Health is its weak spot: men here can expect to live to 76.1, women to 80.6. Police record more crime here than in most towns (D): 47 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 25.9 home and vehicle crimes. Only just over a fifth of UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more have more crime per resident. On cost of living it is strong (A−): homes sell for a median £152,000, about 3.6 times local household income. The overall grade lands at C+, better than 40% of UK towns. In the ranking it comes #19 of 34 in Tyne and Wear.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy, ONS · 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 Sunderland is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Sunderland.
Health
More people in Sunderland live with a disability than in Tyne and Wear’s towns or across England’s towns: 24%
76%good or very good healthDHealth Grade
Men in Sunderland can expect to live to 76.1, women to 80.6 (2019–23). 8.4% of residents report bad or very bad health. 26 GP practices serve the town; four in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
SchoolsB+
School results in Sunderland are better than in 67% of towns in England
B+School Grade
Attainment 8 at the town’s 12 secondary schools averages 44.9, and 46% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Benedict Biscop Church of England Academy’s results beat nearly every one of schools in England like it. Below are three of its 72 schools, each with why it was picked. Sunderland’s 48 primaries and 12 secondaries have 24,502 pupils between them.
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 72 schools →
Safety
Sunderland has more crime per resident than 94% of UK towns
47violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearDSafety Grade
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Reported offences in Sunderland came to 15,923 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 3,315. For its size, Sunderland records more crime per resident than 78% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 22.9 reports per 1,000, above Tyne and Wear’s towns (18) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. Of all the crimes, 38% were violence and sexual offences.
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 22% 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 & sexual6,036
Shoplifting2,346
Damage & arson1,951
Public order1,379
Burglary895
Other theft894
Vehicle crime715
Other crime663
Anti-social3,315
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.
47
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
25.9
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
22.9
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.
Work & commuteJobs & income grade C−
Benefit claims run higher in Sunderland, 4.4% of 16 to 64s, than in Tyne and Wear’s towns or across England’s towns
25%walk, cycle or ride
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.
Home was the main workplace for just over a fifth of workers at the census. About 52% of its commuters stay in Sunderland for work. This Tyne and Wear town counts 1 jobs per working resident. Households had £41K a year before tax, below both Tyne and Wear’s towns (£45K) and England’s towns (£55K).
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
HousingCost of living grade A−
More households in Sunderland live in social housing than in Tyne and Wear’s towns or England’s towns: 28%
£152Kmedian sale
The £152,000 median rests on 5,265 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026). 16% rent privately, near Tyne and Wear’s towns (17%) and lower than England’s towns (21%). Private rents average £707 a month across the Sunderland council area.
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Sunderland£152K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£280,000
814
Semi-detached
£162,000
2,101
Terraced
£126,905
1,880
Flat or maisonette
£80,000
470
55%
of households own their home · England 61%
16%
rent privately · England 21%
£707
average private rent a month, Sunderland council area
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
History
270 listed buildings, 6 of them Grade I
270listed buildingsB+History Grade
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
23% of its homes were built before 1919, above both Tyne and Wear’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (16%). Sunderland’s listed buildings include the Church of Holy Trinity, Grade I. At the top of the list, 6 are Grade I and 11 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Who lives here
Degrees are less common in Sunderland than in Tyne and Wear’s towns or across England’s towns: 25% of adults
42.6median age
11% of the population is aged 15 to 24, below Tyne and Wear’s towns (13%) and close to England’s towns (12%). The median resident of Sunderland is 42.6 years old. Under-15s account for 16% of the population.
SunderlandTyne and WearEngland
Ages · share of residents
20%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications24%
Apprenticeship7%
A levels or similar17%
Degree level25%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
WomenEnglandMen
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Jordan Henderson: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Giovanni Reyna: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Emeli Sandé: Jaguar MENA, CC BY 2.0 · Don Airey: Birgit Fostervold, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Callum Keith Rennie: Canadian Film Centre from Toronto, Canada‹p› Photo by: David Lee, CC BY 2.0
About Sunderland
City in Tyne and Wear, England
Sunderland is a built-up area of 168,323 people, in the Sunderland 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.
South Bents has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Sunderland
Is Sunderland expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £152,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £80,000, terraced houses £126,905, semi-detached houses £162,000 and detached houses £280,000.
How much is council tax in Sunderland?
Band D council tax in Sunderland is £2,196 for 2026–27, less than in 82% 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.
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.
