Photo: Robert Graham · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer households in flats than 99% of UK towns: 0.3%
The figure for households in terraced houses is 43% in Tanfield Lea and 24% across England’s towns. With a median age of 48.7, Tanfield Lea is older than 78% of UK towns. Its 1,089 households held 2,399 residents at the 2021 Census. Locally, 97% of residents describe themselves as White British.
What the Census says about Tanfield Lea’s people
Many carers
258 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 11% of those 5 and over: more than in 90% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
24% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 67% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 55–59: nearly one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24: nearly a tenth of the total. Set beside that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
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.
In Tanfield Lea, 5.7% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 98% of UK towns
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%.
Full-time students: 5.3% here and 7.9% across England’s towns. The usual figure: 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.
Fewer families than 80% of UK towns: 24% of households have children
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.
Against a figure of 4.3% across England’s towns, the share of shared households of unrelated adults in Tanfield Lea comes in at 1.9%. Still, the village has more one-person households than just over three fifths of UK towns, at 31%. On average, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns. A household here holds 2.2 people on average.
Only 14% of households in Tanfield Lea 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
Households without a car or van: 26% here and 24% across England’s towns. 0.3% of households live in a flat, less than in 99% of UK towns; 14% in a detached house, against 21% across England’s towns.
Tanfield Lea sits below 95% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (2.6%)
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The share of residents whose main language is English is 99%, against 90% across England’s towns. Elsewhere, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (1.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%).
Above 76% of UK towns: 54% of residents describe themselves as Christian
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 Tanfield Lea · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
39% of residents said they have no religion (England’s towns: 37%). The wider picture: 46% of residents describe themselves as Christian across England’s towns. Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (1%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and Indian (0.5%).
11% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 90% 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
Some 108 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. The usual figure: nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Set against 39% across England’s towns, 32% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership in Tanfield Lea.
22% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Tanfield Lea, 22% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 34% across England’s towns, while 22% have no qualification at all (18%).
Older than Tanfield Lea: 1 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tanfield Lea | 2,399 | — | 48.7 | 24% | 24% |
| Stanley | 19,423 | 1.1 mi | 42 | 20% | 27% |
| Annfield Plain | 7,786 | 1.7 mi | 42 | 20% | 25% |
| Dipton | 2,653 | 1.8 mi | 45.2 | 23% | 27% |
| Burnopfield | 2,998 | 2.1 mi | 45.9 | 24% | 25% |
| Rowlands Gill | 5,254 | 3.4 mi | 49 | 26% | 24% |
| Sunniside | 3,422 | 3.4 mi | 45.1 | 24% | 28% |
| Burnhope | 1,465 | 3.7 mi | 43.9 | 21% | 27% |
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 Tanfield Lea’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Tanfield Lea’s residents
What is the population of Tanfield Lea?
The 2021 Census counted 2,399 people in Tanfield Lea’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Tanfield Lea?
The median age was 48.7 at the 2021 Census. 9.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Tanfield Lea?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 93% across County Durham’s towns. 2.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Tanfield Lea?
39% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 4.5% didn’t answer.
Is Tanfield Lea good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Tanfield Lea’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). 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.