Photo: Robert Graham · CC BY-SA 2.0Below 94% of UK towns: 2.8% of households live in a flat or apartment
Across England’s towns, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home; in Sacriston, 1.7%. The town is home to 5,186 residents in 2,356 households, by the 2021 Census. 31% of households live in a terraced house. Compared with other places, one-person households are common here: 33%, more than in 78% of UK towns.
Slower growth than 58% of UK towns: Sacriston changed by +6% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Sacriston’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,000 people in 2011; 5,300 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+23%) and weakest among the 30 to 44 (−3%). The steepest year was mid-2011 to mid-2012, up 70 people.
Half of Sacriston is under 41.9, younger than 70% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 65 and over: 19%, below 70% of UK towns. The share of residents aged 15 to 24 stands at 11%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Sacriston, 41.9. 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.
A larger share of full-time students than 91% of UK towns: 6.9%
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 Sacriston, a quarter of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 30% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The benchmark for full-time students across England’s towns: 7.9%. Across Sacriston, 8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 76% of UK towns
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.
Census figures put households with dependent children at 28% in Sacriston.
Households in detached houses: 17%, a lower share than 82% of UK towns
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
Households without a car or van: 25%, above 87% of UK towns. 2.8% of households live in a flat, less than in 94% of UK towns; 17% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
Only 4.3% of residents were born outside the UK in Sacriston
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
Compared with 90% across England’s towns, 98% of residents have English as their main language here. As a reference point, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (1.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.3%).
Sacriston sits above 72% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as White British (95%)
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 Sacriston · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
The figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 53% in Sacriston and 46% across England’s towns. Next after White British come Other White (1.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Chinese (0.6%). Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 73% across England’s towns.
42% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 84% 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
161 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Elsewhere, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns. Adults who have never married are more common here than in 87% of UK towns. Unpaid carers make up one in ten residents, against 8.7% across England’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 25% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 25% of Sacriston’s adults, against 34% across England’s towns; 20% have no qualification (18%). A levels top the qualifications of 20%, many of them students on the way to a degree.
112th lowest median age among 516 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Sacriston in age: Throckley (41.8), Pontarddulais (41.8), Overseal and Castle Gresley (41.9) and Binfield (41.9).
Older than Sacriston: 4 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacriston | 5,186 | — | 41.9 | 19% | 28% |
| Witton Gilbert | 2,525 | 0.8 mi | 45.3 | 24% | 27% |
| Langley Park | 4,031 | 2.5 mi | 45.4 | 20% | 25% |
| Whitehill | 1,679 | 2.7 mi | 36.8 | 14% | 28% |
| Ushaw Moor and Bearpark | 6,483 | 2.8 mi | 40.8 | 17% | 27% |
| Chester-le-Street | 23,554 | 3 mi | 48.6 | 25% | 24% |
| Newfield | 1,529 | 3.2 mi | 37 | 14% | 32% |
| Burnhope | 1,465 | 3.2 mi | 43.9 | 21% | 27% |
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 Sacriston’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. Sacriston’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,172 people in 2021, against 5,186 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 Sacriston’s residents
What is the population of Sacriston?
The 2021 Census counted 5,186 people in Sacriston’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,300 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Sacriston?
The median age was 41.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 70% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sacriston?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 4.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Sacriston?
41% said they had no religion and 53% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 4.9% didn’t answer.
Is Sacriston good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Sacriston’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.