Health is a weak point: life expectancy is 75.8 for men and 80.6 for women. Gateshead ranks #29 of 34 in Tyne and Wear, with a C− overall. It comes out better than nearly a quarter of UK towns. A median £155,000 buys a home here, 3.5 times what households in the Gateshead council area earn in a year. Where it does best is walkability: on the way to work, 32% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Crime runs high (D): 44.1 violent and sexual offences and 24 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Set beside UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, its crime per resident is higher than in 69%. The rest of its grades are middling: B for schools and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · life expectancy and incomes, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
Northumbria Police published 34 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Gateshead is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Gateshead.
Work & commuteJobs & income grade C−
Benefit claims run higher in Gateshead, 4.7% of 16 to 64s, than in Tyne and Wear’s towns or across England’s towns
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
By car: that was how 65% of commuters travelled at the census. Work in town: 38% of resident commuters. There are 1.4 jobs in Gateshead for each resident in work. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 56%, higher than both Tyne and Wear’s towns (48%) and England’s towns (45%).
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
SchoolsB
Gateshead’s schools outperform 56% of towns in England on results
Of its 48 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. At the town’s 34 primary schools, 63% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Secondary results at the town’s 5 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 45.2, with 45% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 48 schools →
Health
People in Gateshead live shorter lives than in 92% of UK towns
17 GP practices serve the town; just over four in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 8% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, above Tyne and Wear’s towns (7.1%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike. Self-reported good health: 77% of Gateshead’s residents.
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Safety
Crime per resident in Gateshead is higher than in 92% of UK towns
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Police figures for Gateshead’s built-up area: 10,241 crimes and 2,431 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. There were 23.5 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both Tyne and Wear’s towns (18) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences made up 36% of the total.
44.1violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearDSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 31% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: more crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual3,701
Shoplifting1,447
Damage & arson1,139
Public order888
Other theft760
Burglary592
Vehicle crime590
Other crime411
Anti-social2,431
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.
44.1
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
24
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
23.5
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
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.
History
Gateshead has 116 listed buildings, 2 of them Grade I
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Gateshead’s listed buildings include the Chapel of St Edmund and Trinity Centre, Grade I. Nearly a fifth of homes were built before 1919. It has 4 scheduled monuments.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
HousingCost of living grade B−
Social housing is more common in Gateshead than in Tyne and Wear’s towns or across England’s towns, at 29% of households
Households that own their home make up 51%. From September 2023 to August 2026, 3,753 homes sold inside Gateshead’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £155,000. Private rents average £804 a month across the Gateshead council area.
£155Kmedian sale
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Gateshead£155K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£295,000
311
Semi-detached
£170,000
1,405
Terraced
£158,000
1,133
Flat or maisonette
£100,000
904
51%
of households own their home · England 61%
19%
rent privately · England 21%
£804
average private rent a month, Gateshead council area
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Who lives here
Fewer people in Gateshead hold a degree than in Tyne and Wear’s towns or England’s towns: 27%
Just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. The middle age in Gateshead is 40.5. Children under 15 make up 17%, near Tyne and Wear’s towns (17%) and lower than England’s towns (18%).
40.5median age
GatesheadTyne and WearEngland
Ages · share of residents
18%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications23%
Apprenticeship7%
A levels or similar17%
Degree level27%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenEnglandMen
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Paul Gascoigne: James English, CC BY 3.0 · Andy Carroll: Egghead06, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Brian Johnson: MATT BECKER, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Chris Waddle: Shane Rounce, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Danny Graham: MNelson1993, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Steve Cram: Adambro, CC BY-SA 4.0
Springwell and Kibblesworth have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Gateshead
How much is council tax in Gateshead?
Band D council tax in Gateshead is £2,715 for 2026–27, more than in 96% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Is Gateshead expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £155,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £100,000, terraced houses £158,000, semi-detached houses £170,000 and detached houses £295,000.
About Gateshead
City in Tyne and Wear, England
Gateshead is a built-up area of 115,278 people, in the Gateshead 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
Population
115,278 (Census 2021)
Council
Gateshead (mostly)
County
Tyne and Wear
Region
North East
Area
11.6 sq mi (30.1 km²)
ONS code
E63000111
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.
