Photo: Dun Holm · Public domainBelow 99% of UK towns: 0.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home
11% of residents are 65 or over, against 18% across England’s towns. The share of households in flats stands at 2.6%. More adults who have never married than in 95% of UK towns: 43%. Sherburn Hill had 954 residents and 457 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 38.6.
Younger than 87% of UK towns: half of Sherburn Hill is under 38.6
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Against a figure of 12% across England’s towns, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 in Sherburn Hill comes in at 11%. In Lanchester, the oldest of County Durham’s towns by this measure, it is 32%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About 105 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
A student village: 5.4% of adults study full-time
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 Sherburn Hill, 29% and 28%. To put it in context, 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. On the census count, 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.
Households here average 2.1 people, below 94% 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.
Across England’s towns, 30% of households are one person living alone; in Sherburn Hill, 32%. 27% of households have dependent children.
Above 88% of UK towns: 33% of households live in a terraced house
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
Here 21% of households have no car or van, where the figure across England’s towns is 24%. Households in detached houses are rarer here than in 71% of UK towns.
Sherburn Hill sits above 80% of UK towns for residents whose main language is English (99%)
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The largest groups were born in EU countries (3.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%). As a yardstick, nine in ten residents have English as their main language across England’s towns. Few places have so few residents born outside the UK: 4.3% here, fewer than in 74% of UK towns.
A larger share of residents with no religion than 81% of UK towns: 46%
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 Sherburn Hill · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
95% of residents describe themselves as White British; across England’s towns the figure is 73%. Across England’s towns, the share of residents with no religion is 37%. On the census count, 48% of residents describe themselves as Christian.
Sherburn Hill sits above 95% of UK towns for unpaid carers (12%)
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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 37. Measured more widely, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Fewer married adults and civil partners than in 91% of UK towns: 40%.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 32%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 32% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 18% hold no qualification (18%).
Sherburn Hill sits below 6 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherburn Hill | 954 | — | 38.6 | 11% | 27% |
| Sherburn | 2,796 | 1.1 mi | 47 | 25% | 24% |
| High Pittington | 1,147 | 1.3 mi | 47.7 | 23% | 24% |
| Thornley | 2,543 | 2.1 mi | 45.1 | 21% | 26% |
| Haswell | 1,185 | 2.5 mi | 43.9 | 19% | 26% |
| High Shincliffe | 1,045 | 2.8 mi | 55.9 | 33% | 22% |
| Bowburn | 4,843 | 2.9 mi | 38.3 | 16% | 27% |
| West Rainton | 2,323 | 3 mi | 48.3 | 26% | 21% |
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 Sherburn Hill’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 Sherburn Hill’s residents
What is the population of Sherburn Hill?
The 2021 Census counted 954 people in Sherburn Hill’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Sherburn Hill?
The median age was 38.6 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 11% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Sherburn Hill?
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 Sherburn Hill?
46% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 4.8% didn’t answer.
Is Sherburn Hill good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Sherburn Hill’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.