Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a large town of 28,761 residents in Greater Manchester, North West.
Where it does best is walkability — 21% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Residents’ health trails most towns: life expectancy is 74.7 for men and 78.8 for women. A median £170,000 buys a home here, 4 times what households in the Bolton council area earn in a year. Jobs & income is weaker too (D) — mean household income £38,149; 6.4% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B− for schools and B for hazard risk.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · life expectancy and 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 Farnworth has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Every other subject still has a grade below.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Farnworth is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Farnworth has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Every other subject still has a grade below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Farnworth does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 13 buildings inside Farnworth’s built-up area.
22% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →13 listed buildings in Farnworth.
Town Hall: Photo: David Ingham from Bury, Greater Manchester, England · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Carnegie Library: Photo: Terry Whalebone from Bolton, UK · CC BY 2.0 · Shakespeare Public House: Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St John the Evangelist: Photo: Plucas58 · Public domain
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Farnworth.
People 65 and over make up 14% of the town, lower than both Greater Manchester’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). The under-15s are just over a fifth of the population here. Typical age in Farnworth: 35.7, the median.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Farnworth | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 22% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 13% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 26% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.5% | 5.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 21% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Greater Manchester and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
At the town’s 10 primary schools, 64% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Of its 15 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Attainment 8 at the town’s 3 secondary schools averages 44.2, and 44% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Ferns Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 445 | A |
| Harper Green SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,070 | C |
| St Gregory's RC Primary School, A Voluntary AcademyTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 185 | A |
At the census, 78% of people in Farnworth called their health good or very good, below Greater Manchester’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (82%) alike. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 7.4% of the town. 3 GP practices serve the town; 76% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. A disability affects 20% of people in the town.
| Census 2021 | Farnworth | Greater Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.4% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 17% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Work in town: 22% of resident commuters. Working mainly from home: 17% of workers, below Greater Manchester’s towns (29%) and England’s towns (31%) alike. Jobs per working resident: 1.1.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Owners make up 51% of households, below Greater Manchester’s towns (58%) and England’s towns (61%) alike. Behind the median of £170,000: 732 standard sales inside Farnworth’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026. Private rents average £894 a month across the Bolton council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £270,000 | 48 |
| Semi-detached | £190,000 | 350 |
| Terraced | £142,500 | 277 |
| Flat or maisonette | £98,000 | 57 |
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.
Homes from before 1919 make up just over a fifth of the total, above Greater Manchester’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. One registered park or garden lies in Farnworth. The town has 5 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Farnworth. Best known first.
MuseumBolton Art Gallery, Library & Museum2.4 km outside town, to the northwest
Garden · RHSRHS Garden Bridgewater4.1 km outside town, to the south
Historic house · RHSWorsley New Hall4.2 km outside town, to the south
MuseumHall i' th' Wood Museum4.7 km outside town, to the north
MuseumThe Bolton Steam Museum3.6 km outside town, to the northwestAquariumAquariumBolton Aquarium2.4 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
61 notable people were born in Farnworth.
Alan Ball Jr.: The original uploader was Pyrope at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · Frank Finlay: International Video Service, San Francisco Film, Selenia Cinematografica, Public domain · Paul Mariner: David Saunders, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Richard Bancroft: Unidentified painter, Public domain · Alfred Mond, 1st Baron Melchett: Henry Walter Barnett, Public domain · Peter Kay: University of Salford Press Office, CC BY 2.0
Large town in Greater Manchester, England
Farnworth is a built-up area of 28,761 people, in the Bolton 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farnworth | 28,761 | — | — | C | — | D− |
| Little Hulton | 25,824 | 1.3 | — | D | — | D− |
| Kearsley | 11,117 | 1.5 | — | C | — | C− |
| Little Lever | 12,524 | 2 | — | D | — | C− |
| Walkden | 18,684 | 2.2 | — | D− | — | C |
| Bolton | 184,077 | 2.5 | — | C− | — | D |
| Wardley | 2,298 | 3 | — | D− | — | C− |
| Worsley | 11,958 | 3.3 | — | D− | — | A− |
Wardley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Little Hulton, Kearsley, Little Lever, Walkden, Bolton, Wardley and Worsley have no Safety Grade: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish to police.uk. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
At the 2021 Census, 13% of Farnworth’s 28,761 residents were 15 to 24 and 14% were 65 or over, against 12% and 18% across England’s towns.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £170,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £98,000, terraced houses £142,500, semi-detached houses £190,000 and detached houses £270,000. Household incomes are lower than in 97% of UK towns, so cost of living grades C.
We can’t say from police.uk: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime data there, so Farnworth has no Safety Grade. Greater Manchester Police’s own figures cover whole boroughs, not towns.
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.