Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
5,254 residents make their home in this town in Tyne and Wear, North East.
Rowlands Gill’s weakest is schools — primary results beat 3% of towns in England. It is easy to get around without a car (B+): 17% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Homes sell for a median £175,000, about 4 years of what households in the Gateshead council area earn. Put together, the subjects come to a C overall, better than 26% of UK towns. The ranking puts it #27 of 34 in Tyne and Wear. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for safety and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS · 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 Rowlands Gill is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Rowlands Gill does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 2 buildings inside Rowlands Gill’s built-up area, and 1 scheduled monument.
23% 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 Rowlands Gill.
Some 397 pupils attend Rowlands Gill’s three primaries. Below is one of its 3 schools, and why it was picked. 45% of pupils at the town’s 3 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rowlands Gill Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 204 | D |
The 65-and-over age group makes up just over a quarter of residents. 16% are under 15, about level with Tyne and Wear’s towns (17%) and below England’s towns (18%). Rowlands Gill has a median age of 49.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 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.
| Rowlands Gill | Tyne and Wear | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 26% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.9% | 6.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 32% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Tyne and Wear and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II covers all 2 listed buildings that Historic England records here. One scheduled monument lies in Rowlands Gill. Relative to its size, Rowlands Gill keeps 4 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, below Tyne and Wear’s towns (8) and England’s towns (39) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 31% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Four in five commuters drove, above Tyne and Wear’s towns (70%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 3%. Income per household averages £49K a year, before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Self-reported good health: 77% of Rowlands Gill’s residents. At the census, 7.4% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, near Tyne and Wear’s towns (7.1%) and higher than England’s towns (5.2%). There is no GP practice here: the nearest is 1.2 miles off.
| Census 2021 | Rowlands Gill | Tyne and Wear | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.4% | 7.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 21% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
Nearly a quarter of households live in social housing. Owners make up nearly two thirds of households, above both Tyne and Wear’s towns (57%) and England’s towns (61%). Private rents average £804 a month across the Gateshead council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £397,500 | 33 |
| Semi-detached | £200,000 | 73 |
| Terraced | £118,000 | 55 |
| Flat or maisonette | £125,000 | 9 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Over the year to August 2026, 246 offences were reported in Rowlands Gill, along with 76 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Violent crime ran at 21.8 per 1,000 residents a year, below Tyne and Wear’s towns (32.7) and close to England’s towns (22). Also worth knowing: of all the crimes, 38% were violence and sexual offences.
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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Rowlands Gill. Best known first.
Heritage railwayTanfield Railway4.2 km outside town, to the east
Historic house · National TrustGibside700 m outside town, to the east
CastleHamsterley Hall2.5 km outside town, to the southwestHistoric siteHistoric site · English HeritageDerwentcote Steel Furnace2.4 km outside town, to the southwestMuseumMuseumPath Head Watermill4 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
9 notable people were born in Rowlands Gill.
Chris Ryan: James English, CC BY 3.0
Town in Tyne and Wear, England
Rowlands Gill is a built-up area of 5,254 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rowlands Gill | 5,254 | — | C | C+ | B− | C+ |
| High Spen | 1,933 | 1.3 | — | C+ | B | D |
| Burnopfield | 2,998 | 1.3 | A− | A− | B+ | C− |
| Chopwell | 2,530 | 2.4 | D | B | D− | D |
| Blaydon | 14,237 | 2.7 | C− | B− | D | D |
| Dipton | 2,653 | 2.8 | B− | A− | C | D |
| Sunniside | 3,422 | 2.9 | B | B− | C+ | C+ |
| Blackhall Mill | 1,528 | 3.1 | — | B+ | B | C |
High Spen and Blackhall Mill have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Rowlands Gill has 3 state schools; places are handled by Gateshead council.
Band D council tax in Rowlands Gill is £2,716 for 2026–27, more than in 96% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £175,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £125,000, terraced houses £118,000, semi-detached houses £200,000 and detached houses £397,500.
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.