Photo: Robert Graham · CC BY-SA 2.031% of households have no car or van, more than in 95% of UK towns
Across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is 4.3%; Hartlepool has 1.9%. There were 39,075 households in the town at the 2021 Census, home to 88,001 residents. Just over a third of households live in a terraced house. One-person households are more common here than in nearly four fifths of UK towns.
A +5% change since 2011: slower than 62% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Hartlepool’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 87,900 people in 2011; 92,100 in 2024.
Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+23%) and the 16 to 29 least (−5%). The steepest year was mid-2023 to mid-2024, up 1,710 people.
Younger than 67% of UK towns: half of Hartlepool is under 42.3
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Across England’s towns, 18% of residents are 65 or over; in Hartlepool, 20%. Higher than in 87% of UK towns: 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24. The largest age band is 55–59: 7.7% of residents.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Hartlepool, 42.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Hartlepool ranks above 85% of UK towns on full-time students: 6.1%
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%.
By class, nearly a quarter of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 31% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). The census found that nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier in Hartlepool. Across the comparison, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Smaller households than 68% of UK towns: 2.2 people on average
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.
For Hartlepool, the census puts households with dependent children at 28%.
Only 18% of households in Hartlepool live in a detached house
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
12% of households live in a flat or apartment (England’s towns: 23%). Households in detached houses make up 21% across England’s towns.
3.9% born outside the UK, fewer than in 78% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are 23% of those born abroad (against 21% across England’s towns). Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.5%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1.5%). On residents whose main language is English, Hartlepool sits higher than 53% of UK towns: 98%. Residents born outside the UK make up 18% across England’s towns.
Above 78% of UK towns: 95% of residents describe themselves as White British
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: 95% of Hartlepool · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Of the other groups, the largest are Other White (1.4%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and African (0.4%). Elsewhere, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. On residents who describe themselves as Christian, Hartlepool sits higher than nearly two thirds of UK towns: 52%. Just over two in five residents said they have no religion, against 37% across England’s towns.
More unpaid carers than 87% of UK towns: 11% 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
The share of married adults and civil partners trails 85% of UK towns: 42%. Adults who have never married: 39% of the total. On average, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 24% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 24% of Hartlepool’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 24% have no qualification (18%). A levels top the qualifications of 19%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
From a median age of 36 in Owton Manor to 52 in The Fens, Elwick & Hart
The town’s 11 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
The Fens, Elwick & Hart is the oldest area, with 27% aged 65 or over; Owton Manor the youngest (median age 36). Families with children are most common in Owton Manor (34% of households).
19th oldest of 85 UK towns of 62,000 to 119,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Salford (29.8) and the oldest Paignton (48.4). Nearest to Hartlepool in age: Cannock (41.8), Newcastle-under-Lyme (42), Darlington (42.4) and Gosport (42.6).
Nearby, 4 of 7 towns have older populations than Hartlepool
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hartlepool | 88,001 | — | 42.3 | 20% | 28% |
| Blackhall Colliery | 4,577 | 5 mi | 49.8 | 26% | 21% |
| Billingham | 33,917 | 5.5 mi | 44.2 | 21% | 27% |
| Wynyard | 4,040 | 5.9 mi | 40.6 | 12% | 39% |
| Horden | 6,805 | 6.6 mi | 44.6 | 21% | 23% |
| Wingate | 5,033 | 6.8 mi | 40.3 | 17% | 29% |
| Peterlee | 19,750 | 7 mi | 41.1 | 19% | 30% |
| Trimdon Colliery | 1,788 | 7.6 mi | 43.4 | 20% | 26% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “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 Hartlepool’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. Hartlepool’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 87,548 people in 2021, against 88,001 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 Hartlepool’s residents
What is the population of Hartlepool?
The 2021 Census counted 88,001 people in Hartlepool’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 92,100 people in mid-2024, 5% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Hartlepool?
The median age was 42.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 67% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hartlepool?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 3.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hartlepool?
41% said they had no religion and 52% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.3% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Hartlepool good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Owton Manor (34% of households). Schools are on Hartlepool’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.