Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 11,219 in Cumbria, North West.
Ulverston grades C− overall against UK towns: better than 20% of UK towns, and #9 of 23 in Cumbria. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 23% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D): median sale £250,000, 5.5 years of area income; rent £816 a month.
ONS publishes one rent for all of Westmorland and Furness, so this town's Cost Grade uses house prices and council tax only.
The 3 things Ulverston 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 Ulverston is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 140 buildings inside Ulverston’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
31% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Ulverston.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Per 10,000 residents, Ulverston counts 125 listed buildings. This Cumbria town counts 140 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 2 Grade II*. Of the town’s land, 14% lies in conservation areas, above both Cumbria’s towns (7%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Between them, five primaries and one secondary teach 2,068 pupils in Ulverston. Below are two of its 7 schools, each with why it was picked. GCSE results at the one secondary school within 3 km: 44% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 48.3.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sir John Barrow SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 235 | B− |
| Ulverston Victoria High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,319 | B− |
11% live in social housing, below both Cumbria’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). Behind the median of £250,000: 582 standard sales inside Ulverston’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026. It is the 7th most expensive of 23 towns of 2,500+ in Cumbria.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £421,995 | 148 |
| Semi-detached | £250,000 | 192 |
| Terraced | £196,000 | 205 |
| Flat or maisonette | £160,000 | 37 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
9.2% of the population is aged 15 to 24, below both Cumbria’s towns (9.9%) and England’s towns (12%). People 65 and over make up 26% of the town. Residents of Ulverston have a median age of 49.1. Degrees are held by 37% of adults.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Ulverston | Cumbria | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.2% | 9.9% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 22% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 28% | 25% |
| 65+ | 26% | 23% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 19% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8% | 8% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 37% | 28% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Cumbria and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
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.
Unemployment benefit claims came to 1.7% of 16 to 64s in 2026, higher than Cumbria’s towns (1.6%) yet lower than England’s towns (2.3%). Before tax, the average household brings in £46K a year. Work in town: 30% of resident commuters. Jobs per working resident: 0.9.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Property crime (burglary and damage) runs at 11.5 per 1,000 residents a year. Ulverston logged 764 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 54 complaints of anti-social conduct. Violence and sexual offences were 57% of the crimes.
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 nearest A&E to Ulverston is Furness General Hospital, 6.1 miles away. 2 GP practices serve the town; 85% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Women here live to 83.1 on average and men to 79.2 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Ulverston | Cumbria | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 79% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.5% | 6.1% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 20% | 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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Ulverston. Best known first.
Historic houseHolker Hall2.4 km outside town, to the east
Abbey or prioryCartmel Priory4.3 km outside town, to the eastZooZooSouth Lakes Safari Zoo4.3 km outside town, to the southwestAttractionAttractionLakeland Miniature Village3.7 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
140 listed buildings in Ulverston.
Church of St Mary: Photo: mauldy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Friends Meeting House: Photo: Rosalind Mitchell · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ulverston Railway Station Including Nightclub Premises: Photo: john driscoll · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Rose and Crown Public House: Photo: PookieFugglestein · CC0
31 notable people were born in Ulverston.
Stan Laurel: US Department of Agriculture, Public domain · John Barrow: John Jackson, Public domain · Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett: Soviet judges at Nuremberg, 1945.jpg: Charles Alexander[1], Office of the United States Chief of Counsel[2] derivative work: Jappalang, Public domain · Ella Blaylock Atherton: Irving Allison Watson, Public domain · Ernest Glendinning: White, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ulverston | 11,219 | — | C− | D | C− | C+ |
| Swarthmoor | 1,030 | 1.1 | — | C | A− | B |
| Dalton-in-Furness | 7,551 | 4.4 | C+ | C+ | C+ | C |
| Askam in Furness | 3,172 | 4.6 | D | D− | B+ | C |
| Allithwaite | 1,171 | 6.1 | — | D− | A+ | B |
| Grange-over-Sands | 4,047 | 7.1 | B− | D− | A− | B |
| Millom | 5,690 | 7.3 | C | B | C+ | C− |
| Barrow-in-Furness | 55,260 | 7.4 | D− | C+ | D | D |
Swarthmoor and Allithwaite have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 5.1 times the typical UK town for its size.
An older town. At the 2021 Census, 26% of residents were 65 or over and 29% were 45 to 64, against 18% and 25% across England’s towns; 14% were under 15.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
About the middle for its size: 59% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C−. Burglary was rare, with 7 reports in the year.
Town in Cumbria, England
Ulverston is a built-up area of 11,219 people, in the South Lakeland 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.