Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 55,260 residents, it is a large town in Cumbria, North West.
Several subjects drag its grade down. With a D− overall, Barrow-in-Furness sits #20 of 23 in Cumbria. On that grade it does better than 4% of UK towns. Safety is its weak spot: 54.1 violent and sexual offences and 15.9 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Against UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has more crime per resident than 72%. At a median £156,000, a home costs 3.8 times the yearly income of households in the Barrow-in-Furness council area. Fewer journeys need a car: 29% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Health outcomes fall short of most towns (D): men here can expect to live to 75.8, women to 80.2.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes and life expectancy, ONS.
ONS publishes one rent for all of Westmorland and Furness, so this town's Cost Grade uses house prices and council tax only.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Barrow-in-Furness is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Barrow-in-Furness does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 109 buildings inside Barrow-in-Furness’s built-up area, 8 of them Grade II*, and 1 scheduled monument.
43% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1906.
109 listed buildings in Barrow-in-Furness.
Abbey House Hotel: Photo: Stevvvv4444 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Church of St James: Photo: Alexander P Kapp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Town Hall: Photo: Ian Petticrew · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Barclays Bank: Photo: Pjwtrad67 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Barrow-in-Furness.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 19% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Unemployment benefit claims came to 2.9% of 16 to 64s in 2026, higher than both Cumbria’s towns (1.6%) and England’s towns (2.3%). By car: that was how nearly two thirds of commuters travelled at the census. The average household earns £40K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
At the town’s 20 primary schools, 56% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Yarlside Academy’s results beat nearly every one of schools in England like it. Some 7,281 pupils attend Barrow-in-Furness’s 23 primaries and four secondaries. Below are three of its 30 schools, each with why it was picked.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newbarns Primary and Nursery SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 444 | C− |
| Furness AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,187 | C− |
| Yarlside AcademyTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 242 | A+ |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Nearly half of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 5,719 crimes and 359 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Barrow-in-Furness’s built-up area. There were 10.6 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both Cumbria’s towns (3.1) 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.
7.5% of residents report bad or very bad health. At the census, 22% of people here had a disability, higher than both Cumbria’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (17%). Asked at the census, 77% of residents of Barrow-in-Furness said they were in good or very good health. Also worth knowing: 9 GP practices serve the town; nearly three quarters of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Barrow-in-Furness | Cumbria | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.5% | 6.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Barrow-in-Furness counts 109 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 8 Grade II*. The national list protects one ancient monument locally. 2 registered parks and gardens lie here.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Owners make up 70% of households. 12% live in social housing, below Cumbria’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. The private rented sector houses 17% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £320,000 | 306 |
| Semi-detached | £210,000 | 785 |
| Terraced | £115,000 | 1,300 |
| Flat or maisonette | £77,500 | 50 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
People 65 and over make up just over a fifth of the town. The age that splits Barrow-in-Furness in two is 43.4. Children under 15 make up 16%, above Cumbria’s towns (15%) but below England’s towns (18%).
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Barrow-in-Furness | Cumbria | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 9.9% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 28% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 11% | 8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 24% | 28% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cumbria and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Barrow-in-Furness. Best known first.
MuseumThe Dock Museumin town · 68K visitors a year
Abbey or priory · English HeritageFurness Abbey300 m outside town, to the northeast
Castle · English HeritagePiel Castle3.1 km outside town, to the southeast
CastleGleaston Castle3.4 km outside town, to the east
CastleDalton Castle1.8 km outside town, to the northeast
CastleWatch Tower1.8 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
131 notable people were born in Barrow-in-Furness.
Emlyn Hughes: Comet Photo AG (Zürich), CC BY-SA 4.0 · Georgia Stanway: MichaelEmilio, CC BY 4.0 · Gary Stevens: Rob Bogaerts for Anefo, CC0 · Ben Davies: Preston North End F.C., CC0 · Emma Walmsley: FlyingFoxBoi, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Caroline Alexander: Petr Venzara, CC BY-SA 4.0
Large town in Cumbria, England
Barrow-in-Furness is a built-up area of 55,260 people, in the Barrow-in-Furness 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrow-in-Furness | 55,260 | — | D− | C+ | D | D |
| Dalton-in-Furness | 7,551 | 3 | C+ | C+ | C+ | C |
| Askam in Furness | 3,172 | 4.7 | D | D− | B+ | C |
| Haverigg | 1,551 | 6.2 | — | B− | A | C− |
| Swarthmoor | 1,030 | 6.3 | — | C | A− | B |
| Millom | 5,690 | 6.6 | C | B | C+ | C− |
| Ulverston | 11,219 | 7.4 | C− | D | C− | C+ |
Haverigg and Swarthmoor have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
It also has 1 scheduled monument.
GCSE results trail 90% of towns in England, and primary results trail 76% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £156,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £77,500, terraced houses £115,000, semi-detached houses £210,000 and detached houses £320,000.
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.