Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,690 in Cumbria, North West.
Millom grades C overall against UK towns: better than 28% of UK towns, and #8 of 23 in Cumbria. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 28% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is jobs & income (D−): mean household income £38,444; 3% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. The median home sold for £113,250 in the last three years, 2.5 times what households in the Copeland council area earn in a year.
ONS publishes one rent for all of Cumberland, so this town's Cost Grade uses house prices and council tax only.
The 3 things Millom 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 Millom is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 4 buildings inside Millom’s built-up area.
49% 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 1904.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Millom.
For Millom, that is below both Cumbria’s towns (28%) and England’s towns (34%). People 65 and over make up 22% of the town. Half the people of Millom are older than 46.4.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Millom | Cumbria | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.7% | 9.9% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 28% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 24% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 9.3% | 8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 19% | 28% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cumbria and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St James' Catholic Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 186 | B |
| Millom SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 476 | C |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 17% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Short trips to work, under 5 km: 41%, below both Cumbria’s towns (53%) and England’s towns (45%). 17% of workers worked mainly from home at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Millom sits above both Cumbria’s towns (6.1%) and England’s towns (5.2%) on this measure. Women here live to 82 on average and men to 76.9 (2019–23). 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.
| Census 2021 | Millom | Cumbria | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.6% | 6.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
That puts Millom above both Cumbria’s towns (28%) and England’s towns (16%). Only one town in Cumbria has fewer listed buildings for its size than Millom. Millom has 4 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 0 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Half the homes sold went for more than £113K, below both Cumbria’s towns (£220K) and England’s towns (£308K). Millom is the cheapest of the 23 towns in Cumbria: its median sale is £113,250.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £255,000 | 33 |
| Semi-detached | £151,500 | 51 |
| Terraced | £92,000 | 175 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Police recorded 272 crimes inside Millom’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 7 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 56% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking, so it runs higher than U.S. “violent crime”.
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
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Millom. Best known first.
CastleMillom Castle600 m outside town, to the northPark or estatePark or estate · National TrustSandscale Haws Nature Reserve4.7 km outside town, to the southAttractionAttraction"The Plug"100 m outside town, to the eastWater parkWater parkThe Lakes Aqua Park900 m outside town, to the southwestHistoric shipHistoric shipOakdale2.7 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
4 listed buildings in Millom.
Former Vicarage to North of St George's Church: Photo: Andrew Hill · CC BY-SA 2.0 · War Memorial: Photo: Andrew Hill · CC BY-SA 2.0
10 notable people were born in Millom.
John A. Agnew: Sophsommer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · William Herbert Wallace: Rodhullandemu, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Millom | 5,690 | — | C | B | C+ | C− |
| Haverigg | 1,551 | 1.3 | — | B− | A | C− |
| Askam in Furness | 3,172 | 3 | D | D− | B+ | C |
| Dalton-in-Furness | 7,551 | 5.2 | C+ | C+ | C+ | C |
| Swarthmoor | 1,030 | 6.4 | — | C | A− | B |
| Barrow-in-Furness | 55,260 | 6.6 | D− | C+ | D | D |
| Ulverston | 11,219 | 7.3 | 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.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £113,250, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £92,000, semi-detached houses £151,500 and detached houses £255,000.
At the 2021 Census, 9.7% of Millom’s 5,690 residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over, against 12% and 18% across England’s towns.
GCSE results trail 74% of towns in England, and primary results trail 88% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Town in Cumbria, England
Millom is a built-up area of 5,690 people, in the Copeland 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.
