# List of administrative counties and county boroughs of England by population in 1971

This is a list of administrative counties and county boroughs of England by population as at the 1971 census.

## Administrative counties

Administrative counties did not include the county boroughs, see below for their populations.
| Rank | Administrative county | Population |
| 1 | Greater London | 7,452,343 |
| 2 | Lancashire | 2,509,267 |
| 3 | Yorkshire, West Riding | 1,793,473 |
| 4 | Kent | 1,366,296 |
| 5 | Essex | 1,195,250 |
| 6 | Cheshire | 1,108,775 |
| 7 | Surrey | 1,002,892 |
| 8 | Hampshire | 999,056 |
| 9 | Hertfordshire | 924,641 |
| 10 | Durham | 814,396 |
| 11 | Staffordshire | 736,870 |
| 12 | Nottinghamshire | 675,770 |
| 13 | Derbyshire | 665,548 |
| 14 | Warwickshire | 625,229 |
| 15 | Somerset | 597,991 |
| 16 | Buckinghamshire | 587,556 |
| 17 | Gloucestershire | 559,821 |
| 18 | Northumberland | 504,207 |
| 19 | Berkshire | 503,921 |
| 20 | Sussex, West | 492,500 |
| 21 | Leicestershire | 487,893 |
| 22 | Wiltshire | 486,755 |
| 23 | Worcestershire | 456,230 |
| 24 | Devon | 453,969 |
| 25 | Norfolk | 445,302 |
| 26 | Sussex, East | 443,294 |
| 27 | Cornwall | 381,665 |
| 28 | Lincolnshire, Parts of Lindsey | 375,365 |
| 29 | Dorset | 361,925 |
| 30 | Northamptonshire | 341,981 |
| 31 | Shropshire | 337,104 |
| 32 | Yorkshire, North Riding | 329,423 |
| 33 | Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely | 303,042 |
| 34 | Bedfordshire | 302,878 |
| 35 | Oxfordshire | 272,780 |
| 36 | Suffolk, East | 258,151 |
| 37 | Yorkshire, East Riding | 257,340 |
| 38 | Cumberland | 220,607 |
| 39 | Huntingdon and Peterborough | 202,622 |
| 40 | Suffolk, West | 164,732 |
| 41 | Lincolnshire, Parts of Kesteven | 158,279 |
| 42 | Herefordshire | 138,638 |
| 43 | Isle of Wight | 109,515 |
| 44 | Lincolnshire, Parts of Holland | 105,685 |
| 45 | Westmorland | 72,837 |
| 46 | Rutland | 27,471 |
| TOTAL | TOTAL | 32,611,285 |

## County boroughs

| Rank | County borough | Associated county in census | Population |
| 1 | Birmingham | Warwickshire | 1,014,669 |
| 2 | Liverpool | Lancashire | 610,114 |
| 3 | Manchester | Lancashire | 543,650 |
| 4 | Sheffield | Yorkshire, West Riding | 520,325 |
| 5 | Leeds | Yorkshire, West Riding | 496,010 |
| 6 | Bristol | Gloucestershire | 426,656 |
| 7 | Teesside | Yorkshire, North Riding | 396,233 |
| 8 | Coventry | Warwickshire | 335,239 |
| 9 | Nottingham | Nottinghamshire | 300,633 |
| 10 | Bradford | Yorkshire, West Riding | 294,175 |
| 11 | Kingston upon Hull | Yorkshire, East Riding | 285,969 |
| 12 | Leicester | Leicestershire | 284,210 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton | Staffordshire | 269,112 |
| 14 | Stoke-on-Trent | Staffordshire | 265,258 |
| 15 | Plymouth | Devon | 239,454 |
| 16 | Newcastle upon Tyne | Northumberland | 222,208 |
| 17 | Derby | Derbyshire | 219,582 |
| 18 | Sunderland | Durham | 217,075 |
| 19 | Southampton | Hampshire | 215,120 |
| 20 | Portsmouth | Hampshire | 197,429 |
| 21 | Dudley | Staffordshire | 185,581 |
| 22 | Walsall | Staffordshire | 184,734 |
| 23 | West Bromwich | Staffordshire | 166,592 |
| 24 | Warley | Worcestershire | 163,567 |
| 25 | Southend-on-Sea | Essex | 162,770 |
| 26 | Luton | Bedfordshire | 161,408 |
| 27 | Brighton | East Sussex | 161,352 |
| 28 | Bolton | Lancashire | 154,202 |
| 29 | Bournemouth | Hampshire | 153,871 |
| 30 | Blackpool | Lancashire | 151,857 |
| 31 | Stockport | Cheshire | 139,643 |
| 32 | Birkenhead | Cheshire | 137,850 |
| 33 | Reading | Berkshire | 132,939 |
| 34 | Huddersfield | Yorkshire, West Riding | 131,190 |
| 35 | Salford | Lancashire | 130,977 |
| 36 | Northampton | Northamptonshire | 126,644 |
| 37 | Ipswich | East Suffolk | 123,313 |
| 38 | Norwich | Norfolk | 122,083 |
| 39 | Torbay | Devon | 109,260 |
| 40 | Oxford | Oxfordshire | 108,804 |
| 41 | Solihull | Warwickshire | 107,093 |
| 42 | Oldham | Lancashire | 105,914 |
| 43 | York | Yorkshire, West Riding | 104,783 |
| 44 | St Helens | Lancashire | 104,340 |
| 45 | Blackburn | Lancashire | 101,817 |
| 46 | South Shields | Durham | 100,661 |
| 47 | Preston | Lancashire | 98,090 |
| 48 | Wallasey | Cheshire | 97,216 |
| 49 | Hartlepool | Durham | 97,094 |
| 50 | Exeter | Devon | 95,726 |
| 51 | Grimsby | Lincolnshire | 95,540 |
| 52 | Gateshead | Durham | 94,468 |
| 53 | Rochdale | Lancashire | 91,450 |
| 54 | Halifax | Yorkshire, West Riding | 91,273 |
| 55 | Gloucester | Gloucestershire | 90,233 |
| 56 | Darlington | Durham | 85,939 |
| 57 | Rotherham | Yorkshire, West Riding | 84,802 |
| 58 | Bath | Somerset | 84,674 |
| 59 | Southport | Lancashire | 84,571 |
| 60 | Doncaster | Yorkshire, West Riding | 82,668 |
| 61 | Wigan | Lancashire | 81,144 |
| 62 | Burnley | Lancashire | 76,512 |
| 63 | Barnsley | Yorkshire, West Riding | 75,397 |
| 64 | Bootle | Lancashire | 74,295 |
| 65 | Lincoln | Lincolnshire, Parts of Kesteven | 74,270 |
| 66 | Worcester | Worcestershire | 73,454 |
| 67 | Hastings | East Sussex | 72,410 |
| 68 | Carlisle | Cumberland | 71,580 |
| 69 | Eastbourne | East Sussex | 70,920 |
| 70 | Tynemouth | Northumberland | 69,339 |
| 71 | Warrington | Lancashire | 68,322 |
| 72 | Bury | Lancashire | 67,848 |
| 73 | Barrow-in-Furness | Lancashire | 64,035 |
| 74 | Chester | Chester | 62,913 |
| 75 | Wakefield | Yorkshire, West Riding | 59,591 |
| 76 | Dewsbury | Yorkshire, West Riding | 51,326 |
| 77 | Great Yarmouth | Norfolk | 50,236 |
| 78 | Burton upon Trent | Staffordshire | 50,201 |
| 79 | Canterbury | Kent | 33,175 |
| TOTAL | TOTAL | TOTAL | 13,407,078 |