Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
27,571 people live in this large town in Greater Manchester, North West.
Schools do well: primary results beat 76% of towns in England; secondary results beat 55% of towns in England. Cost of living is another plus (B+): the median home sold for £195,000, 4.5 years of area income. Where it falls short is health: life expectancy 77.7 for men, 81.1 for women. It also trails on jobs & income — households earn a mean £40,519 a year, and 3.9% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for walkability and B− for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency. Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Atherton has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. The other subjects are graded below.
The 2 things Atherton 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 Atherton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Atherton has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. The other subjects are graded below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 18 buildings inside Atherton’s built-up area, 4 of them Grade II*.
21% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Atherton. Best known first.
MuseumBolton Art Gallery, Library & Museum3.9 km outside town, to the northeast
Garden · RHSRHS Garden Bridgewater5 km outside town, to the southeast
Historic house · RHSWorsley New Hall4.9 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumThe Bolton Steam Museum4.1 km outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumNorth West Computer Museum2.1 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumLeigh Spinners Mill Heritage Centre2.2 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Atherton.
At the census, 6.8% of people here described their health as bad or very bad. Nearly four fifths of Atherton’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, lower than both Greater Manchester’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (82%). A disability affects 21% of people in the town. 4 GP practices serve the town; 85% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Atherton | Greater Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.8% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · 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.
Attainment 8 at the 13 secondary schools within 3 km averages 46.7, and 46% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Of its 12 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. 66% of pupils at the town’s 10 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Philip's CofE Primary School, AthertonLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 397 | A− |
| Atherton High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 561 | C+ |
| St Andrew's CofE Primary School, Over HultonTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 206 | A |
Private rents average £763 a month across the Wigan council area. Social housing holds just over a fifth of households, close to Greater Manchester’s towns (21%) and above England’s towns (18%). The £195,000 median rests on 1,103 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £339,997 | 212 |
| Semi-detached | £214,000 | 471 |
| Terraced | £157,000 | 331 |
| Flat or maisonette | £120,000 | 89 |
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 23% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
There are 0.5 jobs in Atherton for each resident in work. The car took just over four in five commuters, above both Greater Manchester’s towns (72%) and England’s towns (70%). 39% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. About 14% of its commuters stay in Atherton for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
21% of its homes were built before 1919, close to Greater Manchester’s towns (20%) and above England’s towns (16%). Atherton has 18 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 4 Grade II*. The register of parks and gardens lists one in the town.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Half of Atherton is older than 41.4, half younger. People aged 15 to 24 make up 10% of the town, below both Greater Manchester’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%). A fifth of residents have reached 65.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Atherton | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.1% | 5.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 24% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Greater Manchester and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
18 listed buildings in Atherton.
Chanters Farmhouse: Photo: Plucas58 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Chowbent Unitarian Chapel: Photo: J3Mrs · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sacred Heart Catholic Church: Photo: J3Mrs · CC BY-SA 3.0 · 94-118, Leigh Road: Photo: Plucas58 · CC BY-SA 4.0
25 notable people were born in Atherton.
Keely Hodgkinson: Erik van Leeuwen, attribution: Erik van Leeuwen (bron: Wikipedia)., CC BY-SA 4.0 · Laura White: Sparks68, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ken Roberts: Mr. Ken Roberts, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atherton | 27,571 | — | — | B+ | — | D |
| Higher Folds | 2,447 | 1.6 | — | A | — | D |
| Westhoughton | 21,969 | 1.8 | — | D | — | C |
| Tyldesley | 16,205 | 1.8 | — | B− | — | C |
| Hunger Hill | 1,299 | 2 | — | D | — | B− |
| Astley | 4,735 | 2.4 | — | B− | — | B− |
| Leigh | 45,499 | 2.5 | — | A− | — | D |
| Wingates | 1,936 | 2.6 | — | C | — | D |
Higher Folds, Hunger Hill and Wingates have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Higher Folds, Westhoughton, Tyldesley, Hunger Hill, Astley, Leigh and Wingates 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 Atherton 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 £195,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £120,000, terraced houses £157,000, semi-detached houses £214,000 and detached houses £339,997.
Band D council tax in Atherton is £2,179 for 2026–27, less than in 82% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Large town in Greater Manchester, England
Atherton is a built-up area of 27,571 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.