Photo: Robert Graham · CC BY-SA 2.022% of households are one person living alone, below 95% of UK towns
By its share of residents aged 65 and over (14%), Hobson is below 92% of UK towns. The 2021 Census counted 710 residents in 292 households. Households in flats account for 2.8%. On households in detached houses, Hobson sits higher than 86% of UK towns: 46%.
A higher share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 86% of UK towns, at 11%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With a median age of 43.5, Hobson is younger than 58% of UK towns. By way of comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: one in ten residents, 1.5 times the share across England’s towns.
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.
Full-time students make up 5.9% in Hobson, more than in 82% of UK towns
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 Hobson, 42% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 17% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The census found that 9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in the village. Typically, 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.
32% of households have dependent children, a share 85% of UK towns don’t reach
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.
Households average 2.5 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. As a reference point, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. For Hobson, the census puts shared households of unrelated adults at 2.1%.
A smaller share of households without a car or van than 93% of UK towns: 7.6%
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
Just over a quarter of households live in a terraced house; across England’s towns the figure is 24%. Meanwhile, every 13th household or so has no car or van.
A larger share of residents whose main language is English than 77% of UK towns: 99%
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
Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%; Hobson has 4.7%. As a reference point, 90% of residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.7%), then in the rest of Europe (0.7%).
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 78% of UK towns: 54%
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: 94% of Hobson · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
1.4% of residents are Muslim. The benchmark for residents who describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns: 46%. Residents who describe themselves as White British are more common here than in 67% of UK towns. Against a figure of 37% across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion in Hobson comes in at 39%.
Married adults and civil partners: 55%, a higher share than 89% of UK towns
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
For 16 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. On average, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Few places have as many unpaid carers: 10% here, more than in three quarters of UK towns. Nearly a third of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, against 39% across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 36% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Hobson counts 36% of its adults, against 34% across England’s towns; at the other end, 13% have no qualification (18%).
Hobson sits below 5 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hobson | 710 | — | 43.5 | 14% | 32% |
| Burnopfield | 2,998 | 0.7 mi | 45.9 | 24% | 25% |
| Dipton | 2,653 | 1.3 mi | 45.2 | 23% | 27% |
| Tanfield Lea | 2,399 | 1.4 mi | 48.7 | 24% | 24% |
| Rowlands Gill | 5,254 | 2 mi | 49 | 26% | 24% |
| Annfield Plain | 7,786 | 2.4 mi | 42 | 20% | 25% |
| Stanley | 19,423 | 2.5 mi | 42 | 20% | 27% |
| Sunniside | 3,422 | 3 mi | 45.1 | 24% | 28% |
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 Hobson’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 Hobson’s residents
What is the population of Hobson?
The 2021 Census counted 710 people in Hobson’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Hobson?
The median age was 43.5 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 14% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Hobson?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 4.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Hobson?
39% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.4% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Hobson good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Hobson’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.