Former orphanage · Grade II listed · Photo: Albert Bridge · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
Ballygowan’s story
Ballygowan in pictures
The Historic Environment Division lists 2 buildings inside Ballygowan’s settlement.
Explore the history →
BallygowanArds and North Down
3,138 people live in this town in Ards and North Down, Northern Ireland. The average domestic rates bill is £1,347 a year.
7 places within 12 milesMap →
Photo: Ardfern · CC BY-SA 3.0
Population
3,138
Census 2021 · Ards and North Down council
Median home
£200K
123 sales in 2022–24
Median age
39.1
14% are 65+ · Ards and North Down 22%
Degree level
32%
of residents 16+ · Northern Ireland 32%
Walk, cycle, bus
6%
of commuters · Northern Ireland 18%
TownGrade
A
#1 of 6 in Ards and North Down
Is Ballygowan a good place to live?
A strong record with one exception. Buying a home costs less than in most towns (A+): homes sell for a median £199,800, about 4.1 times local household income. Ballygowan’s overall A puts it #1 of 6 in Ards and North Down and #7 of 63 in Northern Ireland. Set against the rest, it does better than 94% of UK towns. Few people walk, cycle or take the bus to work (D−): 6% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Health lags: life expectancy is 80.1 for men and 83.7 for women.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry (LPS), 2022 to 2024 at early-2025 prices · commuting, Census 2021 · life expectancy, ONS.
This town's Cost Grade uses house prices and the domestic rates bill: Northern Ireland has no council tax, and no rents are published for its council areas. This town's Health Grade uses NISRA's life expectancy for its district electoral area (2022 to 2024) and two Census 2021 measures, bad health and disability, adjusted for age. Healthy life expectancy and the early-death and hospital measures English towns use aren't published for small areas in Northern Ireland. This town's School Grade uses GCSE results at the post-primary schools its children travel to, grammar and non-grammar, compared with schools across Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland publishes no primary school results. Northern Ireland has no Jobs Grade (no small-area income, claimant or job-access data is published) and no Hazards Grade (its flood maps aren't open data).
What makes Ballygowan stand out
The 3 things Ballygowan does most differently from other towns.
Walk, cycle or public transport
Getting around
6% leave the car
of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport (Northern Ireland’s towns 18%)
0% of commuters travel under 5 km.
96%of UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people
Safety
of UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people
Per resident, police.uk, 3 years.
Rates vs council tax, average bill
Rates
£1,347 a year
The average domestic rates bill in Ards and North Down, 2026–27: 28% below England’s average council tax per home, £1,868
Rates are set on the home’s value and also pay for water. Land & Property Services.
How Ballygowan grades
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Northern Ireland), ordered by how far Ballygowan is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Cost of livingRates £1,347 a yearA+Open →WalkabilityIn the bottom fifth of the towns comparedD−Open →SafetyBased on crimes reported per residentAOpen →SchoolsGCSE results beat 77% of Northern Ireland townsA−Open →HealthResidents’ health trails most townsC+Open →
Jobs & incomeNo small-area data in NI–
Hazard riskNI flood maps aren’t open–
How TownRatings grades towns →
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Ballygowan.
HousingCost of living grade A+
Ballygowan is a town of owners: 84% of households own their home, above Ards and North Down’s towns and Northern Ireland’s towns
8% live in social housing, below both Ards and North Down’s towns (14%) and Northern Ireland’s towns (20%). Renting privately is how 7% of households live. It is the 4th most expensive of 6 towns of 2,500+ in Ards and North Down.
£200Kmedian sale
Median sale price · 2022 to 2024, at early-2025 prices
Ballygowan£200K
Typical UK town£277K
84%
of households own their home · Northern Ireland 59%
7%
rent privately · Northern Ireland 19%
£1,347
average domestic rates bill, 2026–27 (no council tax in Northern Ireland)
NISRA / Land & Property Services ward sale prices and domestic rates · NISRA Census 2021 tenure · OGL · The figure is NISRA’s median sale price for the wards around Ballygowan, 2022 to 2024, brought to early-2025 prices and weighted by sales.
SchoolsA−
Exam results at Ballygowan’s schools top 77% of Northern Ireland towns
The town has one school, shown below.
A−School Grade
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Dickson Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 89 | – |
Department of Education (NI) · school census and exam results · The grade uses the post-primary schools in or within 10 km; Northern Ireland publishes no primary results.The Schools page →
Work & commute
Ballygowan is a driving town: 93% of commuters go by car, above Ards and North Down’s towns and Northern Ireland’s towns
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 19% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Work in town: 4% of resident commuters. There are 0.2 jobs in Ballygowan for each resident in work. Walking ranked second among ways to work, at 3%.
6%walk, cycle or ride
How commuters got to work · March 2021
Driving93%
On foot3%
Bus3%
19%
worked mainly from home in March 2021
D−
Walkability: more walkable than 4% of UK towns
NISRA Census 2021, method of travel to work · OGL
Safety
Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Ballygowan records less crime per resident than 96% of them
Violence and sexual offences accounted for nearly two fifths of recorded crime. Homes saw 3.7 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, below Ards and North Down’s towns (6.4) and Northern Ireland’s towns (8.8) alike. Each year, 11.7 violent crimes are recorded per 1,000 residents. A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 77 offences in Ballygowan and 39 cases of nuisance behaviour.
