Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The large town has 84,824 residents and lies in County Durham, North East.
Low prices, and some weak spots to weigh against them. Crime runs high: 63.5 violent and sexual offences and 32.2 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Only 3% of UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more have more crime per resident. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): the median home sold for £157,500, 3.1 years of area income. Overall, that makes a C+, good for #23 of 52 in County Durham. Nationally, it does better than 37% of UK towns. Residents’ health trails most towns (D): men here can expect to live to 76.1, women to 79.6. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B 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.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Stockton-on-Tees is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Stockton-on-Tees does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 188 buildings inside Stockton-on-Tees’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
13% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds a map from c. 1810.
Explore the history →188 listed buildings in Stockton-on-Tees, 2 of them Grade I.
Town Hall: Photo: Simon Armstrong · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ropner Park: Photo: Petegal-half · CC BY-SA 3.0 · The Green Dragon Inn: Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Georgian Theatre: Photo: Petegal-half · CC BY-SA 3.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Stockton-on-Tees.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 28.1 reports per 1,000, above County Durham’s towns (16) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. Over the year to August 2026, 12,948 offences were reported in Stockton-on-Tees, along with 2,226 incidents of anti-social behaviour. For its size, Stockton-on-Tees records more crime per resident than 97% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more. Nearly two fifths of the crimes fell under 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.
Attainment 8 at the town’s 5 secondary schools averages 44.9, and nearly half of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Three of its 30 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. 63% of pupils at the town’s 23 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hartburn Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 603 | A |
| Ian Ramsey Church of England AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,156 | B+ |
| Frederick Nattrass Primary AcademyTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 204 | A+ |
Private rents average £735 a month across the Stockton-on-Tees council area. Council and housing-body homes hold just over a fifth of households. 18% rent privately, close to County Durham’s towns (18%) and below England’s towns (21%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £251,723 | 610 |
| Semi-detached | £160,000 | 1,484 |
| Terraced | £110,000 | 806 |
| Flat or maisonette | £69,000 | 101 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
77% of people in Stockton-on-Tees rate their own health good or very good. At the census, just over a fifth of people here had a disability, near County Durham’s towns (22%) and higher than England’s towns (17%). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 7.4% of the town. 9 GP practices serve the town; 80% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Stockton-on-Tees | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 77% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.4% | 7.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 19% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Nearly four in five commuters drove, close to County Durham’s towns (80%) and above England’s towns (70%). Stockton-on-Tees counts 1.1 jobs per working resident. Income per household averages £45K a year, before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
13% of homes were built before 1919. Stockton-on-Tees’s listed buildings include the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Grade I. Grade II* covers 17 of them, Grade I 2.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Degrees are held by 26% of adults, about level with County Durham’s towns (27%) and below England’s towns (34%). Children under 15 count for 18% of the people here. The median resident of Stockton-on-Tees is 40.6 years old.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Stockton-on-Tees | County Durham | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.9% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 26% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · County Durham and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Stockton-on-Tees. Best known first.
Art galleryMiddlesbrough Institute of Modern Art2.2 km outside town, to the east
MuseumDorman Museum1.9 km outside town, to the east
Historic housePreston Hall600 m outside town, to the south
MuseumTeessaurus Park1.8 km outside town, to the east
Historic houseAcklam Hall2.9 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumPreston Park Museum600 m outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
219 notable people were born in Stockton-on-Tees.
Colin Renfrew: Portable Antiquities Scheme from London, England, CC BY 2.0 · Lee Cattermole: VVV-Venlo, CC BY 3.0 · Jordan Nobbs: jamesboyes, CC BY 2.0 · Bill Steer: Shadowgate, CC BY 2.0 · Jeremy Swift: The White House, Public domain
Large town in County Durham, England
Stockton-on-Tees is a built-up area of 84,824 people, in the Stockton-on-Tees 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stockton-on-Tees | 84,824 | — | C+ | A | D− | D |
| Thornaby-on-Tees | 23,352 | 2.6 | C− | A | D− | D− |
| Billingham | 33,917 | 3.2 | C | A | D | D |
| Egglescliffe | 10,250 | 3.5 | A+ | A− | B | B+ |
| Ingleby Barwick | 23,380 | 3.7 | A+ | A− | A− | A− |
| Stillington | 1,407 | 4.1 | — | A | C | B |
| Wynyard | 4,040 | 4.4 | A− | C+ | A− | A− |
| Stainton | 1,817 | 4.6 | — | B− | C+ | C− |
Stillington and Stainton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get 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 £157,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £69,000, terraced houses £110,000, semi-detached houses £160,000 and detached houses £251,723.
Band D council tax in Stockton-on-Tees is £2,572 for 2026–27, more than in 81% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
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.