Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 13,397: a town in Greater Manchester, North West.
Getting around on foot or by bus is easy (B+): 19% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. The weak point is cost of living — a typical home costs £248,999 and rent runs £931 a month. Hazard risk is lower than in most UK towns (A). Residents’ health trails most towns: life expectancy 77.5 for men, 80.3 for women.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · flood risk, Environment Agency · life expectancy, ONS. Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Audenshaw 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 Audenshaw is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Audenshaw has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. The other subjects are graded below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The thing Audenshaw does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 3 buildings inside Audenshaw’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 Audenshaw.
Private renters make up 14% of households. Social housing holds 13% of households, below Greater Manchester’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. The £248,999 median rests on 608 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £382,497 | 104 |
| Semi-detached | £280,000 | 260 |
| Terraced | £187,000 | 149 |
| Flat or maisonette | £184,995 | 95 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
GCSE results at the 13 secondary schools within 3 km: 48% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 46.4. Of its 6 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. 60% of pupils at the town’s 5 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poplar Street Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 447 | C− |
| Audenshaw SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,077 | B+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Homes from before 1919 make up 11% of the total, lower than both Greater Manchester’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (16%). Listed buildings per head: 2 for every 10,000 residents of Audenshaw.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
One GP practice serves the town; just over three in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Audenshaw is Tameside General Hospital, 2.7 miles away. At the census, 5.3% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, about level with England’s towns (5.2%) and below Greater Manchester’s towns (5.9%).
| Census 2021 | Audenshaw | Greater Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.3% | 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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 29% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 3.4%. Households had £45K a year before tax, close to Greater Manchester’s towns (£46K) and below England’s towns (£55K). Of the commuters living in Audenshaw, 5% work in the town itself. For every resident in work, Audenshaw has 0.4 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Residents of Audenshaw have a median age of 40.7. Among adults, 28% have a degree. Under-15s account for 18% of the population.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Audenshaw | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 18% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7% | 5.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 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 Audenshaw. Best known first.
MuseumElizabeth Gaskell's House4.8 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumPortland Basin Museum1.1 km outside town, to the northeastMuseumMuseumMuseum of the Manchester Regiment2 km outside town, to the northeastMuseumMuseumClayton Hall2.4 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumAstley Cheetham Art Gallery3.6 km outside town, to the eastAttractionAttractionVictoria Baths4.6 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Town in Greater Manchester, England
Audenshaw is a built-up area of 13,397 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audenshaw | 13,397 | — | — | D− | — | C− |
| Droylsden | 23,916 | 1.2 | — | D | — | D |
| Denton | 36,005 | 1.5 | — | D | — | C− |
| Dukinfield | 21,151 | 1.9 | — | D | — | D |
| Ashton-under-Lyne | 48,595 | 2.1 | — | D | — | D− |
| Woodhouses | 1,094 | 2.2 | — | D− | — | C |
| Failsworth | 19,962 | 2.6 | — | D | — | D |
| Reddish | 22,189 | 2.6 | — | C+ | — | D |
Woodhouses has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Droylsden, Denton, Dukinfield, Ashton-under-Lyne, Woodhouses, Failsworth and Reddish 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 Audenshaw 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.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £248,999, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £184,995, terraced houses £187,000, semi-detached houses £280,000 and detached houses £382,497. Household incomes are lower than in 81% 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.