Photo: Barry Wood · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer households in flats than 96% of UK towns: 2.4%
In Shotton Colliery, 58% of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 46% across England’s towns. Here, 27% of households have no car or van. The median age here is 39.7, lower than in 82% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 4,943 people lived in the town, in 2,204 households.
Shotton Colliery grew +17% from 2011 to 2024, faster than 79% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Shotton Colliery’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,400 people in 2011; 5,100 in 2024.
Of the age groups, 30 to 44 changed most (+24%) and 0 to 15 least (+10%). The steepest year was mid-2016 to mid-2017, up 160 people.
A young town: 11% of residents are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 7.8% of residents. Compared with other places, residents aged 65 and over are scarce here: 18%, fewer than in 79% of UK towns. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns. In Lanchester, the oldest of County Durham’s towns by this measure, it is 32%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Shotton Colliery, 39.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
5.6% of adults are full-time students, a share 77% of UK towns don’t reach
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%.
Set against 11% across England’s towns, 9.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Shotton Colliery. 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.
Above 81% of UK towns: 34% of households are one person living alone
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 typical household size is 2.2 people, against 2.4 across England’s towns. Set beside that, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns. For Shotton Colliery, the census puts shared households of unrelated adults at 1.9%. Households with dependent children are more common here than in 66% of UK towns.
A town of terraces: 34% of households live in one
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 in detached houses make up 19%, against 21% across England’s towns. The benchmark for households in terraced houses across England’s towns: 24%.
2.5% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 96% 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
Against a figure of 90% across England’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English in Shotton Colliery comes in at 99%. By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1.4%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%). For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across England’s towns is 18%.
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 97% in Shotton Colliery, more than in 93% 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 Shotton Colliery · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Residents with no religion: 35%, below just over four fifths of UK towns. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (1.4%), Mixed or multiple (0.6%) and Pakistani (0.5%). The share of residents who describe themselves as White British across England’s towns is 73%.
39% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 92% 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
Where 8.7% of residents give unpaid care across England’s towns, Shotton Colliery has 11%. Some 190 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Adults who have never married are more common here than in 87% of UK towns. Set beside that, 44% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across England’s towns.
20% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
27% of Shotton Colliery’s adults have no qualification (18% across England’s towns), and 20% have one at degree level (34%).
810 UK towns of 3,000 to 7,000 people: this is the 99th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 65.3 in Barton on Sea. Nearest to Shotton Colliery in age: Treeton (39.6), Tylorstown and Pontygwaith (39.6), Tibshelf (39.7) and Roade (39.7).
Every neighbour of Shotton Colliery has an older population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shotton Colliery | 4,943 | — | 39.7 | 18% | 29% |
| Wheatley Hill | 3,148 | 1.7 mi | 43.4 | 21% | 24% |
| Peterlee | 19,750 | 1.9 mi | 41.1 | 19% | 30% |
| Haswell | 1,185 | 1.9 mi | 43.9 | 19% | 26% |
| Thornley | 2,543 | 2.2 mi | 45.1 | 21% | 26% |
| Wingate | 5,033 | 2.2 mi | 40.3 | 17% | 29% |
| Easington | 6,968 | 2.7 mi | 44.5 | 22% | 25% |
| South Hetton | 2,877 | 2.8 mi | 42.3 | 17% | 28% |
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 Shotton Colliery’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. Shotton Colliery’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,943 people in 2021, against 4,943 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 Shotton Colliery’s residents
What is the population of Shotton Colliery?
The 2021 Census counted 4,943 people in Shotton Colliery’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,100 people in mid-2024, 17% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Shotton Colliery?
The median age was 39.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 82% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Shotton Colliery?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 2.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Shotton Colliery?
35% said they had no religion and 58% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.2% didn’t answer.
Is Shotton Colliery good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Shotton Colliery’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.