Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,510 in County Durham, North East.
Lanchester grades B+ overall against UK towns: better than 66% of UK towns, and #8 of 52 in County Durham. Its strongest subject is schools (B+): primary results beat 91% of towns in England; secondary results beat 47% of towns in England. Its weakest is hazard risk (D): 6% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. The median home sold for £186,000 in the last three years, 4.4 times what households in the County Durham council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Lanchester 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 Lanchester is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 15 buildings inside Lanchester’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
14% 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 Lanchester.
That puts Lanchester above both County Durham’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%). People aged 15 to 24 make up 7.2% of the town. Lanchester has a median age of 52.2.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Lanchester | County Durham | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 7.2% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 32% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.3% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 41% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · County Durham and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Lanchester Endowed Parochial Primary School’s results beat 85% of schools in England like it. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lanchester Endowed Parochial Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 455 | A |
| St Bede's Catholic School and Sixth Form College, LanchesterLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,240 | B− |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 31% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
On this, Lanchester is below both County Durham’s towns (41%) and England’s towns (45%). 9% of commuters went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
In the comparison, Lanchester comes above both County Durham’s towns (62%) and England’s towns (61%). 11% of households rent privately.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £300,000 | 51 |
| Semi-detached | £175,000 | 75 |
| Terraced | £169,625 | 38 |
| Flat or maisonette | £151,500 | 14 |
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.
For Lanchester, that is above both County Durham’s towns (0%) and England’s towns (7%). Homes from before 1919 make up 14% of the total. Lanchester’s listed buildings include Church of All Saints, Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Burglary and damage came to 10.5 per 1,000 residents a year, below County Durham’s towns (18.3) and close to England’s towns (9.4). Police recorded 151 crimes inside Lanchester’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 22 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 52% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking.
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
At the census, 21% of people here had a disability, below County Durham’s towns (22%) but above England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Lanchester is University Hospital North Durham, 6.4 miles away. These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
| Census 2021 | Lanchester | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 77% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.1% | 7.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Lanchester. Best known first.
Theme parkDiggerland4 km outside town, to the southeastTheme parkTheme parkHall Hill Farm4.7 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
15 notable people were born in Lanchester.
Dora Greenwell: Roshni Ravi Prasad, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Henry Nicholas Greenwell: Henry_Nicholas_Greenwell.jpg: Photo by Sarony studios of Auckland, New Zealand derivative work: PawełMM, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lanchester | 3,510 | — | B+ | B+ | B | B− |
| Burnhope | 1,465 | 1.5 | — | A− | C+ | C+ |
| Annfield Plain | 7,786 | 2.7 | D | A− | D | D− |
| Langley Park | 4,031 | 3.2 | C− | A− | C− | C− |
| Leadgate | 3,339 | 3.6 | C− | A | D | D |
| Esh Winning | 3,877 | 3.7 | C | A− | C− | D |
| Stanley | 19,423 | 3.7 | C | A− | D− | D− |
| Dipton | 2,653 | 4.1 | B− | A− | C | D |
Burnhope has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £186,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £151,500, terraced houses £169,625, semi-detached houses £175,000 and detached houses £300,000.
Town in County Durham, England
Lanchester is a built-up area of 3,510 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.