11.7violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearASafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 96% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: less crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual30
Shoplifting20
Damage & arson9
Other theft6
Drugs6
Other crime5
Vehicle crime1
Public order0
Anti-social39
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
11.7
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
3.7
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
13.3
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
77
crimes recorded in the 12 months to August 2026
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the NISRA settlement boundary · OGL · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
Health
Fewer people in Ballygowan live with a disability than in Ards and North Down’s towns or across Northern Ireland’s towns: 20%
Of the 6 towns in Ards and North Down, Ballygowan has the smallest share in bad or very bad health: 4.7%. 84% of the town’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, above both Ards and North Down’s towns (78%) and Northern Ireland’s towns (77%).
84%good or very good healthC+Health Grade
General health, self-reported
Good or very good 84%Fair 12%Bad or very bad 5%
| Census 2021 | Ballygowan | Ards and North Down | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 78% | 77% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.7% | 7.3% | 8.7% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 25% | 26% |
80.1
life expectancy at birth, men (2022–24)
83.7
life expectancy at birth, women
Northern Ireland towns’ Health Grades use NISRA’s life expectancy for 2022 to 2024 in the district electoral areas around the town, and two Census 2021 measures, bad health and disability, adjusted for age to the same standard as England and Wales. Healthy life expectancy isn’t published for Northern Ireland’s areas, and its early-death, hospital and child-obesity figures cover district electoral areas or council areas rather than small areas, so the Health page compares those with Northern Ireland without grading them.
NISRA Census 2021, general health and disability · NISRA life expectancy by district electoral area, 2022–24 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy.
History
Ballygowan’s listed buildings: 2, all Grade B
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Inside Ballygowan’s settlement, The Historic Environment Division lists 2 listed buildings, .
2listed buildings
Listed buildings by grade · HED
Grade A0
Grade B+0
Grade B2
0
scheduled monuments
0
historic parks, gardens and demesnes
6
listed buildings per 10,000 residents · typical town in England and Wales 24
HED list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Who lives here
A younger town: only 14% of people in Ballygowan are 65 or over, fewer than in both Ards and North Down’s towns and Northern Ireland’s towns
The 15-to-24 age group: 12%, above Ards and North Down’s towns (10%) and close to Northern Ireland’s towns (12%). Ballygowan has a median age of 39.1 years. Children are 18% of the town.
39.1median age
BallygowanArds and North DownNorthern Ireland
Ages · share of residents
12%
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications16%
A levels or similar20%
Degree level32%
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Northern Ireland, 51% of residents are women.
| Ballygowan | Ards and North Down | Northern Ireland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 19% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 14% | 22% | 17% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 19% | 25% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 16% | 16% |
| Degree level | 32% | 34% | 32% |
NISRA Census 2021 · Ards and North Down and Northern Ireland: all residents of their settlements · Women and men: whole data zones, which approximate the town’s boundary · OGL
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Ballygowan
10pages on Ballygowan
The big questions
Ballygowan’s neighbours
The nearest settlements, from NISRA’s 2015 boundaries. See them on the map →
SaintfieldComberCarryduffMetropolitan CastlereaghNewtownardsBallynahinchBelfastBallygowan
How the neighbours grade
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballygowan | 3,138 | — | A | A+ | A | C+ |
| Saintfield | 3,588 | 3.6 | A− | A+ | A | C |
| Comber | 9,529 | 3.7 | A | A+ | A− | C |
| Carryduff | 7,173 | 4 | A+ | A+ | A | B |
| Metropolitan Castlereagh | 58,763 | 5.7 | A+ | A+ | A− | C |
| Newtownards | 29,677 | 7.6 | A− | A+ | C+ | C− |
| Ballynahinch | 6,164 | 8.1 | B− | A+ | C | C− |
| Belfast | 293,298 | 8.6 | B | A+ | D | D− |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Ballygowan
Are schools in Ballygowan good?
Northern Ireland publishes no primary results. Places are handled by the Education Authority.
Is Ballygowan expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale in 2022 to 2024, at early-2025 prices, was £199,800, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. On cost of living it is the 54th most affordable of 63 Northern Ireland towns.
How much are the rates in Ballygowan?
Northern Ireland has no council tax: homes pay domestic rates, set on the home’s capital value, and the rates also pay for water. The average bill in Ards and North Down is about £1,347 a year for 2026–27, against England’s average council tax per home of £1,868. Your own bill depends on your home’s value; check it with Land & Property Services on nidirect.
About Ballygowan
Town in Ards and North Down, Northern Ireland
Ballygowan is a settlement of 3,138 people, in the Ards and North Down council area. TownRatings uses NISRA’s settlements (the 2015 Settlement Development Limits) as Northern Ireland’s towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from NISRA geography and Census 2021
- Population
- 3,138 (Census 2021)
- Council
- Ards and North Down
- Nation
- Northern Ireland
- Area
- 0.3 sq mi (0.8 km²)
- NISRA code
- N11000022
Sources: NISRA Census 2021, data zones best-fitted to the NISRA Settlement Development Limits 2015 (settlement totals from NISRA where it publishes them) · NISRA / Land & Property Services verified residential sales by ward, 2005 to 2024, new and existing dwellings (medians; the 2022 to 2024 headline brought to early-2025 prices with the LPS house price index, which runs to 2026) · Land & Property Services domestic rates paid by council, 2025-26, and Department of Finance rate poundages 2026-27 · data.police.uk street-level crime (Police Service of Northern Ireland), 36 months to August 2026, points inside the settlement boundary · NISRA life expectancy by district electoral area (2022 to 2024) and NISRA Census 2021 general health and disability, adjusted for age · ONS gross disposable household income by council (2022), scaled to household income on England and Wales’s councils · Department of Education examination performance at post-primary schools 2024/25 and school-level enrolment data 2025/26 · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.