Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 20,401 people, this large town lies in County Durham, North East.
Crime is the sore point (D−): police record 49.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 27.6 home and vehicle crimes. Only 7% of UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people have more crime per resident. Health lags: men here can expect to live to 78, women to 82. Housing is within reach: a typical home costs £145,000 and rent runs £650 a month. The overall grade comes out at C−, better than nearly a quarter of UK towns. That places it #37 of 52 in County Durham. The rest of its grades are middling: C+ for schools, B− for walkability and B for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy, ONS · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Spennymoor 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 Spennymoor is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 18 buildings inside Spennymoor’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
20% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds a map from 1897.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Spennymoor. Best known first.
Historic house · English HeritageAuckland Castle3.1 km outside town, to the southwest
CastleBrancepeth Castle3.8 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumOriental Museum4.8 km outside town, to the north · 19K visitors a year
GardenDurham University Botanic Garden4.5 km outside town, to the north
Art galleryMining Art Gallery3.3 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Spennymoor.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
2,579 crimes and 475 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Spennymoor’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Among the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Spennymoor has more crime per resident than 93% of them. There were 22.9 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both County Durham’s towns (16) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences made up 45% of the total.
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 · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
Between them, seven primaries and one secondary teach 2,832 pupils in Spennymoor. Tudhoe Colliery Primary School’s results beat 83% of schools in England like it. Three of its 11 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. At the town’s 7 primary schools, three in five pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Springmoor Grange SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 415 | C+ |
| Whitworth Park AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 996 | B+ |
| Tudhoe Colliery Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 212 | A− |
22% of residents have a disability, close to County Durham’s towns (22%) and above England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Spennymoor is University Hospital North Durham, 6 miles away. 2 GP practices serve the town; just over four in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 7.3% of the town.
| Census 2021 | Spennymoor | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 77% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.3% | 7.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Social renters account for 23% of households. The median sale, £145,000, comes from 904 standard sales inside Spennymoor’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. It is the 20th most expensive of 52 towns of 2,500+ in County Durham.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £221,995 | 247 |
| Semi-detached | £145,000 | 331 |
| Terraced | £97,500 | 312 |
| Flat or maisonette | £64,750 | 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.
Grade II* covers 1 of them. A fifth of its homes were built before 1919, about level with County Durham’s towns (20%) and above England’s towns (16%). Scaled to its population, that is 9 listed buildings for every 10,000 people in Spennymoor.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 21% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
14% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below both County Durham’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (27%). The car carried 84% of commuters at the census. About a fifth of its commuters stay in Spennymoor for work. Average household income comes to £42K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The middle age in Spennymoor is 42.1. 27% of adults hold a degree, about level with County Durham’s towns (27%) and below England’s towns (34%). The 65-and-over age group makes up a fifth of residents.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Spennymoor | County Durham | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.2% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · County Durham and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
18 listed buildings in Spennymoor.
No.41 (The Green Tree Public House) and No.43: Photo: Mel Towler · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Tudhoe Methodist Church: Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Andrew: Photo: David Robinson · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Tudhoe House and Laburnum Cottage and Walls Attached: Photo: Les Hull · CC BY-SA 2.0
18 notable people were born in Spennymoor.
John Bain: FlamingCow TV, CC BY 3.0 · Jarrett Rivers: Skippo10, CC BY-SA 4.0 · John Adamson: Wiley, J. S., Public domain · Dan Hicks: Dan Hicks, CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spennymoor | 20,401 | — | C− | A− | D− | D |
| Ferryhill | 8,857 | 2.3 | D | A− | D− | D− |
| Coundon and Leeholme | 2,522 | 3 | C− | A | D− | D− |
| Chilton | 4,693 | 3.3 | D | A− | D− | D |
| Brandon | 9,508 | 3.4 | B− | A− | D | D |
| Cornforth | 2,424 | 3.5 | — | A− | D | D− |
| Willington | 5,685 | 3.5 | D | A− | D− | D− |
| Coxhoe | 4,542 | 3.9 | B | B+ | C | C− |
Cornforth has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £145,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £64,750, terraced houses £97,500, semi-detached houses £145,000 and detached houses £221,995.
Band D council tax in Spennymoor is £2,738 for 2026–27, more than in 98% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Large town in County Durham, England
Spennymoor is a built-up area of 20,401 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.