County Durham: local statistics
County Durham is a unitary authority in the North East, home to an estimated 539,146 people (mid-2025). This page brings together 10 official figures for the area, each with its period, publisher and the address it was read from. See also who has power over County Durham, from the council up to the G20.
Key figures
What the figures show
A typical home in County Durham cost £140,447 in July 2026, on the UK House Price Index, up 4.7% on July 2025. It ranks as the 2nd lowest in the North East; the average for the North East was £166,943. This July figure is the highest in the series, 44% up on July 2016. The average price is 4.2 times the median annual pay of full-time employees who live in County Durham. That ratio is the 2nd lowest ratio in the North East.
18,115 businesses were registered for VAT or PAYE in County Durham in March 2026, 9% more than in 2016. There are 34 per 1,000 residents, close to the middle of the 12 council areas in the North East (6th highest).
Full-time employees living in County Durham earned a median £661.30 a week in April 2025 (£33,436 a year). It is the 2nd lowest of the 12 council areas in the North East, and 4.5% less than across the North East. Measured by where people work rather than where they live, the median is £643.10, £18.20 lower. Ten years earlier, in 2015, it was £481.10: a change of +37% before inflation.
The claimant count for County Durham stood at 10,545 in August 2026, or 3.2% of residents aged 16 to 64, compared with 3.7% in the North East. A year earlier the rate was 3.0%. Since August 2021 the rate has ranged between 3.0% (June 2026) and 5.2% (August 2021).
For 2026-27 the average Band D council tax bill in County Durham is £2,622.15, 2.8% more than in 2025-26. That makes it the 2nd highest of the 12 council areas in the North East. Ten years earlier, in 2016-17, it was £1,735.37.
The Annual Population Survey estimates that 73.8% of County Durham residents aged 16 to 64 were in work in April 2025 to March 2026, with a margin of error of 3.3 points either way; the figure for the North East was 71.8%. Its lowest reading in the series was 69.0% and its highest 74.2%.
County Durham had an estimated 539,146 residents in mid-2025, up 0.4% on a year earlier. That is 25,222 more people than in mid-2015, a rise of 4.9% (the North East: +5.8%), 8th of 12 in the North East, counting from the fastest growth. The mid-2025 estimate is the highest in the series.
The police recorded 90.8 crimes per 1,000 residents in County Durham in the year to March 2026 (48,961 offences in all), 8th of 12 in the North East, counting from the highest rate. That compares with 90.8 per 1,000 the year before. The highest rate in the series was 99.8, in the year to March 2019. Fraud is not included.
A girl born in County Durham in 2022 to 2024 could expect to live 81.3 years and a boy 77.8 years, on the ONS's period measure (England: 83.3 and 79.5). Since 2012 to 2014 it has changed by +0.0 years for women and -0.2 for men. It is the 8th highest for women of 12 in the North East.
History
Population (mid-year)
| 2015 | 513,924 |
| 2016 | 514,431 |
| 2017 | 515,911 |
| 2018 | 516,648 |
| 2019 | 518,562 |
| 2020 | 519,204 |
| 2021 | 521,447 |
| 2022 | 527,377 |
| 2023 | 533,311 |
| 2024 | 536,793 |
| 2025 | 539,146 |
Average house price (same month each year)
| July 2016 | £97,310 |
| July 2017 | £100,656 |
| July 2018 | £100,437 |
| July 2019 | £99,534 |
| July 2020 | £99,254 |
| July 2021 | £117,512 |
| July 2022 | £123,773 |
| July 2023 | £121,742 |
| July 2024 | £127,014 |
| July 2025 | £134,083 |
| July 2026 | £140,447 |
Median weekly pay, residents
| 2015 | £481.10 a week |
| 2016 | £488.40 a week |
| 2017 | £504.40 a week |
| 2018 | £513.10 a week |
| 2019 | £544.50 a week |
| 2020 | £529.50 a week |
| 2021 | £548.50 a week |
| 2022 | £574.90 a week |
| 2023 | £613.30 a week |
| 2024 | £637.10 a week |
| 2025 | £661.30 a week |
Average Band D council tax
| 2016-17 | £1,735.37 |
| 2017-18 | £1,797.32 |
| 2018-19 | £1,887.45 |
| 2019-20 | £1,993.48 |
| 2020-21 | £2,071.05 |
| 2021-22 | £2,138.35 |
| 2022-23 | £2,203.42 |
| 2023-24 | £2,316.13 |
| 2024-25 | £2,431.19 |
| 2025-26 | £2,551.17 |
| 2026-27 | £2,622.15 |
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents
| 2015/16 | 55.5 per 1,000 |
| 2016/17 | 70.8 per 1,000 |
| 2017/18 | 94.1 per 1,000 |
| 2018/19 | 99.8 per 1,000 |
| 2019/20 | 99.3 per 1,000 |
| 2020/21 | 87.0 per 1,000 |
| 2021/22 | 91.4 per 1,000 |
| 2022/23 | 98.6 per 1,000 |
| 2023/24 | 97.4 per 1,000 |
| 2024/25 | 90.8 per 1,000 |
| 2025/26 | 90.8 per 1,000 |
Employment rate
| 2015/16 | 69.0% |
| 2016/17 | 71.5% |
| 2017/18 | 71.3% |
| 2018/19 | 74.2% |
| 2019/20 | 71.1% |
| 2020/21 | 72.3% |
| 2021/22 | 70.1% |
| 2022/23 | 71.7% |
| 2023/24 | 74.2% |
| 2024/25 | 71.3% |
| 2025/26 | 73.8% |
Life expectancy, women
| 2012 to 2014 | 81.3 years |
| 2013 to 2015 | 81.2 years |
| 2014 to 2016 | 81.3 years |
| 2015 to 2017 | 81.3 years |
| 2016 to 2018 | 81.4 years |
| 2017 to 2019 | 81.7 years |
| 2018 to 2020 | 81.2 years |
| 2019 to 2021 | 80.8 years |
| 2020 to 2022 | 80.4 years |
| 2021 to 2023 | 81.0 years |
| 2022 to 2024 | 81.3 years |
Registered businesses
| 2016 | 16,585 |
| 2017 | 17,120 |
| 2018 | 17,150 |
| 2019 | 17,180 |
| 2020 | 17,445 |
| 2021 | 17,900 |
| 2022 | 18,025 |
| 2023 | 17,870 |
| 2024 | 17,575 |
| 2025 | 17,810 |
| 2026 | 18,115 |
Questions about County Durham
What is the average house price in County Durham?
