Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a large town of 49,672 residents in Greater Manchester, North West.
Altrincham’s strongest is schools: primary results beat 96% of towns in England; secondary results beat 93% of towns in England. It also does well on jobs & income (A): mean household income £59,193; 1.9% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Buying in is costly (D): a typical home costs £408,000 and rent runs £1,369 a month. Hazards are a real consideration: 1.6% of homes face a high or medium risk of river or sea flooding.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency. Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Altrincham has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Altrincham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Altrincham has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Altrincham does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 47 buildings inside Altrincham’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
19% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →47 listed buildings in Altrincham.
Linotype Works Engine House and Chimney Base: Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Old Market Tavern: Photo: Peter McDermott · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Seamon's Moss Bridge: Photo: David Long · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Market House: Photo: N Chadwick · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Altrincham.
Below are three of its 17 schools, each with why it was picked. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 11 primary schools: 75% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). GCSE results at the town’s 4 secondary schools: just over three in five pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 56.3.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Vincent's Catholic Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 632 | A+ |
| Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,638 | C+ |
| Loreto Grammar SchoolTop results in townSecondary | Secondary | 1,075 | A+ |
11% of households live in social housing. Private renters make up 16% of households, lower than both Greater Manchester’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (21%). The £408,000 median rests on 2,178 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £615,000 | 259 |
| Semi-detached | £442,500 | 860 |
| Terraced | £400,000 | 541 |
| Flat or maisonette | £225,000 | 518 |
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 44% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
77% of commuters drove, above both Greater Manchester’s towns (72%) and England’s towns (70%). There are 2.5 jobs in Altrincham for each resident in work. Of the commuters living here, 24% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
At the census, 3.8% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, below Greater Manchester’s towns (5.9%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike. 14% of residents in Altrincham live with a disability. 9 GP practices serve the town; 86% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Altrincham | Greater Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 86% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 3.8% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Census health answers are raw, so younger towns score better on them; for the Health Grade we use age-adjusted figures like life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 1 of them. The register of parks and gardens lists one in Altrincham. Conservation areas cover 12% of the town’s land, higher than both Greater Manchester’s towns (3%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Nearly a tenth of the population is aged 15 to 24, below Greater Manchester’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Under-15s account for 20% of the population. Altrincham has a median age of 41.1 years.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Altrincham | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.4% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 18% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.9% | 5.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 47% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Greater Manchester and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Altrincham. Best known first.
Historic house · National TrustDunham Massey Hall1.4 km outside town, to the west
Historic houseFlixton House4.2 km outside town, to the northwestPark or estatePark or estate · National TrustDunham Massey Park1.4 km outside town, to the southwestAttractionAttractionRunway Visitor Park4 km outside town, to the southeastHistoric siteHistoric siteAvro RJX (G-IRJX)4.1 km outside town, to the southeastHistoric siteHistoric siteBEA Hawker Siddley Trident (G-AWZK)3.9 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
47 notable people were born in Altrincham.
Angela Cartwright: Tenebrae (Uploads), CC BY-SA 3.0 · John Squire: Masao Nakagami, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Philip Egan: Apostleship of the Sea, Public domain · Belinda Washington: Pedro J Pacheco, CC BY-SA 4.0
Large town in Greater Manchester, England
Altrincham is a built-up area of 49,672 people, in the Trafford 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Altrincham | 49,672 | — | — | D | — | B |
| Hale | 16,716 | 1.7 | — | D− | — | A+ |
| Sale | 62,545 | 1.7 | — | D | — | B− |
| Bowdon | 6,107 | 1.8 | — | D− | — | A |
| Wythenshawe | 97,665 | 3.2 | — | D− | — | D |
| Stretford | 28,010 | 3.9 | — | C | — | C− |
| Urmston | 41,728 | 4 | — | C− | — | C |
| Partington | 7,706 | 4 | — | B− | — | D− |
Hale, Sale, Bowdon, Wythenshawe, Stretford, Urmston and Partington have no Safety Grade: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish to police.uk. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Among the strongest in England: GCSE results beat 93% of towns in England, and primary results beat 96% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
We can’t say from police.uk: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime data there, so Altrincham has no Safety Grade. Greater Manchester Police’s own figures cover whole boroughs, not towns.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £408,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £225,000, terraced houses £400,000, semi-detached houses £442,500 and detached houses £615,000.
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.