List of settlements in County Durham by population

This is a list of settlements in County Durham by population based on the results of the 2011 census. The next United Kingdom census will take place in 2021. In 2011, there were 26 built-up area subdivisions with 5,000 or more inhabitants in County Durham, shown in the table below. This list does not include areas transferred from County Durham to Tyne and Wear in 1974, including Gateshead and Sunderland, which would both be larger than the current largest settlement of Darlington.

Population ranking

Bishop Auckland

Billingham

Chester-le-Street

Consett

Darlington

Durham

Hartlepool

Newton Aycliffe

Stockton

Seaham

Spennymoor

The 11 largest settlements of County Durham. The city of Durham in bold and council centres in yellow.

Stanley

Annfield Plain

Shildon

Ferryhill

Peterlee & Horden

Brandon

Crook

Murton

Egglescliffe/
Eaglescliffe

The 12th to 20th largest settlements in County Durham. Egglescliffe and Eaglescliffe are interchangeably used. Peterlee and Horden are counted separately in 2021 and together in previous censuses.

Easington & Easington Colliery

Barnard Castle

Willington

Pelton & Ouston

Sacriston

Wingate

The 21st to 26th largest settlements in County Durham, Easington and Easington Colliery are counted as just Easington in the 2021 census. Pelton and Ouston are counted together in 2021 and separate in previous censuses

#	Settlement	Council area	Population[1][2]
			2001	2011	2021
1	Darlington	Darlington	86,460	92,363	93,015
2	Hartlepool	Hartlepool	86,030	88,855	87,995
3	Stockton-on-Tees	Stockton (North Tees)	80,060	82,729	84,815
4	Durham	Co. Durham	43,220	47,785	50,510
5	Billingham	Stockton (North Tees)	34,760	35,392	33,920
6	Consett	Co. Durham	21,060	24,828	29,885
7	Newton Aycliffe	Co. Durham	25,660	25,964	25,765
8	Chester-le-Street	Co. Durham	23,946	24,277	23,560
9	Bishop Auckland	Co. Durham	23,830	24,908	23,355
10	Seaham	Co. Durham	21,160	22,373	21,665
11	Spennymoor	Co. Durham	17,270	17,766	20,410
12	Peterlee & Horden	Co. Durham	29,936	27,871	19,750 6,805
13	Stanley	Co. Durham	19,455	20,995	19,415
14	Egglescliffe/ Eaglescliffe	Stockton (North Tees)	7,908†	8,559†	10,250
15	Crook	Co. Durham	8,540	10,019	9,715
16	Shildon	Co. Durham	10,080	9,976	9,645
17	Brandon	Co. Durham	9,082	9,566	9,505
18	Ferryhill	Co. Durham	10,554	9,805	8,860
19	Annfield Plain	Co. Durham	9,824	7,774	7,785
20	Murton	Co. Durham	6,820	7,413	7,240
21	Easington & Easington Colliery	Co. Durham	7,123	7,193	6,965
22	Barnard Castle	Co. Durham	6,720	7,040	5,785
23	Willington	Co. Durham	6,105	6,633	5,685
24	Pelton & Ouston	Co. Durham	5,249 5,490	5,278 5,303	7,305
25	Sacriston	Co. Durham	4,394	4,611	5,190
26	Wingate	Co. Durham	4,660	5,134	5,035
27	Castleside	Co. Durham	4,480	4,881	N/a
28	Blackhall Colliery	Co. Durham	5,223	4,785	N/a
30	Langley Park	Co. Durham	4,529	4,545	N/a

† - Parish count^[3][4]

See also

• England portal
• North East England portal

• County Durham
• List of civil parishes in County Durham
• List of settlements in Northumberland by population
• List of settlements in Tyne and Wear by population
• List of towns and cities in England by population