Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 73,326: a large town in Tyne and Wear, North East.
The picture is mixed. Safety is its weak spot: 49.1 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 22.9 home and vehicle crimes. Set beside UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, its crime per resident is higher than in 76%. Where it does best is walkability: 26% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Homes sell for a median £153,000, about 3.6 years of what households in the South Tyneside council area earn. Overall, that makes a C, good for #26 of 34 in Tyne and Wear. On that grade it does better than 27% of UK towns. Health is weaker too (D) — life expectancy 76.7 for men, 80.9 for women.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes and life expectancy, ONS.
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 South Shields is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things South Shields does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 85 buildings inside South Shields’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
24% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1903.
85 listed buildings in South Shields, 1 of them Grade I.
Roman fort, South Shields: Photo: Chris McKenna ( user:Thryduulf ) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Old Town Hall: Photo: Chabe01 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Detached chimney at Cleadon Pumping Station: Photo: Roger Cornfoot · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Britannia Public House: Photo: JThomas · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in South Shields.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Over the year to August 2026, 7,114 offences were reported in South Shields, along with 1,814 incidents of anti-social behaviour. There were 29.4 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 were 39% 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.
Secondary results at the town’s 3 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 43.4, with 41% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Three of its 25 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Between them, 18 primaries and three secondaries teach 9,766 pupils in South Shields.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harton Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 636 | A− |
| Harton AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,599 | C+ |
| Biddick Hall Junior SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 211 | A+ |
9 GP practices serve the town; 82% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 8.1% 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. Just over three quarters of people in South Shields rate their own health good or very good.
| Census 2021 | South Shields | Tyne and Wear | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.1% | 7.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 21% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Read these answers with age in mind: they aren’t adjusted, so younger places do better. The Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 22% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
50% of commuters travelled under 5 km, close to Tyne and Wear’s towns (48%) and above England’s towns (45%). Of the commuters living in South Shields, 36% work in the town itself. This Tyne and Wear town counts 0.6 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Owners make up 54% of households. Private renters make up 16% of households, below both Tyne and Wear’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (21%). 2,163 standard sales inside South Shields’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £153,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £299,995 | 129 |
| Semi-detached | £199,995 | 762 |
| Terraced | £139,950 | 838 |
| Flat or maisonette | £90,000 | 434 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 1 of them, Grade I 1. South Shields’s listed buildings include the Old Town Hall, Grade I. It has 85 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 1 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
People 65 and over make up just over a fifth of the town. One in ten residents are 15 to 24, lower than both Tyne and Wear’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%). South Shields has a median age of 43.6 years.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| South Shields | Tyne and Wear | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.9% | 6.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 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 South Shields. Best known first.
MuseumArbeia Roman Fort Museumin town
Theme parkOcean Beach Pleasure Parkin town
MuseumSouth Shields Museum & Art Galleryin town
Castle · English HeritageTynemouth Priory and Castle1.2 km outside town, to the north
Castle · English HeritageHylton Castle3.7 km outside town, to the south
MuseumBede Museum1.1 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
214 notable people were born in South Shields.
Ridley Scott: Raph_PH, CC BY 4.0 · Eric Idle: Eduardo Unda-Sanzana, CC BY 2.0 · Ernest Thompson Seton: Bain News Service, Public domain · Frank Williams: Pitlane02, CC BY-SA 3.0 · John N. Gray: Vera de Kok, CC BY-SA 4.0
Large town in Tyne and Wear, England
South Shields is a built-up area of 73,326 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Shields | 73,326 | — | C | B | D | D |
| Cleadon | 4,599 | 1.9 | A | D | A | A+ |
| East Boldon and West Boldon | 6,795 | 2.3 | A− | C+ | B | B+ |
| Boldon Colliery | 6,071 | 2.4 | C | B | D | D |
| Jarrow | 29,467 | 2.6 | C− | B | D | D− |
| Whitburn | 5,082 | 2.8 | B | B− | B | C− |
| Tynemouth | 60,611 | 2.9 | B− | B+ | D | D |
| South Bents | 1,113 | 3.3 | — | C− | B− | B− |
South Bents has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Its Grade I building is Old Town Hall. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £153,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £90,000, terraced houses £139,950, semi-detached houses £199,995 and detached houses £299,995.
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.