Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 61,641 in Cheshire, North West.
Runcorn grades D overall against UK towns: better than 11% of UK towns. Its strongest subject is walkability (B+): 19% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is health (D): life expectancy 76.4 for men, 80.9 for women. The median home sold for £175,000 in the last three years, 4 times what households in the Halton council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Runcorn 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 Runcorn is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 60 buildings inside Runcorn’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I, and 2 scheduled monuments.
9% 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 Runcorn. Best known first.
CastleHalton Castlein town
Abbey or prioryNorton Prioryin town
MuseumCatalyst Museum800 m outside town, to the northwest
Fort · National TrustHelsby Hillfort4.6 km outside town, to the southwest
CastleWoodhouses Hill Fort4 km outside town, to the south
MuseumWarrington Museum & Art Gallery4.9 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Runcorn.
Women here live to 80.9 on average and men to 76.4 (2019–23). Disability touches 24% of Runcorn’s population. The nearest A&E to Runcorn is Warrington Hospital, 5.6 miles away. 6 GP practices serve the town; 72% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Runcorn | Cheshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.4% | 5.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 24% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
Some 8,354 pupils attend Runcorn’s 28 primaries and five secondaries. Castle View Primary School’s results beat 97% of schools in England like it. Of its 35 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. At the town’s 29 primary schools, 58% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Berteline's CofE Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 252 | B+ |
| The Grange SchoolLargest secondary schoolAll-through | All-through | 1,200 | D |
| Castle View Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 176 | A+ |
Runcorn has a median age of 41.1. Children under 15 make up 18%, higher than Cheshire’s towns (17%) and near England’s towns (18%). People 65 and over make up 19% of the town.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Runcorn | Cheshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.4% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 22% | 34% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cheshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Reported offences in Runcorn came to 5,081 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 545. Property crime (burglary and damage) runs at 12.6 per 1,000 residents a year. Violence and sexual offences were 51% of the crimes. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 9.6 reports per 1,000, above both Cheshire’s towns (3.6) and 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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 25% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Households had £42K a year before tax, below both Cheshire’s towns (£56K) and England’s towns (£55K). For every resident in work, Runcorn has 1.2 jobs. 38% of commuters who live in Runcorn also work there. Driving is how 78% of commuters got to work at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The owner-occupied share of households is 56%. 15% rent privately, lower than both Cheshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (21%). No town in Cheshire costs less to buy into than Runcorn, at £175,000, the lowest of 46.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £310,000 | 438 |
| Semi-detached | £190,000 | 679 |
| Terraced | £130,000 | 627 |
| Flat or maisonette | £120,000 | 132 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Runcorn’s listed buildings include Halton Castle, Grade I. Homes from before 1919 make up nearly a tenth of the total, below both Cheshire’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%). At the top of the list, 2 are Grade I and 8 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
60 listed buildings in Runcorn, 2 of them Grade I.
Remains of Norton Priory: Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domain · The Castle Hotel Public House: Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domain · Runcorn Town Hall: Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domain · Waterloo Bridge: Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domain
36 notable people were born in Runcorn.
Shauna Coxsey: Henning Schlottmann, User:H-stt, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Michael Jackson: Timmy96, CC0 · Jimmy McNulty: Joe Vitale 5, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Phil Collins: Vera de Kok, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Scott Brown: Mattythewhite, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runcorn | 61,641 | — | D | B+ | D | D |
| Frodsham | 9,101 | 2.8 | B− | C | B− | B |
| Widnes | 59,938 | 3.1 | C− | B | D | D |
| Hale Bank | 1,618 | 3.3 | — | B+ | C− | C− |
| Hale | 1,502 | 4.1 | — | C | B | C |
| Kingsley | 1,551 | 4.6 | — | D | A+ | A− |
| Cronton | 1,234 | 4.8 | — | D− | A | B− |
| Helsby | 5,278 | 5.1 | A | B− | A− | A− |
Hale Bank, Hale, Kingsley and Cronton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
About the middle for its size: 52% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades D.
GCSE results trail 91% of towns in England, and primary results trail 68% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £175,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £120,000, terraced houses £130,000, semi-detached houses £190,000 and detached houses £310,000.
Large town in Cheshire, England
Runcorn is a built-up area of 61,641 people, in the Halton 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.