The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed as part of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees unitary authority.

Aldous Huxley visited the newly opened and technologically advanced Brunner and Mond plant at ICI and gave a detailed account of the processes he saw.

The introduction to the most recent print of Brave New World states that Huxley was inspired to write the novel by this Billingham visit.

Henry Thorold in the Shell Guide to County Durham states: This is one of the most extraordinary of experiences, a sight almost unique in England.

Steaming, sizzling—tall steel towers, great cylinders, pipes everywhere... At night the whole industrial world along the banks of the Tees comes to life... brilliant with a thousand lights, the great girders of the Transporter Bridge dark in silhouette: a magic city.From 1971 to 1988, ICI operated a small General Atomics TRIGA Mark I nuclear reactor at its Billingham factory to produce radio-isotopes for use in process instrumentation such as level measurement devices.

The chemical, biotechnology and engineering companies that continue to operate at Billingham are members of the Northeast of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC).

Other members of the NEPIC Cluster operate from the 62-acre (25 hectares) Belasis Business Park in Billingham such as Cambridge Research Biochemicals, ABB and Biochemica.

[10][11] In 1983, NIREX announced a proposal to use the disused anhydrite mine as a site for the disposal of intermediate level nuclear waste.

There was a certain amount of opposition to this, led by Billingham Against Nuclear Dumping (BAND), as despite the suitability of the site in geological terms, it was very close to a large population centre.

Other than the town itself, areas of the parish include Haverton Hill, Port Clarence, Cowpen Bewley and Seal Sands.

A petition to Stockton Borough Council and referendum held in 2003 both gave assent to a proposal for Billingham to become reparished.

The Department for Communities and Local Government and the Electoral Commission issued orders for the creation of a Billingham parish and the setting up of a new town council in February 2007.

The town is effectively split into two separate areas by name: Old Billingham (the area around the village green adjacent to St Cuthbert's church and built up around the ICI works) and the more planned estates that have spread out since the 1950s, increasing the town's size and borders towards the villages of Wolviston and Cowpen Bewley to the point of almost incorporating them.

Billingham Town Centre provides the town with national retail chains such as Asda, Greggs, Iceland, Argos, Aldi, Costa, Poundland and Boyes, as well as several charity shops, estate agents and banks, with a market featuring in the centre every Monday and Friday.

In March 2012 it was confirmed that a Wetherspoons public house would be opened in the town centre, along with a Fulton Frozen Foods superstore.

In November 2013, a time capsule was buried in front of 'The Family' statue in Billingham town centre under a stone with the inscription 'FOREVER FORWARD 30 11 2013'.

This number increased slowly until the beginning of the First World War, when the need for nitrates to use in explosives brought about a significant burst of growth for the town.

[15] In 1917, after Billingham was chosen as the site for the production of synthetic ammonia[16] due to its good transport links and access to the resources needed, the population of the town nearly doubled in just a few years from 4500 to 8000.

With the onset of the Second World War, synthetic ammonia for explosives was once again in demand, further sustaining the town's development.

During the latter half of the 20th century, the population of Billingham slowed significantly due to the industrial decline of the area.

Across the wards that make up Billingham, just 2.3% of the population at the 2011 Census were born outside the UK, compared to a national average of 13%.

construction is ongoing for St. Michael's to join the Billingham Campus and New Bede/Riverside College facilities on the Marsh House Avenue site.

The council has published plans for a £40 million investment in primary schools which will include some being rebuilt or re-designed and refurbished.

[citation needed]There is also St Michaels RC Secondary School in Billingham, which is part of the Carmel Trust based in Darlington.

Billingham railway station is on the Durham Coast Line with hourly services provided by Northern to Newcastle and the MetroCentre in the north and to Stockton and Middlesbrough in the south.

Rail services were infamously operated using Pacer trains which were in essence converted Leyland National buses, but these were withdrawn in late 2019 due to them not meeting government disability requirements.

The club also has a junior section, ranging from U-7 minis to U-16s, with teams winning Durham county cups and leagues.

Notable personalities that have performed in the theatre include Wendy Richard, Jimmy Edwards, Eric Sykes, Darren Day, Arthur Lowe, David Jason, Penelope Keith, Terry Scott, Timothy West, Carroll Baker, and Dame Anna Neagle.

The proposals were abandoned in November 2004, shortly after the Forum Theatre was granted Grade II listed building status.