Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
16% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. A large town in Cheshire, North West, home to 32,522 people.
Where it falls short is schools — primary results beat 7% of towns in England; secondary results beat 2% of towns in England. Cost of living is its strong suit — the median home sold for £195,000, 3.8 years of area income. Overall, that makes a D, better than 6% of UK towns. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for walkability and B for hazard risk. Health is weaker too — men here can expect to live to 77.8, women to 81.9. Safety lags: police record 49.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 10.3 home and vehicle crimes. Set beside UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 77%. It lags on jobs & income as well: the mean household earns £43,679 a year.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency · life expectancy and income, ONS · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · claimants, DWP.
The 3 things Winsford 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 Winsford is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 18 buildings inside Winsford’s built-up area, and 1 scheduled monument.
11% 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 Winsford.
Nearly half of pupils at the town’s 10 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Grange Community Nursery and Primary School’s results beat nearly four in five schools in England like it. GCSE results at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km: 23% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 35.6. Three of its 13 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winsford High Street Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 511 | D |
| The Winsford AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 945 | D− |
| Grange Community Nursery and Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 218 | A− |
6.7% of residents report bad or very bad health. At the census, 79% of people in Winsford called their health good or very good, lower than both Cheshire’s towns (82%) and England’s towns (82%). The nearest A&E to Winsford is Leighton Hospital, 5.4 miles away. Women here live to 81.9 on average and men to 77.8 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Winsford | Cheshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 82% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.7% | 5.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Read these answers with age in mind: they aren’t adjusted, so younger places do better. The Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Children under 15 count for nearly a fifth of the people here. 17% of residents are 65 or over, lower than both Cheshire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%). Half the people of Winsford are older than 39.3.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Winsford | Cheshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 25% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 17% | 21% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 23% | 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.
The 12 months to August 2026 brought 2,696 recorded crimes inside Winsford’s built-up area, and 369 reports of anti-social behaviour. There were 10.1 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both Cheshire’s towns (3.6) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences made up 57% of the total.
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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Conservation areas cover 100% of Winsford’s land, near Cheshire’s towns (100%) and higher than England’s towns (7%). The pre-1919 share of homes is 11%. One scheduled monument lies locally.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Owners make up three in five households, below Cheshire’s towns (68%) and close to England’s towns (61%). Private rents average £991 a month across the Cheshire West and Chester council area. 1,241 standard sales inside Winsford’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £195,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £285,000 | 403 |
| Semi-detached | £185,000 | 511 |
| Terraced | £140,000 | 296 |
| Flat or maisonette | £88,000 | 31 |
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 22% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Winsford counts 0.9 jobs per working resident. Of the commuters living in the town, 39% work in the town itself. Working mainly from home: 22% of workers, lower than both Cheshire’s towns (31%) and England’s towns (31%). Driving is how 81% 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
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Winsford. Best known first.
Historic houseVale Royal Abbey2.5 km outside town, to the north
MuseumWeaver Hall Museum & Workhouse4.8 km outside town, to the northFortFort · National TrustOakmere hill fort4.9 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
18 listed buildings in Winsford.
War Memorial C15 Yards to East of the Congregational Church: Photo: Rept0n1x · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Brunner Guildhall: Photo: Peter Turner · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Church of St John the Evangelist: Photo: Peter I. Vardy · Public domain · The Congregational Church: Photo: Peter I. Vardy · Public domain
22 notable people were born in Winsford.
Danny Fox: Nottingham Forest F.C., CC0 · Sandy MacIver: Ryan Asman, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Nicky Maynard: Egghead06, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Charlie Kirk: Paul W, CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winsford | 32,522 | — | D | B | D | D |
| Davenham | 13,840 | 3.4 | B+ | C | A− | B− |
| Middlewich | 14,428 | 3.5 | C+ | B+ | C | C |
| Hartford | 6,698 | 3.8 | A− | D | B | A |
| Cuddington | 5,860 | 4.4 | A− | C− | B+ | A− |
| Rudheath | 4,803 | 4.8 | B− | B− | C+ | C− |
| Northwich | 18,646 | 4.8 | C | B | D | C− |
| Weaverham | 6,266 | 5.4 | C+ | B | B− | C− |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £195,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £88,000, terraced houses £140,000, semi-detached houses £185,000 and detached houses £285,000.
Large town in Cheshire, England
Winsford is a built-up area of 32,522 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.