Photo: Graham Robson · CC BY-SA 2.051% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 98% of UK towns
Where 24% of households have no car or van across England’s towns, Stanley has 31%. On one-person households, Stanley sits higher than 90% of UK towns: 36%. At the 2021 Census Stanley was home to 19,423 people in 8,879 households. 47% of residents said they have no religion.
From 2011 to 2024, 68% of UK towns grew faster than Stanley: +4%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Stanley’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 19,000 people in 2011; 19,700 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +23% for the 65 and over to −8% for the 16 to 29. The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2023 to mid-2024: 210 people.
Stanley is younger than 69% of UK towns: a median age of 42
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Young people aged 15 to 24 make up one in ten residents, against 12% across England’s towns. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 20% in Stanley.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Stanley, 42. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Only 7.8% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Stanley
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 or semi-routine work; Stanley has 21% and 35%. Compared with other places, full-time students are common here: 5.2%, more than in 65% of UK towns. The wider picture: just over one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across England’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
In Stanley, 1.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, fewer than in 92% 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.
The share of households with dependent children trails 55% of UK towns: 27%. To put it in context, 4.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across England’s towns. On average, 2.2 people share a household.
Only 13% of households in Stanley live in a detached 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 4.7% of households live in a flat or apartment, where the figure across England’s towns is 23%. For households in detached houses, the comparison across England’s towns is 21%.
A lower share of residents born outside the UK than 92% of UK towns, at 3%
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
Arrivals from 2017 on account for a fifth of residents born abroad, beside 21% across England’s towns. Across England’s towns, the share of residents born outside the UK is 18%. Census figures put residents whose main language is English at 99% in Stanley.
More residents who describe themselves as White British than 95% of UK towns: 97%
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 Stanley · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (1.3%), Mixed or multiple (0.5%) and Chinese (0.3%). Across England’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 73%. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as Christian are scarce here: 48%, fewer than in 62% of UK towns.
40% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 91% 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
794 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. For married adults and civil partners, the comparison across England’s towns is 44%. Few places have as many unpaid carers: 11% here, more than in 87% of UK towns. Compared with 39% across England’s towns, 38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership here.
Degree-level qualifications: held by 19% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 34% across England’s towns, 19% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 26% hold no qualification (18%).
From a median age of 38 in Stanley South to 46 in Stanley North & East
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.
Stanley North & East is the oldest area, with 24% aged 65 or over; Stanley South the youngest (median age 38). Families with children are most common in Stanley South (31% of households).
85th youngest of 295 UK towns of 14,000 to 26,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and South Hayling (57.2), the oldest. Nearest to Stanley in age: Uttoxeter (41.9), Bishop's Cleeve (41.9), Colne (42) and Coseley (42).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 4 are older than Stanley
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanley | 19,423 | — | 42 | 20% | 27% |
| Tanfield Lea | 2,399 | 1.1 mi | 48.7 | 24% | 24% |
| Annfield Plain | 7,786 | 1.9 mi | 42 | 20% | 25% |
| Dipton | 2,653 | 2.7 mi | 45.2 | 23% | 27% |
| Burnhope | 1,465 | 2.9 mi | 43.9 | 21% | 27% |
| Newfield | 1,529 | 2.9 mi | 37 | 14% | 32% |
| Burnopfield | 2,998 | 3.2 mi | 45.9 | 24% | 25% |
| Whitehill | 1,679 | 3.4 mi | 36.8 | 14% | 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 Stanley’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. Stanley’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 19,348 people in 2021, against 19,423 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 Stanley’s residents
What is the population of Stanley?
The 2021 Census counted 19,423 people in Stanley’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 19,700 people in mid-2024, 4% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Stanley?
The median age was 42 at the 2021 Census, younger than 69% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Stanley?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Stanley?
47% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 4.2% didn’t answer.
Is Stanley good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in Stanley South (31% of households). Schools are on Stanley’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.