15 to 24 and 30% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hamsterley?
98% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 1.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hamsterley?
30% said they had no religion and 64% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Hamsterley good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Hamsterley’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.