Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
In Greater Manchester, North West, this large town has 48,595 residents.
Ashton-under-Lyne is easy to get around without a car: 28% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is health: life expectancy is 75.4 for men and 79.1 for women. Buying in is costly: homes sell for a median £190,000, about 4.5 times local household income. Hazard risk is lower than in most UK towns (A). Work and incomes lag: the mean household earns £37,924 a year.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · life expectancy and income, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency · claimants, DWP. Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Ashton-under-Lyne has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. The other subjects are graded below.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Ashton-under-Lyne is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Ashton-under-Lyne has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. The other subjects are graded below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Ashton-under-Lyne does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 41 buildings inside Ashton-under-Lyne’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
29% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →41 listed buildings in Ashton-under-Lyne, 1 of them Grade I.
Cavendish Mill: Photo: Clem Rutter, Rochester, Kent · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Former Municipal Baths: Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Methodist Church: Photo: Gerald England · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ashton Public Library: Photo: Ian Roberts · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Ashton-under-Lyne.
At the census, 7.3% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, higher than both Greater Manchester’s towns (5.9%) and England’s towns (5.2%). 78% of people in Ashton-under-Lyne rate their own health good or very good. 8 GP practices serve the town; two thirds of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. A disability affects a fifth of people in the town.
| Census 2021 | Ashton-under-Lyne | Greater Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.3% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
Of its 19 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. St Christopher's RC Primary School, a Voluntary Academy’s results beat 98% of schools in England like it. Secondary results at the 19 secondary schools within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 44.8, with 43% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inspire AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 435 | B+ |
| Dixons Ashton AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,326 | D |
| St Christopher's RC Primary School, a Voluntary AcademyTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 249 | A+ |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
A fifth of workers worked mainly from home, below Greater Manchester’s towns (29%) and England’s towns (31%) alike. For every resident in work, Ashton-under-Lyne has 1.3 jobs. Driving is how 68% of commuters got to work at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Households that own their home make up 51%. Private rents average £931 a month across the Tameside council area. Half of the 1,235 standard sales inside Ashton-under-Lyne’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £190,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £327,500 | 151 |
| Semi-detached | £231,500 | 446 |
| Terraced | £160,000 | 576 |
| Flat or maisonette | £105,500 | 62 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Of Ashton-under-Lyne’s 41 listed buildings on Historic England’s list, Grade I counts 1 and Grade II* 7. Its listed buildings include the Church of St Michael and All Angels, Grade I. The register of parks and gardens lists one in the town.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Children under 15 make up 21%, above both Greater Manchester’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%). Ashton-under-Lyne has a median age of 37.9 years. The 15-to-24 age group makes up just over one in ten residents.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Ashton-under-Lyne | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 25% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.3% | 5.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 23% | 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 Ashton-under-Lyne. Best known first.
CastleBuckton Castle2.7 km outside town, to the east
Art galleryGallery Oldham3.4 km outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumPortland Basin Museumin townMuseumMuseumAstley Cheetham Art Gallery1.1 km outside town, to the southeastChurchChurchSt Paul's Church, Oldham2.4 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
134 notable people were born in Ashton-under-Lyne.
Geoff Hurst: Keven Law from Los Angeles, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Simone Perrotta: Gaúcho, Public domain · Margaret Beckett: Richard Townshend, CC BY 3.0 · Ross Brawn: Matthew Lamb, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Mark Robins: Timmy96, CC0 · Anthony Harding: Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Large town in Greater Manchester, England
Ashton-under-Lyne is a built-up area of 48,595 people, in the Tameside 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashton-under-Lyne | 48,595 | — | — | D | — | D− |
| Dukinfield | 21,151 | 1.6 | — | D | — | D |
| Woodhouses | 1,094 | 1.9 | — | D− | — | C |
| Audenshaw | 13,397 | 2.1 | — | D− | — | C− |
| Stalybridge | 26,850 | 2.1 | — | D | — | D |
| Droylsden | 23,916 | 2.4 | — | D | — | D |
| Failsworth | 19,962 | 2.6 | — | D | — | D |
| Mossley | 11,416 | 2.7 | — | D | — | C |
Woodhouses has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Dukinfield, Woodhouses, Audenshaw, Stalybridge, Droylsden, Failsworth and Mossley have no Safety Grade: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish to police.uk. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Its Grade I building is Church of St Michael and All Angels.
We can’t say from police.uk: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime data there, so Ashton-under-Lyne has no Safety Grade. Greater Manchester Police’s own figures cover whole boroughs, not towns.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £190,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £105,500, terraced houses £160,000, semi-detached houses £231,500 and detached houses £327,500. Household incomes are lower than in 98% of UK towns, so cost of living grades D.
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.