Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
3,293 residents make their home in this town in Cheshire, North West.
A strong record with one exception. Floods and other hazards weigh less here (A). Elton grades B+ overall, better than 68% of UK towns, and ranks #21 of 46 in Cheshire. Buying a home costs less than in most towns: the median home sold for £185,000, 3.6 years of area income. What holds it back is walkability (C−): one in ten commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its other grades sit near the middle: B for safety, B− for schools, B− for health and B for jobs & income.
Figures: flood risk, Environment Agency · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP.
The 3 things Elton 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 Elton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 6 buildings inside Elton’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
4% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Elton.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Conservation areas cover 100% of Elton’s land, near Cheshire’s towns (100%) and higher than England’s towns (7%). Before 1919: that is when 4% of homes were built. Relative to its size, Elton keeps 18 listed buildings per 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Its one school is below. At the 4 primary schools within 3 km, 60% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 46.6, with 47% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elton Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 205 | C− |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 24% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Driving is how 89% of commuters got to work at the census. Of the commuters living in Elton, 8% work in the town itself. There are 0.4 jobs in Elton for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Retirement age and beyond: just over a fifth of residents are 65 or older. Nearly one in ten residents are 15 to 24, lower than both Cheshire’s towns (10%) and England’s towns (12%). Children under 15 count for 16% of the people here. The middle age in Elton is 45.8.
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Elton | Cheshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.6% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 34% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cheshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
15% rent privately, below Cheshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. Social renters account for 5% of households. 130 standard sales inside Elton’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £185,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £225,000 | 51 |
| Semi-detached | £175,000 | 44 |
| Terraced | £152,500 | 35 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Reported offences in Elton came to 109 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 14. Burglary and damage came to 6 per 1,000 residents a year, near Cheshire’s towns (5.7) and lower than England’s towns (9.4). For its size, Elton records less crime per resident than 66% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
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
Seeing a GP means leaving Elton: the nearest practice is 1.9 miles away. The nearest A&E to Elton is The Countess of Chester Hospital, 5.6 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Elton | Cheshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.3% | 5.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Elton. Best known first.
Fort · National TrustHelsby Hillfort1.7 km outside town, to the east
AquariumBlue Planet Aquarium4.4 km outside town, to the west
MuseumNational Waterways Museum Ellesmere Port4.8 km outside town, to the west
CastleWoodhouses Hill Fort3.2 km outside town, to the eastZooZooPelican Cove4.4 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elton | 3,293 | — | B+ | B+ | B | B− |
| Helsby | 5,278 | 1.8 | A | B− | A− | A− |
| Mickle Trafford | 1,840 | 3.5 | — | C− | A+ | B |
| Ellesmere Port | 65,425 | 4.1 | D | B+ | C− | C− |
| Frodsham | 9,101 | 4.2 | B− | C | B− | B |
| Hale | 1,502 | 4.4 | — | C | B | C |
| Guilden Sutton | 1,462 | 4.6 | — | D | A+ | A |
| Moston | 1,099 | 4.6 | — | C | B+ | B− |
Mickle Trafford, Hale, Guilden Sutton and Moston have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £185,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £152,500, semi-detached houses £175,000 and detached houses £225,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Cheshire, England
Elton is a built-up area of 3,293 people, in the Cheshire West and Chester 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.