£140,447 in July 2026, on HM Land Registry's UK House Price Index (+4.7% on a year).
What is the average salary in County Durham?
£661.30 a week before tax, the median for full-time employees who live there (April 2025, ONS).
How many people claim unemployment-related benefits in County Durham?
10,545 in August 2026 (3.2% of residents aged 16 to 64), on the ONS claimant count, which is not the unemployment rate.
How much is Band D council tax in County Durham?
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government gives an average Band D bill of £2,622.15 for 2026-27.
What is the population of County Durham?
The ONS estimates 539,146 people lived in County Durham in mid-2025.
What is the crime rate in County Durham?
90.8 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents in the year to March 2026, excluding fraud (Home Office).
What is life expectancy in County Durham?
81.3 years for women and 77.8 for men (2022 to 2024, ONS).
Who has power over County Durham
Every body that makes decisions for County Durham, from the street up to the G20. Each one links to its page on the official record. How the ten levels work.
Level 1: Neighbourhood and community power
Residents' and tenants' groups, neighbourhood forums and local policing panels.
Level 2: Parish, town and community councils
Parish, town and community councils, where the area has them, sit below the council.
Level 3: Local councils
- County Durham council spending, reserves, debt and council tax
- County Durham in official figures this page
Level 5: Devolved and state governments
England has no devolved parliament of its own: its laws are made by the UK Parliament.
Level 6: National government
- Bishop Auckland: Dr Sam Rushworth (Labour) MP
- Blaydon and Consett: Liz Twist (Labour) MP
- City of Durham: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour) MP
- Easington: Grahame Morris (Labour) MP
- Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor: Alan Strickland (Labour) MP
- North Durham: Luke Akehurst (Labour) MP
- All 650 MPs votes, interests and costs
- UK government and Parliament official figures and sources
Level 7: Regional blocs and supranational bodies
- Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights (CoE / ECtHR) The UK Government says the United Kingdom was one of the Council of Europe's founding members.
Level 8: The UN and global treaty bodies
- United Nations (General Assembly and Security Council) The UN lists the United Kingdom as a member admitted on 24 October 1945.
- United Nations Security Council (UNSC) The UK is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council and holds the veto, according to the UN.
- NATO NATO lists the United Kingdom among its 12 founding members, which signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, D.C.
- World Health Organization (WHO) WHO's list of member states includes the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- World Trade Organization (WTO) The WTO says the United Kingdom has been a WTO member since 1 January 1995 and a member of GATT since 1 January 1948.
- Commonwealth of Nations The UK is one of the 56 members, one of three European members with Cyprus and Malta, and the Commonwealth Secretariat is headquartered at Marlborough House in London.
Level 9: The IMF, World Bank and global finance
- International Monetary Fund (IMF) The UK has been a member since 27 December 1945 and has a quota of SDR 20,155.1 million (IMF country page for the United Kingdom).
- World Bank Group (WBG) The UK holds 3.75% of voting power in the IBRD (data as of 30 June 2026) and 6.92% in IDA (as of 30 June 2026), according to the World Bank's voting tables.
Level 10: G7, G20, Davos and global forums
Sources
Each value above links to the official file or query it was read from, on 14 October 2026. What each figure measures.
- Recorded crime: Years before April 2020 come from the earlier Home Office table.
More on this area and these figures
- Council money: spending, reserves and debt
- Figures for the whole region: the North East
- UK figures: UK average house price · UK average weekly earnings growth · UK unemployment rate
- Other council areas in the North East: Gateshead · Newcastle upon Tyne · North Tyneside · Northumberland · Stockton-on-Tees · Sunderland
Related questions
- What is the average house price in my area?
- What is the average salary in my area?
- What is the unemployment rate in my area?
- How much has council tax gone up this year?
- Which council am I in?
Figures checked 14 October 2026. Link moved or figure out of date? Tell us.