Home > Local History > English Town Rankings - 1861 (Based on Census Population)
| Rank | Town |
| 1 | London |
| 2 | Liverpool |
| 3 | Manchester |
| 4 | Birmingham |
| 5 | Leeds |
| 6 | Sheffield |
| 7 | Bristol |
| 8 | Plymouth |
| 9 | Newcastle |
| 10 | Bradford |
| 11 | Stoke-upon-Trent |
| 12 | Hull |
| 13 | Portsmouth |
| 14 | Preston |
| 15 | Sunderland |
| 16 | Brighton |
| 17 | Norwich |
| 18 | Nottingham |
| 19 | Oldham |
| 20 | Bolton |
| 21 | Leicester |
| 22 | Blackburn |
| 23 | Wolverhampton |
| 24 | Stockport |
| 25 | Bath |
| 26 | Birkenhead |
| 27 | Southampton |
| 28 | Derby |
| 29 | Coventry |
| 30 | York |
| 31 | Rochdale |
| 32 | Ipswich |
| 33 | Walsall |
| 34 | Wigan |
| 35 | Halifax |
| 36 | Macclesfield |
| 37 | South Shields |
| 38 | Ashton-under-Lyne |
| 39 | Great Yarmouth |
| 40 | Tynemouth |
| 41 | Exeter |
| 42 | Gateshead |
| 43 | Northampton |
Note:
These rankings are taken from the population census report of 1861. According to Hoskins, "Where a town was both a municipal and a parliamentary borough, and these areas were not co-terminous, the municipal limits have been chosen in each instance. Similarly, where a town was both a municipal borough and a civil parish, and the areas were not identical, the municipal limits have been taken as defining the town."