Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 1,575 in County Durham, North East.
Stanhope has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 24% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is jobs & income (D): mean household income £42,936; 2.2% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. The median home sold for £186,500 in the last three years, 4.4 times what households in the County Durham council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Stanhope 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 Stanhope is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Stanhope’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
59% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Stanhope.
Children under 15 make up 13%, below both County Durham’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Young adults of 15 to 24 account for nearly a tenth of the town. At 53.9, the median resident of Stanhope sits in the middle of the age range. Among adults, 25% have a degree.
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Stanhope | County Durham | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.2% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 16% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 32% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 24% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.2% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · County Durham and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
At the 2 primary schools within 3 km, 58% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Below is its only school. The town’s primary school has 123 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stanhope Barrington CofE Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 123 | C+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Listed buildings per head: 267 for every 10,000 residents of Stanhope. Of the town’s land, 43% lies in conservation areas, higher than both County Durham’s towns (0%) and England’s towns (7%). Historic England’s list names 42 listed buildings here: 5 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 23% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
73% of commuters drove to work at the census. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 34%, lower than both County Durham’s towns (41%) and England’s towns (45%). Of the commuters living in Stanhope, 31% work in the town itself. There are 0.8 jobs in Stanhope for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
64% of households own their home, close to County Durham’s towns (62%) and above England’s towns (61%). Private rents average £650 a month across the County Durham council area. The social rented sector houses 18% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £235,000 | 15 |
| Semi-detached | £130,500 | 10 |
| Terraced | £133,750 | 24 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 4.7 reports per 1,000, lower than both County Durham’s towns (16.5) and England’s towns (7.8). Over the year to August 2026, 63 offences were reported in Stanhope, along with 7 incidents of anti-social behaviour. The violent crime rate is 21.8 per 1,000 residents a year. Of all the crimes, 68% were violence and sexual offences.
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.
The nearest A&E to Stanhope is University Hospital North Durham, 16.6 miles away. At the census, 24% of people here had a disability, above both County Durham’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (17%). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects nearly a tenth of the town. Women here live to 85.3 on average and men to 82.3 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Stanhope | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 74% | 77% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.3% | 7.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 24% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Read these answers with age in mind: they aren’t adjusted, so younger places do better. The Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanhope | 1,575 | — | — | B+ | B | B− |
| Wolsingham | 2,428 | 5.1 | — | B | B | B− |
| Tow Law | 1,796 | 7.6 | — | A− | D | D− |
| Castleside | 1,532 | 7.9 | — | A− | A | C− |
| Consett | 29,874 | 9.8 | C | A− | C | D |
| Billy Row | 1,254 | 10 | — | A | C+ | C− |
| Crook | 9,717 | 11 | C− | A | D | D |
| Leadgate | 3,339 | 11 | C− | A | D | D |
Wolsingham, Tow Law, Castleside and Billy Row have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 10.9 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £186,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £133,750, semi-detached houses £130,500 and detached houses £235,000.
Village in County Durham, England
Stanhope is a built-up area of 1,575 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.