Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
In Tyne and Wear, North East, this large town has 21,341 residents.
Strong in places, weak in others. Its weakest subject is health (D): men here can expect to live to 75.6, women to 79.8. It takes 3.9 years of household income in the South Tyneside council area to buy the median home, at £168,500. Walking, cycling and public transport work well here: nearly a quarter of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Put together, the subjects come to a C− overall, better than 24% of UK towns. The ranking puts it #31 of 34 in Tyne and Wear. Safety is weaker too: 37.9 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 19.2 home and vehicle crimes. Set beside UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 73%.
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.
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 Hebburn is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 2 things Hebburn does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 9 buildings inside Hebburn’s built-up area.
10% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1914.
Explore the history →9 listed buildings in Hebburn.
The Albert Public House: Photo: Andrew Curtis · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St John: Photo: Symac / Sylvain Machefert · CC BY-SA 4.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Hebburn.
3 GP practices serve the town; 73% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 7% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, about level with Tyne and Wear’s towns (7.1%) and above England’s towns (5.2%). Disability touches just over a fifth of Hebburn’s population.
| Census 2021 | Hebburn | Tyne and Wear | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7% | 7.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 21% | 17% |
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.
At the town’s 5 primary schools, nearly three in five pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). St Aloysius Catholic Junior School Academy’s results beat just over four in five schools in England like it. Secondary results at the town’s 2 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 43.7, with 38% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Three of its 10 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toner Avenue Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 512 | C+ |
| St Joseph's Catholic AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,377 | C+ |
| St Aloysius Catholic Junior School AcademyTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 239 | A− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
10% of homes date from before 1919. Scaled to its population, Hebburn has 4 listed buildings per 10,000 people, lower than both Tyne and Wear’s towns (8) and England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
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 16.6 reports per 1,000, lower than Tyne and Wear’s towns (18) yet higher than England’s towns (7.8). Police figures for Hebburn’s built-up area: 1,231 crimes and 267 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 50% of recorded crime.
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 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Jobs per working resident: 0.5. Just over one in ten commuters who live in Hebburn also work there. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 37%, lower than both Tyne and Wear’s towns (48%) and England’s towns (45%). Average household income comes to £44K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Renting privately is how 13% of households live. Private rents average £743 a month across the South Tyneside council area. Half of the 790 standard sales inside Hebburn’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £168,500.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £292,497 | 156 |
| Semi-detached | £175,000 | 286 |
| Terraced | £145,000 | 227 |
| Flat or maisonette | £82,500 | 121 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
18% of residents are children under 15. Hebburn has a median age of 39.5 years. Degrees are held by 27% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Hebburn | Tyne and Wear | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.7% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 29% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.1% | 6.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Tyne and Wear and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Hebburn. Best known first.
MuseumArbeia Roman Fort Museum5 km outside town, to the northeast
Art galleryBALTIC Centre4.2 km outside town, to the west
Art galleryLaing Art Gallery4.9 km outside town, to the west
Historic house · English HeritageBessie Surtees House4.9 km outside town, to the west
MuseumBede Museum1.6 km outside town, to the northeast
Art galleryShipley Art Gallery4.6 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
35 notable people were born in Hebburn.
Brendan Foster: Sergio Del Grande (Mondadori Publishers), Public domain · Chris Rigg: Loaf 1212, CC0 · Ray Wood: Eskil Malmberg, Public domain · Alfred Douglas: Brentford FC, Public domain
Large town in Tyne and Wear, England
Hebburn is a built-up area of 21,341 people, in the South Tyneside 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hebburn | 21,341 | — | C− | B | D | D |
| Jarrow | 29,467 | 1.3 | C− | B | D | D− |
| Wallsend | 45,351 | 1.8 | C | A− | D | D |
| Boldon Colliery | 6,071 | 2.6 | C | B | D | D |
| Gateshead | 115,278 | 3.5 | C− | B− | D | D |
| East Boldon and West Boldon | 6,795 | 3.6 | A− | C+ | B | B+ |
| South Shields | 73,326 | 3.6 | C | B | D | D |
| Tynemouth | 60,611 | 3.7 | B− | B+ | D | D |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £168,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £82,500, terraced houses £145,000, semi-detached houses £175,000 and detached houses £292,497.
GCSE results trail 70% of towns in England, and primary results trail 62% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
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.
