Tudhoe Methodist Church · Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0Spennymoor sits below 96% of UK towns for shared households of unrelated adults (1.3%)
The share of households in flats trails 81% of UK towns: 5.4%. The 2021 Census counted 20,401 residents in 9,399 households. For Spennymoor, the census puts households in terraced houses at 34%. Residents who describe themselves as White British are more common here than in 92% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Spennymoor’s people
Growing faster than most
ONS mid-year estimates put Spennymoor at 18,000 in 2011 and 21,500 in 2024, up 20%, against 10% for England: faster growth than in 85% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Growth of +20% since 2011 puts Spennymoor ahead of 85% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Spennymoor’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 18,000 people in 2011; 21,500 in 2024.
The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2018 to mid-2019: 420 people. Change by age ran from +35% for the 65 and over to +4% for the 45 to 64.
A median age of 42.1: Spennymoor is younger than 68% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Where just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24 across England’s towns, Spennymoor has 11%. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 20%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Spennymoor, 42.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Above 60% of UK towns: 5% of adults are full-time students
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%.
Where 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns, Spennymoor has 9.3%. Across the comparison, 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.
2.2 people per household, fewer than in 83% 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.
Compared with 30% across England’s towns, 33% of households are one person living alone here. On the census count, 27% of households have dependent children.
Households in detached houses: 24%, a lower share than 65% 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
In Spennymoor, 23% of households have no car or van, beside 24% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, households in detached houses come to 21%.
Residents born outside the UK: 3.1%, a lower share than 90% 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
99% of residents have English as their main language, against 90% across England’s towns. The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%).
55% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a share 81% of UK towns don’t reach
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: 96% of Spennymoor · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (1.4%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Indian (0.4%). Nearly two in five residents said they have no religion, fewer than in 65% of UK towns. By way of comparison, 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns.
Spennymoor sits above 81% of UK towns for unpaid carers (11%)
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
762 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. Across the comparison, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are common here: 35%, more than in 68% of UK towns. Set against 44% across England’s towns, 45% of adults are married or in a civil partnership in Spennymoor.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 27%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Spennymoor, 27% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 21% have no qualification at all (18%).
From a median age of 35 in Spennymoor East & Ferryhill West to 51 in Tudhoe Grange
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Tudhoe Grange is the oldest area, with 28% aged 65 or over; Spennymoor East & Ferryhill West the youngest (median age 35). Families with children are most common in Spennymoor East & Ferryhill West (33% of households).
Of 324 UK towns its size (14,000 to 28,000 people), the 103rd youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Aberystwyth is the youngest (25); South Hayling the oldest (57.2). Nearest to Spennymoor in age: Sevenoaks (42), Camborne (42), Tyldesley (42.1) and Rugeley (42.1).
Spennymoor 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spennymoor | 20,401 | — | 42.1 | 20% | 27% |
| Ferryhill | 8,857 | 2.3 mi | 46.9 | 24% | 21% |
| Coundon and Leeholme | 2,522 | 3 mi | 41.1 | 20% | 27% |
| Chilton | 4,693 | 3.3 mi | 42.5 | 19% | 25% |
| Brandon | 9,508 | 3.4 mi | 42.6 | 20% | 26% |
| Cornforth | 2,424 | 3.5 mi | 47.9 | 25% | 20% |
| Willington | 5,685 | 3.5 mi | 44.7 | 22% | 27% |
| Coxhoe | 4,542 | 3.9 mi | 43.7 | 18% | 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 Spennymoor’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. Spennymoor’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 20,313 people in 2021, against 20,401 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 Spennymoor’s residents
What is the population of Spennymoor?
The 2021 Census counted 20,401 people in Spennymoor’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 21,500 people in mid-2024, 20% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Spennymoor?
The median age was 42.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 68% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Spennymoor?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 3.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Spennymoor?
39% said they had no religion and 55% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Spennymoor good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Spennymoor East & Ferryhill West (33% of households). Schools are on Spennymoor’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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.