Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 6,674 residents, it is a town in Cheshire, North West.
Health is a strength: life expectancy 83.7 for men, 85.3 for women. Work and incomes are strong: the mean household earns £58,666 a year. Homes are dear (C+): a typical home costs £325,000 and rent runs £985 a month. Overall, that makes an A, good for #6 of 46 in Cheshire. That leaves it better than 91% of UK towns. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B− for walkability and B for hazard risk.
Figures: life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Holmes Chapel 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 Holmes Chapel is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 10 buildings inside Holmes Chapel’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
5% 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 Holmes Chapel.
The nearest A&E to Holmes Chapel is Leighton Hospital, 7.5 miles away. At the census, 84% of people in Holmes Chapel called their health good or very good, above both Cheshire’s towns (82%) and England’s towns (82%). One GP practice serves the town; 88% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Holmes Chapel | Cheshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.5% | 5.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 2 primary schools: 63% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Below are two of its 3 schools, each with why it was picked. Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 49.4, with 48% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holmes Chapel Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 401 | C+ |
| Holmes Chapel Comprehensive SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,311 | B |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes built before 1919 account for 5% of the housing. Holmes Chapel’s listed buildings include the Church of St Luke, Grade I. Conservation areas cover 100% of the town’s land, close to Cheshire’s towns (100%) and above England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Holmes Chapel logged 182 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 20 complaints of anti-social conduct. For its size, Holmes Chapel records less crime per resident than 82% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Also worth knowing: of all the crimes, 58% were violence and sexual offences.
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.
10% rent privately, lower than both Cheshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (21%). Social housing holds 7% of households. From September 2023 to August 2026, 405 homes sold inside Holmes Chapel’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £325,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £443,250 | 168 |
| Semi-detached | £312,995 | 121 |
| Terraced | £272,995 | 63 |
| Flat or maisonette | £112,750 | 53 |
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 46% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Working mainly from home: 46% of workers, above both Cheshire’s towns (31%) and England’s towns (31%), and on top of that 84% of commuters drove to work at the census. Work in town: 15% of resident commuters. The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 1%.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The 15-to-24 age group: 8.8%, below both Cheshire’s towns (10%) and England’s towns (12%). 27% of residents are 65 or over. Ages in Holmes Chapel split evenly at 47.8: half are older, half younger.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Holmes Chapel | Cheshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.8% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 27% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.4% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 45% | 34% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cheshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
10 listed buildings in Holmes Chapel, 1 of them Grade I.
The Red Lion: Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Bridge Farmhouse: Photo: Whatlep · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 72, Macclesfield Road: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Old Vicarage Hotel: Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.0
8 notable people were born in Holmes Chapel.
Thomas Ford: National Lottery Good Causes, CC BY 3.0 · Emily Ford: Ailura, CC BY-SA 3.0 at · Tom Lowery: Paul W, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Henry Cotton: Unknown authorUnknown author (Bassano Ltd.), Public domain · Andy Porter: https://www.flickr.com/photos/juddy666/, CC BY 2.0 · Philip Glazebrook: The Illustrated London News credits this photograph to 'News Illustrations Co.'. The photographer is not identified., Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holmes Chapel | 6,674 | — | A | C+ | A− | A |
| Goostrey | 1,952 | 1.8 | — | C− | A+ | A+ |
| Middlewich | 14,428 | 3.7 | C+ | B+ | C | C |
| Sandbach | 11,289 | 3.9 | B | B | C | C+ |
| Elworth | 7,646 | 4 | A | B | B | B+ |
| Wheelock | 2,155 | 4.9 | — | B | C+ | B |
| Chelford | 1,377 | 5.9 | — | C− | A+ | A |
| Winterley | 1,371 | 6.2 | — | C | A− | B |
Goostrey, Wheelock, Chelford and Winterley have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
GCSE results beat 67% of towns in England, and primary results beat 60% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Holmes Chapel has 3 state schools; places are handled by Cheshire East council.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £325,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £112,750, terraced houses £272,995, semi-detached houses £312,995 and detached houses £443,250.
Town in Cheshire, England
Holmes Chapel is a built-up area of 6,674 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.