Home > Populations > UK Town Populations Compared With Council Populations (2001 Census)
| Town | Town Population | Council Population | Difference | |
| 1 | Leeds | 443247 | 715402 | 272155 |
| 2 | Wakefield | 76886 | 315172 | 238286 |
| 3 | Wigan | 81203 | 301415 | 220212 |
| 4 | Doncaster | 67977 | 286866 | 218889 |
| 5 | Bradford | 293717 | 467665 | 173948 |
| 6 | Stockport | 136082 | 284528 | 148446 |
| 7 | Barnsley | 71599 | 218063 | 146464 |
| 8 | Salford | 72750 | 216103 | 143353 |
| 9 | Rotherham | 117262 | 248175 | 130913 |
| 10 | Bolton | 139403 | 261037 | 121634 |
| 11 | Oldham | 103544 | 217273 | 113729 |
| 12 | Dudley | 194919 | 305155 | 110236 |
| 13 | Rochdale | 95796 | 205357 | 109561 |
| 14 | Sunderland | 177739 | 280807 | 103068 |
| 15 | Walsall | 170994 | 253499 | 82505 |
| 16 | St. Helens | 102629 | 176843 | 74214 |
| 17 | Sheffield | 439866 | 513234 | 73368 |
| 18 | Newcastle | 189863 | 259536 | 69673 |
| 19 | Swansea | 169880 | 223301 | 53421 |
| 20 | Colchester | 104390 | 155796 | 51406 |
| 21 | York | 137505 | 181094 | 43589 |
| 22 | Brighton and Hove | 206628 | 247817 | 41189 |
| 23 | Blackburn | 105085 | 137470 | 32385 |
| 24 | Aberdeen | 184788 | 212125 | 27337 |
| 25 | Swindon | 155432 | 180051 | 24619 |
| 26 | Milton Keynes | 184506 | 207057 | 22551 |
| 27 | Newport | 116143 | 137011 | 20868 |
| 28 | Telford | 138241 | 158325 | 20084 |
| 29 | Peterborough | 136292 | 156061 | 19769 |
| 30 | Edinburgh | 430082 | 448624 | 18542 |
| 31 | Nottingham | 249584 | 266988 | 17404 |
| 32 | Cardiff | 292150 | 305353 | 13203 |
| 33 | Birmingham | 970892 | 977087 | 6195 |
| 34 | Northampton | 189474 | 194458 | 4984 |
| 35 | Exeter | 106772 | 111076 | 4304 |
| 36 | Belfast | 276459 | 277391 | 932 |
| 37 | Southend | 160257 | 160257 | 0 |
| 38 | Blackpool | 142283 | 142283 | 0 |
| 39 | Portsmouth | 187056 | 186701 | -355 |
| 40 | Westminster | 181766 | 181286 | -480 |
| 41 | Crawley | 100547 | 99744 | -803 |
| 42 | Luton | 185543 | 184371 | -1172 |
| 43 | Manchester | 394269 | 392819 | -1450 |
| 44 | Coventry | 303475 | 300848 | -2627 |
| 45 | Plymouth | 243795 | 240720 | -3075 |
| 46 | Bournemouth | 167527 | 163444 | -4083 |
| 47 | Cambridge | 113442 | 108863 | -4579 |
| 48 | Poole | 144800 | 138288 | -6512 |
| 49 | Slough | 126276 | 119067 | -7209 |
| 50 | Derby | 229407 | 221708 | -7699 |
| 51 | Middlesbrough | 142691 | 134855 | -7836 |
| 52 | Oxford | 143016 | 134248 | -8768 |
| 53 | Dundee | 154674 | 145663 | -9011 |
| 54 | Gloucester | 123205 | 109885 | -13320 |
| 55 | Wolverhampton | 251462 | 236582 | -14880 |
| 56 | Southampton | 234224 | 217445 | -16779 |
| 57 | Eastbourne | 106562 | 89667 | -16895 |
| 58 | Stoke | 259252 | 240636 | -18616 |
| 59 | Ipswich | 138718 | 117069 | -21649 |
| 60 | Liverpool | 469017 | 439473 | -29544 |
| 61 | Bristol | 420556 | 380615 | -39941 |
| 62 | Watford | 120960 | 79726 | -41234 |
| 63 | Leicester | 330574 | 279921 | -50653 |
| 64 | Glasgow | 629501 | 577869 | -51632 |
| 65 | Norwich | 174047 | 121550 | -52497 |
| 66 | Preston | 184836 | 129633 | -55203 |
| 67 | Hull | 301416 | 243589 | -57827 |
| 68 | Reading | 232662 | 143096 | -89566 |
| 69 | London | 7172091 | 7185 | -7164906 |
| 70 | Sutton Coldfield | 105452 | ||
| 71 | West Bromwich | 136940 | ||
| 72 | Huddersfield | 146234 |
Notes
The town population refers to the urban area or urban sub-division population and the council population is the local authority population at the 2001 cenus.The table includes every town with a population of over 100,000 and every council with a population of over 200,000 at the 2001 Census. There are 6 towns with a town population of under 100,000 but a council population of over 200,000. They are Barnsley, Doncaster, Rochdale, Salford, Wakefield and Wigan.There are 3 towns with a population of over 100,000 which don't have a council with the same name. They are Huddersfield (Kirklees Council), Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham Council) and West Bromwich (Sandwell Council).The following sources were used to extract the population figures shown above:
Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Key
Statistics for urban areas in England and Wales Table KS01 - released 17
June 2004
Key
Statistics for local authorities in England and Wales Table KS01 - released
on 13 February 2003
General
Register Office for Scotland (GROS)
Key
Statistics for Settlements and Localities Scotland Table KS01 - released 25
March 2003
Key
Statistics for Council areas and Health Board areas Scotland Table KS01 -
released 13 February 2003
Northern Ireland
Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)
Northern
Ireland Census 2001 Key Statistics for Settlements Table KS01 - released 10
February 2005
Northern
Ireland Census 2001 Key Statistics (District Council Level) Table KS01 -
released 19 December 2002