Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Walking, cycling and public transport carry 16% of commuters. The town, home to 13,015 people, lies in Cheshire, North West.
Much to like here, and you pay for it. Pupils here do better than most (A): primary results beat 92% of towns in England; secondary results beat 90% of towns in England. Poynton ranks #2 of 46 in Cheshire, with an A overall. On that grade it does better than 94% of UK towns. The local economy does well (A): households earn a mean £56,504 a year, and 1.4% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Housing is expensive: the median home sold for £435,000, 8.2 years of area income. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for walkability and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Poynton 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 Poynton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 12 buildings inside Poynton’s built-up area.
8% 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 Poynton. Best known first.
Historic house · National TrustLyme Hall1.9 km outside town, to the east
Historic houseBramall Hall2.7 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumAnson Engine Museum400 m outside town, to the east
Historic houseAdlington Hall2.1 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumAvro Heritage Museum1.3 km outside town, to the southwest
Historic houseMottram Hall4.2 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Poynton.
Those aged 15 to 24 account for nearly one in ten residents, and 16% are under 15, lower than both Cheshire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). The age that splits Poynton in two is 50.7. Degrees are held by 44% of adults.
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.
| Poynton | Cheshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.4% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 30% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.7% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 44% | 34% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cheshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Some 2,637 pupils attend Poynton’s five primaries and one secondary. Below are three of its 6 schools, each with why it was picked. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 5 primary schools: 72% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vernon Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 394 | A |
| Poynton High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,467 | A− |
| Lostock Hall Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 197 | A |
Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 4.2% of the town. Seeing a GP means leaving Poynton: the nearest practice is 1.9 miles away. Asked at the census, 84% of residents of Poynton said they were in good or very good health.
| Census 2021 | Poynton | Cheshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.2% | 5.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · 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 and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Of Poynton’s land, 99% lies in conservation areas, close to Cheshire’s towns (100%) and above England’s towns (7%). 8% of homes were built before 1919. Relative to its size, Poynton keeps 9 listed buildings per 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Social housing holds 6% of households, below Cheshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Behind the median of £435,000: 680 standard sales inside Poynton’s 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 | £576,995 | 285 |
| Semi-detached | £405,000 | 253 |
| Terraced | £344,000 | 84 |
| Flat or maisonette | £190,000 | 58 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Violence and sexual offences accounted for 45% of recorded crime. Homes saw 5.4 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, below Cheshire’s towns (5.8) and England’s towns (9.4) alike; what’s more, each year, 16.4 violent crimes are recorded per 1,000 residents. Police figures for Poynton’s built-up area: 445 crimes and 53 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026.
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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 43% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Just over four in five commuters drove, above Cheshire’s towns (80%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. Working from home was the norm for 43% of workers at the census. There are 0.5 jobs in Poynton for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
12 listed buildings in Poynton.
Church of St George: Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Worth Clough: Photo: Peter Barr · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Poynton War Memorial: Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wards End Old Farm: Photo: Philip Cornwall · CC BY-SA 2.0
7 notable people were born in Poynton.
Alan Beith: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0 · Graham Evans: ©House of Lords / photography by Roger Harris, CC BY 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poynton | 13,015 | — | A | C− | A− | A |
| Woodford | 2,241 | 1.6 | — | D− | — | A+ |
| Hazel Grove | 20,163 | 2 | — | D | — | B |
| Bramhall | 17,201 | 2.2 | — | D− | — | A |
| High Lane | 4,617 | 2.5 | — | D− | — | B− |
| Cheadle Hulme | 24,782 | 3.3 | — | D− | — | A |
| Disley | 3,891 | 3.7 | A | C | A− | A |
| Bollington | 7,236 | 3.7 | A | C+ | A− | B+ |
Woodford has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Woodford, Hazel Grove, Bramhall, High Lane and Cheadle Hulme have no Safety Grade: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish to police.uk. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
GCSE results beat 90% of towns in England, and primary results beat 92% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £435,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £190,000, terraced houses £344,000, semi-detached houses £405,000 and detached houses £576,995.
Town in Cheshire, England
Poynton is a built-up area of 13,015 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.