Photo: Rod Grealish · CC BY-SA 2.0Only 1.2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Sedgefield
Set against 73% across England’s towns, 97% of residents describe themselves as White British in Sedgefield. The town had 4,979 residents and 2,307 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 48.2 (older than three quarters of UK towns). In Sedgefield, 26% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Compared with other places, residents aged 15 to 24 are scarce here: 8.5%, fewer than in 85% of UK towns.
Sedgefield: 27% of residents are 65 or over, above 81% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 70–74: 8% of residents, 1.7 times the share across England’s towns. Half of Sedgefield’s residents are over 48.2, older than in 75% of UK towns. On average, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Sedgefield, 48.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
5.8% of adults are full-time students, more than in 81% 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%.
Across England’s towns, 33% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 24% in routine work; in Sedgefield, 45% and 17%. Here, 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. As a yardstick, 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.
Sedgefield households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 80% 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.
Just over a quarter of households have dependent children, against 29% across England’s towns. Census figures put one-person households at 33% in Sedgefield.
Households in flats: 8.3%, a lower share than 64% 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
Across England’s towns, the share of households without a car or van is 24%; Sedgefield has 13%. On average, 23% of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. Households in terraced houses: nearly a fifth of the total. Higher than in just over half of UK towns: 29% of households live in a detached house.
Residents born outside the UK make up 2.9% in Sedgefield, less than in 92% 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
17% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 21% across England’s towns. On residents whose main language is English, Sedgefield sits higher than 87% of UK towns: 99%. Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.6%).
Sedgefield: 61% of residents describe themselves as Christian, above 96% 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 Sedgefield · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Here a third of residents said they have no religion, where the figure across England’s towns is 37%. Set beside that, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (1.2%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Indian (0.2%).
A larger share of married adults and civil partners than 86% of UK towns: 54%
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
139 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. More unpaid carers than in 74% of UK towns: 10%. As a yardstick, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 42% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
13% of Sedgefield’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 42% have one at degree level (34%).
Among 810 UK towns of 3,000 to 7,000 people, the 299th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Bailrigg (18.9), the youngest, and Barton on Sea (65.3), the oldest. Nearest to Sedgefield in age: Send (48.1), Battle (48.1), Appley Bridge (48.2) and Aspull (48.2).
Sedgefield is younger than 1 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sedgefield | 4,979 | — | 48.2 | 27% | 26% |
| Fishburn | 2,387 | 1.9 mi | 45.4 | 19% | 25% |
| Bishop Middleham | 1,136 | 2.2 mi | 49 | 24% | 24% |
| Trimdon | 2,835 | 3.1 mi | 44.5 | 21% | 28% |
| Stillington | 1,407 | 3.7 mi | 40.4 | 15% | 36% |
| Cornforth | 2,424 | 4 mi | 47.9 | 25% | 20% |
| Trimdon Grange | 1,233 | 4.1 mi | 46.6 | 21% | 25% |
| Chilton | 4,693 | 4.3 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 25% |
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 Sedgefield’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 Sedgefield’s residents
What is the population of Sedgefield?
The 2021 Census counted 4,979 people in Sedgefield’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Sedgefield?
The median age was 48.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 75% of UK towns. 8.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sedgefield?
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 Sedgefield?
33% said they had no religion and 61% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.3% didn’t answer.
Is Sedgefield good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Sedgefield’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.