List of unitary authorities of England

This is a list of unitary authorities of England ordered by population of district within England including other types of council.

Figures are from the Office for National Statistics. ^[1] Areas from UK Standard Area Measurements ^[2]

The North Northamptionshire and West Northamptonshire unitary authorities were created in 2021. In May 2023 unitary authorities were established for Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness, North Yorkshire and Somerset. The North Yorkshire authority is the largest unitary authority in England by population (618,054 in 2019) and by far the largest by area at 8,053 km² (3,109 sq mi). The 2024 onwards changes to local government in England proposals are for creation of more unitary authorities with populations of around 500,000.

List of authorities ^[1]

Rank	Authority	Region	Population	Density (people/km2)	Area (km2)
3rd	North Yorkshire	Yorkshire and the Humber	623,501	78	8,037
4th	Somerset	South West	576,852	167	3,450
5th	Cornwall	South West	575,413	162	3,545
8th	Buckinghamshire	South East	560,409	358	1,565
10th	County Durham	North East	528,127	237	2,226
11th	Wiltshire	South West	515,885	158	3,255
13th	Bristol	South West	479,024	4,368	110
15th	West Northamptonshire	East Midlands	429,013	311	1,377
17th	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	South West	401,898	2,480	162
7	Cheshire East	North West	406,527	349	1,166
8	Dorset	South West	383,274	154	2,491
9	Leicester	East Midlands	373,399	5,091	73
	North Northamptonshire	East Midlands	363,408
10	East Riding of Yorkshire	Yorkshire and the Humber	346,309	144	2,404
11	Cheshire West and Chester	North West	361,694	393	920
12	Nottingham	East Midlands	328,513	4,403	75
13	Northumberland	North East	324,362	65	5,020
14	Shropshire	West Midlands	327,178	102	3,197
16	Central Bedfordshire	East	301,501	421	716
17	South Gloucestershire	South West	294,765	593	497
19	Milton Keynes	South East	292,180	947	309
18	Medway	South East	282,702	1,459	194
15	Brighton & Hove	South East	277,965	3,356	83
	Cumberland	North West	275,390
20	Plymouth	South West	266,862	3,342	80
21	Kingston upon Hull	Yorkshire and the Humber	268,852	3,756	72
22	Derby	East Midlands	263,490	3,377	78
23	Stoke-on-Trent	West Midlands	259,965	2,782	93
24	Southampton	South East	252,689	5,066	50
25	Swindon	South West	235,657	1,024	230
	Westmorland and Furness		227,643
26	Portsmouth	South East	208,420	5,161	40
27	Luton	East	226,973	5,236	43
28	North Somerset	South West	219,145	586	374
29	Warrington	North West	211,580	1,171	181
30	York	Yorkshire and the Humber	204,551	752	272
31	Peterborough	East	217,705	634	343
32	Stockton-on-Tees	North East	199,966	976	205
33	Herefordshire	West Midlands	188,719	87	2,180
34	Bath and North East Somerset	South West	195,618	566	346
35	Southend-on-Sea	East	180,915	4,341	42
36	Telford and Wrekin	West Midlands	188,871	651	290
37	North Lincolnshire	Yorkshire and the Humber	170,042	201	847
38	Thurrock	East	176,877	1,080	164
39	Bedford	East	187,466	393	476
40	Wokingham	South East	180,967	1,011	179
41	Reading	South East	174,820	4,327	40
42	North East Lincolnshire	Yorkshire and the Humber	157,754	819	193
43	West Berkshire	South East	162,215	230	704
44	Windsor and Maidenhead	South East	154,738	787	197
45	Blackburn with Darwen	North West	155,762	1,137	137
46	Slough	South East	159,182	4,892	33
47	Isle of Wight	South East	140,794	371	380
48	Middlesbrough	North East	148,285	2,752	54
49	Blackpool	North West	141,574	4,060	35
50	Redcar and Cleveland	North East	137,175	560	245
51	Torbay	South West	139,479	2,218	63
52	Halton	North West	128,964	1,631	79
53	Bracknell Forest	South East	126,881	1,160	109
54	Darlington	North East	109,469	554	197
55	Hartlepool	North East	93,861	1,002	94
56	Rutland	East Midlands	41,151	108	382

References

1. "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2022". Office for National Statistics . 26 March 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
2. "Mid-Year Population Estimates, UK, June 2022". Office for National Statistics . 26 March 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.