Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Some 5,131 people live in this town, in Greater Manchester, North West. Mortgage-free owners make up 50% of households.
Jobs & income is its strong suit — the mean household earns £53,366 a year. Schools are another plus — primary results beat 58% of towns in England; secondary results beat 77% of towns in England. At a median £236,000, a home costs 5.5 times the yearly income of households in the Wigan council area. Its lowest grade is for walkability: 9% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport.
Figures: income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years. Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Appley Bridge has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
The 3 things Appley Bridge 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 Appley Bridge is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Appley Bridge has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 3 buildings inside Appley Bridge’s built-up area.
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 Appley Bridge.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes built before 1919 account for just over a tenth of the housing. Every one of Appley Bridge’s 3 listed buildings sits at Grade II, the most common listing. Per 10,000 residents, Appley Bridge counts 6 listed buildings, below both Greater Manchester’s towns (7) and England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Between them, two primaries teach 334 pupils in Appley Bridge. Of its 2 schools, one is shown below, with the reason. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 2 primary schools: 63% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shevington Vale Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 196 | C+ |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 31% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Unemployment benefit claims came to 1.3% of 16 to 64s in 2026, lower than both Greater Manchester’s towns (3.6%) and England’s towns (2.3%). For 24% of commuters, work was under 5 km away. Jobs per working resident: 0.9.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
89% of households are owner-occupiers. Social housing holds 2% of households, below both Greater Manchester’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £766 a month across the Wigan council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £326,500 | 86 |
| Semi-detached | £218,000 | 93 |
| Terraced | £205,000 | 23 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
84% of Appley Bridge’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, above both Greater Manchester’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (82%). There is no GP practice locally: the nearest is 0.7 miles off. The nearest A&E to Appley Bridge is Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, 3.8 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Appley Bridge | Greater Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.3% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 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.
Young adults of 15 to 24 are 8.9% of the population. Children under 15 make up 16%, below both Greater Manchester’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%). Half the people of Appley Bridge are older than 48.2. Graduates make up two in five adults.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Appley Bridge | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.9% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 31% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 25% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.7% | 5.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 40% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Greater Manchester and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
3 notable people were born in Appley Bridge.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appley Bridge | 5,131 | — | — | C+ | — | B |
| Shevington | 5,315 | 1.1 | — | B | — | C+ |
| Shevington Moor | 2,717 | 1.5 | — | C+ | — | B− |
| Standish | 12,937 | 2.3 | — | B− | — | B− |
| Parbold | 2,409 | 2.5 | — | C | A+ | A |
| Skelmersdale | 34,921 | 3.1 | C− | A− | D | D− |
| Orrell | 23,412 | 3.2 | — | B− | — | C |
| Coppull | 8,303 | 3.6 | B− | A | B− | C− |
Parbold has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Shevington, Shevington Moor, Standish and Orrell have no Safety Grade: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish to police.uk. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
We can’t say from police.uk: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime data there, so Appley Bridge has no Safety Grade. Greater Manchester Police’s own figures cover whole boroughs, not towns.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Band D council tax in Appley Bridge is £2,274 for 2026–27, less than in 78% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire, plus the parish or town council). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Town in Greater Manchester, England
Appley Bridge is a built-up area of 5,131 people, in the Wigan 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.