Photo: george hurrell · CC BY-SA 2.0In Wheatley Hill, 0.8% of households live in a flat or apartment, fewer than in 99% of UK towns
The share of residents who describe themselves as White British is 96%, against 73% across England’s towns. Wheatley Hill is home to 3,148 residents in 1,436 households, by the 2021 Census. Locally, 27% of households have no car or van. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 88% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Wheatley Hill’s people
Many carers
346 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 12% of those 5 and over: more than in 94% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
A median age of 43.4: Wheatley Hill is younger than 58% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The share of residents aged 15 to 24 is 11%, against 12% across England’s towns. Residents aged 65 and over: 21% of the total.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wheatley Hill, 43.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer full-time students than 71% of UK towns: 4.4%
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%.
By class, just over a fifth of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 32% in routine and semi-routine work (England’s towns: 33% and 24%). Full-time students: 7.9% across England’s towns, for comparison. The share of residents who moved in within the year stands at 11%.
Wheatley Hill ranks above 84% of UK towns on one-person households: 34%
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.
With households with dependent children at 24%, Wheatley Hill is behind nearly four fifths of UK towns on that count. On average, 2.1 people share a household. As a yardstick, 30% of households are one person living alone across England’s towns.
Above 77% of UK towns: 28% of households live in a terraced 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 in detached houses make up 19%, against 21% across England’s towns. Set beside that, nearly a quarter of households live in a terraced house across England’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK: 3.1%, a lower share than 89% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (1.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.6%). 98% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 69% of UK towns. Across England’s towns, 18% of residents were born outside the UK.
Wheatley Hill sits above 89% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (57%)
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 Wheatley Hill · County Durham’s towns 93% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (1.9%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Indian (0.3%). Wheatley Hill has fewer residents with no religion than 76% of UK towns, at 37%. Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 46% across England’s towns, for comparison.
Wheatley Hill: 12% of residents give unpaid care, above 94% 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
120 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. At 41%, the share of married adults and civil partners is lower than in 89% of UK towns. As a reference point, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care across England’s towns. Adults who have never married are about as common here as across England’s towns: 39%.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 20% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 20% of adults in Wheatley Hill, 34% across England’s towns; 29% have no qualification, against 18%.
119th youngest of 514 UK towns of 2,500 to 4,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Keele (20.6) and the oldest West Chiltington (63.1). Nearest to Wheatley Hill in age: Newhey (43.3), Watlington (43.3), Desford (43.4) and Manea (43.4).
Older than Wheatley Hill: 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheatley Hill | 3,148 | — | 43.4 | 21% | 24% |
| Thornley | 2,543 | 1.2 mi | 45.1 | 21% | 26% |
| Trimdon Colliery | 1,788 | 1.6 mi | 43.4 | 20% | 26% |
| Shotton Colliery | 4,943 | 1.7 mi | 39.7 | 18% | 29% |
| Wingate | 5,033 | 1.8 mi | 40.3 | 17% | 29% |
| Trimdon Grange | 1,233 | 2 mi | 46.6 | 21% | 25% |
| Kelloe | 1,434 | 2.7 mi | 46.1 | 22% | 25% |
| Haswell | 1,185 | 2.9 mi | 43.9 | 19% | 26% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Wheatley Hill’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 Wheatley Hill’s residents
What is the population of Wheatley Hill?
The 2021 Census counted 3,148 people in Wheatley Hill’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Wheatley Hill?
The median age was 43.4 at the 2021 Census, younger than 58% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wheatley Hill?
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 Wheatley Hill?
37% said they had no religion and 57% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.1% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Wheatley Hill good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Schools are on Wheatley Hill’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.