Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 6,805: a town in County Durham, North East.
A tough set of grades. Horden’s overall C− puts it #41 of 52 in County Durham. On that grade it does better than 16% of UK towns. Its weakest is health — life expectancy is 74.6 for men and 76.6 for women. It also trails on safety — 62.9 violent and sexual offences and 39 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Only 1% of UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people have more crime per resident. Prices are modest for what you get: the median home sold for £56,750, 1.3 years of area income. Jobs & income is weaker too (D−) — households earn a mean £30,589 a year, and 6.1% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy and income, ONS · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · claimants, DWP.
The 3 things Horden does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Horden is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 4 buildings inside Horden’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
27% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Horden.
21% of residents are 65 or over, near County Durham’s towns (21%) and higher than England’s towns (18%). Typical age in Horden: 44.6, the median. The share of residents under 15 is 17%.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Horden | County Durham | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 33% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.7% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 16% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · County Durham and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
GCSE results at the 4 secondary schools within 3 km: 48% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 48.5. 51% of pupils at the town’s 3 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Horden’s three primaries have 462 pupils between them.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yohden Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 182 | C |
At the census, just over two thirds of people in Horden called their health good or very good, below both County Durham’s towns (77%) and England’s towns (82%). 13% of residents report bad or very bad health. Disability touches 30% of the town’s population. The nearest A&E to Horden is Sunderland Royal Hospital, 10.3 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Horden | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 68% | 77% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 13% | 7.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 30% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Police figures for Horden’s built-up area: 1,193 crimes and 178 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. There were 23.6 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both County Durham’s towns (16) and England’s towns (7.8). Of all the crimes, 37% were violence and sexual offences.
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
Private renters make up 26% of households, above both County Durham’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (21%). 25% of households live in social housing. Horden is the cheapest of the 52 towns in County Durham: its median sale is £56,750.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £185,000 | 9 |
| Semi-detached | £86,500 | 62 |
| Terraced | £50,000 | 264 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Horden has 4 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade II*. It has one registered historic park or garden. Relative to its size, Horden keeps 6 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, lower than both County Durham’s towns (7) and England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 16% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
About 7% of its commuters stay in Horden for work. At the census, 16% of workers worked mainly from home. Driving is how 78% of commuters got to work at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
4 listed buildings in Horden.
The Castle, Castle Eden: Photo: Les Hull · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Mary the Virgin: Photo: Colin Kinnear · CC BY-SA 2.0
18 notable people were born in Horden.
Tom Watson: Timmy96, CC0 · Glenis Willmott: User:Womera, CC BY 3.0 · Dale Roberts: Mattythewhite, CC BY-SA 3.0 · John Alderson: TV episode screenshot (NBC), Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horden | 6,805 | — | C− | A− | D− | D− |
| Peterlee | 19,750 | 1.1 | D | A− | D− | D− |
| Blackhall Colliery | 4,577 | 1.6 | D | A− | D | D− |
| Easington | 6,968 | 1.8 | C | A− | D− | D− |
| Shotton Colliery | 4,943 | 3 | C | A− | D | D− |
| Wingate | 5,033 | 3.5 | D | B+ | D | D |
| Haswell | 1,185 | 4.3 | — | A− | C | D− |
| Wheatley Hill | 3,148 | 4.3 | C | A− | D− | D− |
Haswell has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £56,750, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £50,000, semi-detached houses £86,500 and detached houses £185,000.
Band D council tax in Horden is £2,912 for 2026–27, more than in almost all of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Town in County Durham, England
Horden is a built-up area of 6,805 people, in the County Durham council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. 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.
