Photo: Des Blenkinsopp · CC BY-SA 2.0Households without a car or van: 39%, a higher share than 99% of UK towns
Households average 2 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Horden counted 6,805 residents and 3,342 households at the 2021 Census. On the census count, two in five households are one person living alone. At 3.5%, the share of households in flats is lower than in 91% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Horden’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Horden at 8,100 in 2011 and 7,500 in 2024, down 7%, against 10% for England: slower growth than in 99% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Many carers
769 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 12% of those 5 and over: more than in 96% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Slower than most: −7% since 2011, behind 99% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Horden’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 8,100 people in 2011; 7,500 in 2024.
The 65 and over group saw the biggest change (+11%), the 16 to 29 group the smallest (−21%).
11% of residents are 15 to 24, more than in 87% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
55–59 is the most common age band: nearly one in ten residents. With a median age of 44.6, Horden is older than just over half of UK towns. Across the comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. Residents aged 65 and over: 21% here and 18% across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Horden, 44.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Horden sits above 76% of UK towns for full-time students (5.6%)
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, 15% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 36% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Nearly one in ten residents had moved in within the year before the Census, fewer than the 11% across England’s towns. Measured more widely, 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.
Below 83% of UK towns: 23% of households have dependent children
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.
The figure for shared households of unrelated adults is 1.8% in Horden and 4.3% across England’s towns. Against that, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
Horden sits above 99% of UK towns for households in terraced houses (56%)
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
The figure for households in detached houses is 7.6% in Horden and 21% across England’s towns. On average, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
2.9% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 93% 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
Residents whose main language is English: 99%, above nearly four fifths of UK towns. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1.3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.6%). Against that, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
In Horden, 97% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 95% of UK towns
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: 97% of Horden · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion: 44% here and 37% across England’s towns. On average, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns. The share of residents who describe themselves as Christian stands at 51%.
36% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 97% 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
Unpaid carers: 12% here and 8.7% across England’s towns. Here, two in five adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Married adults and civil partners: 44% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 16% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across England’s towns, 18% of adults have no qualification; in Horden, 33%, while 16% hold one at degree level (34%).
204th youngest of 473 UK towns of 5,000 to 9,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Red Lodge is the youngest (30.9); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Horden in age: Wellesbourne (44.5), Haddenham (44.5), Skelton (Redcar and Cleveland) (44.6) and Malton (44.6).
A younger town than 1 of the 7 around it: Horden
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horden | 6,805 | — | 44.6 | 21% | 23% |
| Peterlee | 19,750 | 1.1 mi | 41.1 | 19% | 30% |
| Blackhall Colliery | 4,577 | 1.6 mi | 49.8 | 26% | 21% |
| Easington | 6,968 | 1.8 mi | 44.5 | 22% | 25% |
| Shotton Colliery | 4,943 | 3 mi | 39.7 | 18% | 29% |
| Wingate | 5,033 | 3.5 mi | 40.3 | 17% | 29% |
| Haswell | 1,185 | 4.3 mi | 43.9 | 19% | 26% |
| Wheatley Hill | 3,148 | 4.3 mi | 43.4 | 21% | 24% |
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 Horden’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. Horden’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 7,202 people in 2021, against 6,805 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 Horden’s residents
What is the population of Horden?
The 2021 Census counted 6,805 people in Horden’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 7,500 people in mid-2024, 7% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Horden?
The median age was 44.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 51% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Horden?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 2.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Horden?
44% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 4.1% didn’t answer.
Is Horden good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Horden’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. 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.