County Durham is largely a rural area with around 42% (140/330 LSOAs) of its area classified as rural in nature based upon the 2021 Rural-Urban classification for Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs). Rural areas cover an area of approximately 190,844 Hectares/737 Square Miles – around 86% of the County.
The Rural Urban Classification is an official statistical classification for England and Wales, used to distinguish Rural and Urban areas. It is based on settlements and is available for some statistics and administrative geographies (including Census geographies and Local Authorities). The classification is used in combination with other datasets to produce analysis that distinguishes the characteristics of Rural and Urban areas.
RUC in itself includes no statistical data, but provides categorical attributes for the members of these small area geographies.
The following map provides further information and for County Durham based upon the 2021 RUC:
Further Information: Rural Urban Classification (GOV.UK)
Population
The following is based on the 2021 RUC for Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) and the ONS 2024 population estimates.
County Durham covers an area of 223,265 hectares (2021) and has an estimated population of 538,000 (ONS 2024 population estimates).
- Rural areas cover around 86% of the county and is home to 43% (around 229,500 people) of the county’s total population. This can be further broken down to:
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- Smaller Rural Areas: 9% (50,200 people),
- Larger Rural Areas: 33% (179,300 people).
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- Urban areas cover around 14% of the county and is home to 57% (around 308,500 people) of the county’s total population.
Further information on the population of County Durham is available in the ‘Population‘ theme.
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