Chelmsford is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located 30 mi north-east of London at Charing Cross and 22 mi south-west of Colchester. The population of the urban area was 110,625 in the 2021 Census, while the wider district has 181,763.