Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 7,236 people, this town lies in Cheshire, North West.
Real strengths, and real weak spots. Its strongest subject is schools (A−) — primary results beat 69% of towns in England; secondary results beat 78% of towns in England. Add safety to its strengths (A−): 16.4 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 6.1 home and vehicle crimes. The catch is hazard risk (C−): 2.4% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. At a median £306,500, a home costs 5.8 times the yearly income of households in the Cheshire East council area. Put together, the subjects come to an A overall, ranking #14 of 46 in Cheshire. Nationally, it does better than 86% of UK towns.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · flood risk, Environment Agency · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS.
The 3 things Bollington does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Bollington is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 43 buildings inside Bollington’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
35% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Bollington. Best known first.
Historic house · National TrustLyme Hall4.5 km outside town, to the northeast
Historic houseAdlington Hall3 km outside town, to the northwest
Historic house · National TrustHare Hill4.4 km outside town, to the west
Historic houseMottram Hall3.8 km outside town, to the west
MuseumAvro Heritage Museum4.7 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Bollington.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 1 of them. Conservation areas cover 100% of Bollington’s land, close to Cheshire’s towns (100%) and above England’s towns (7%). Historic England’s list names 43 listed buildings locally: 1 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: 54% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 50.7. 65% of pupils at the town’s 3 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Some 468 pupils attend Bollington’s three primaries.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dean Valley Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 199 | B |
A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 223 offences in Bollington and 47 cases of nuisance behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 56% of the crimes. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 4.9 reports per 1,000, higher than Cheshire’s towns (3.6) yet lower than England’s towns (7.8).
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.
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
One GP practice serves the town; four in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 84% of Bollington’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, higher than both Cheshire’s towns (82%) and England’s towns (82%). The nearest A&E to Bollington is Macclesfield District General Hospital, 2.7 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Bollington | Cheshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.7% | 5.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Social housing holds 8% of households, lower than both Cheshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). The £306,500 median rests on 358 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026). Private rents average £985 a month across the Cheshire East council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £475,000 | 63 |
| Semi-detached | £335,000 | 111 |
| Terraced | £262,500 | 144 |
| Flat or maisonette | £215,000 | 40 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 40% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
84% of commuters drove, above both Cheshire’s towns (80%) and England’s towns (70%). Home was the main workplace for two in five workers at the census. For every resident in work, Bollington has 1 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
16% are under 15, about level with Cheshire’s towns (17%) and below England’s towns (18%). People 65 and over make up 24% of the town. Residents of Bollington have a median age of 48.1. Also worth knowing: among adults, 44% have a degree.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Bollington | Cheshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 44% | 34% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cheshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
43 listed buildings in Bollington.
Canal aqueduct over Grimshaw Lane: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hollin Hall Hotel: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Church of St John the Baptist: Photo: Dave Kelly · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Oswald: Photo: AtticTapestry · CC BY-SA 4.0
7 notable people were born in Bollington.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bollington | 7,236 | — | A | C+ | A− | B+ |
| Prestbury | 2,629 | 1.9 | A− | C− | A− | A+ |
| Macclesfield | 54,352 | 2.8 | B− | B | C− | C |
| Poynton | 13,015 | 3.7 | A | C− | A− | A |
| Woodford | 2,241 | 3.9 | — | D− | — | A+ |
| High Lane | 4,617 | 5.1 | — | D− | — | B− |
| Disley | 3,891 | 5.3 | A | C | A− | A |
| Alderley Edge | 4,496 | 5.3 | A | C− | C+ | A |
Woodford has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Woodford and High Lane have no Safety Grade: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish to police.uk. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 2.4 times the typical UK town for its size.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Secondary schools stand out: GCSE results beat 78% of towns in England. Primary results beat 69%. Bollington has 3 state schools; places are handled by Cheshire East council.
Town in Cheshire, England
Bollington is a built-up area of 7,236 people, in the Cheshire East council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · 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.
