Ryton is a semi-rural small town near the western border of Tyne and Wear, England. Once an independent town in County Durham it became incorporated into the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear and the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in 1974. It has a population of 15,742. By the 2011 Census the parish had been absorbed into the Gateshead MBC ward of Ryton,Crawcrook and Stella. The total population of this ward was 8,146.