List of ONS built-up areas in England by population

This list of built-up areas for England was compiled by the Office for National Statistics after the 2021 UK Census. Built-up area boundaries are defined and named by the ONS.

Major
The ONS classified all built-up areas with a population of at least 200,000 as major. Most are cities with some exceptional towns; Luton, Northampton and Reading) The West Midlands county has three cities over 200,000; Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton.

Large
The ONS classified all built-up areas between 199,999 and 75,000 as large-sized, most include large towns or smaller cities.

Medium
The ONS classified all built-up areas between 75,000 and 20,000 as medium-sized, most are moderate towns with some exceptional cities or villages.

49,700 to 74,999
Hereford, Canterbury, Lancaster and Durham have city status, all others are towns and Rochester formerly had city status.

30,000 to 49,699
"Citypopulation.de" does not record areas with a population lower than Thundersley and South Benfleet.

Winchester, Lichfield and Chichester have city status between 30,000 and 49,700.

20,000 to 29,999
Truro officially has city status.