Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Over-65s are 30% of the population. The village has 2,428 residents and lies in County Durham, North East.
Wolsingham’s strongest subject is schools: primary results beat nine in ten towns in England; secondary results beat 80% of towns in England. Jobs & income is its weak spot: the mean household earns £42,936 a year. A median £218,000 buys a home here, 5.1 times what households in the County Durham council area earn in a year. The rest of its grades are middling: B for safety, B− for health and B− for walkability.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021. Wolsingham is graded on each subject, but towns under 2,500 get no overall grade.
The 3 things Wolsingham 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 Wolsingham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Wolsingham is graded on each subject, but towns under 2,500 get no overall grade.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Wolsingham’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
47% 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 Wolsingham.
Children under 15 make up 14%, below County Durham’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Young adults of 15 to 24 account for nearly a tenth of the town. Half of Wolsingham is older than 52.1, half younger. 34% of adults hold 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.
| Wolsingham | County Durham | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.2% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 17% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 30% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.8% | 6.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 34% | 27% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · County Durham and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
71% of pupils at the one primary school within 3 km met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Wolsingham Primary School’s results beat 75% of schools in England like it. Its two schools are listed below. Between them, one primary and one secondary teach 937 pupils locally.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wolsingham Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 163 | A− |
| Wolsingham SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 774 | B+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 2 of them. Of Wolsingham’s land, 51% lies in conservation areas, above both County Durham’s towns (0%) and England’s towns (7%). For its size, Wolsingham has 165 listed buildings per 10,000 residents. The town counts 40 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 2 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
68% of households are owner-occupiers. Social housing holds 13% of households, lower than both County Durham’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £650 a month across the County Durham council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £350,000 | 24 |
| Semi-detached | £207,500 | 16 |
| Terraced | £185,000 | 47 |
| Flat or maisonette | £120,500 | 10 |
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 5.6 reports per 1,000, below County Durham’s towns (16.5) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. 113 crimes and 17 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Wolsingham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Homes see 10.4 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year. Violence and sexual offences were 45% of the crimes.
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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 34% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Wolsingham counts 0.6 jobs per working resident. 13% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, lower than both County Durham’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (27%). Among 16 to 64s, 1.7% claimed unemployment benefits in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
A disability affects 22% of people in Wolsingham. Seeing a GP means leaving Wolsingham: the nearest practice is 5 miles away. 6.4% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, below County Durham’s towns (7.3%) but above England’s towns (5.2%). The nearest A&E to Wolsingham is University Hospital North Durham, 12.1 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Wolsingham | County Durham | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 77% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.4% | 7.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
3 notable people were born in Wolsingham.
Oswald Snowball: The Australasian, Melbourne, Vic, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wolsingham | 2,428 | — | — | B | B | B− |
| Tow Law | 1,796 | 2.8 | — | A− | D | D− |
| Stanhope | 1,575 | 5.1 | — | B+ | B | B− |
| Billy Row | 1,254 | 5.4 | — | A | C+ | C− |
| Crook | 9,717 | 5.5 | C− | A | D | D |
| Castleside | 1,532 | 7.1 | — | A− | A | C− |
| Esh Winning | 3,877 | 7.3 | C | A− | C− | D |
| Toft Hill and High Etherley | 1,865 | 7.7 | — | A− | B+ | C |
Tow Law, Stanhope, Billy Row, Castleside and Toft Hill and High Etherley have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 6.8 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
GCSE results beat 80% of towns in England, and primary results beat 90% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Wolsingham has 2 state schools; places are handled by County Durham council.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Village in County Durham, England
Wolsingham is a built-up area of 2,428 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.