Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 9,149 people, this town lies in Greater Manchester, North West. Primary school results beat 100% of towns in England.
On schools it is strong: primary results beat 100% of towns in England; secondary results beat 75% of towns in England. Prices are high against local incomes: a typical home costs £405,000 and rent runs £1,119 a month. Its other grades sit near the middle: B for health, B− for walkability and B for hazard risk. Walking, cycling and public transport carry 13% of commuters.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy, ONS · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency. Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Gatley has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its 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 Gatley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Gatley has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects are graded below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Gatley does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 3 buildings inside Gatley’s built-up area.
7% 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 Gatley.
Social renters account for 4% of households. 11% rent privately, below both Greater Manchester’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (21%). 308 standard sales inside Gatley’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £405,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £495,000 | 105 |
| Semi-detached | £385,000 | 164 |
| Terraced | £390,370 | 12 |
| Flat or maisonette | £100,000 | 27 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Gatley’s two primaries and one secondary have 2,129 pupils between them. Below are its three schools. Attainment 8 at the 10 secondary schools within 3 km averages 49.8, and 53% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gatley Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 659 | A+ |
| The Kingsway SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,260 | B |
| Lum Head Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 210 | A |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Inside Gatley’s built-up area, Historic England lists 3 listed buildings, . 7% of its homes are older than 1919.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
84% of Gatley’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%). A disability affects 16% of people here. One GP practice serves the town; 87% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Gatley | Greater Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.5% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 43% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For 37% of commuters, work was under 5 km away. 1.9% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026, lower than both Greater Manchester’s towns (3.6%) and England’s towns (2.3%). Also worth knowing: the car carried 84% of commuters at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Half of Gatley is older than 43.8, half younger. 9.9% of residents are 15 to 24, below Greater Manchester’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Over-65s are just over a fifth of the population.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Gatley | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.4% | 5.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 13% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 48% | 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 Gatley. Best known first.
Historic houseBramall Hall3.4 km outside town, to the east
Historic houseAbney Hall1.1 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumHat Works4.5 km outside town, to the northeast
Art galleryStockport War Memorial Art Gallery4.6 km outside town, to the east
MuseumStaircase House5 km outside town, to the northeastMuseumMuseumStockport Air Raid Shelters4.7 km outside town, to the northeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Town in Greater Manchester, England
Gatley is a built-up area of 9,149 people, in the Stockport 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gatley | 9,149 | — | — | D− | — | B |
| Wythenshawe | 97,665 | 1.2 | — | D− | — | D |
| Cheadle | 14,437 | 1.3 | — | D | — | C |
| Cheadle Hulme | 24,782 | 2.2 | — | D− | — | A |
| Stockport | 117,925 | 3.2 | — | C− | — | D |
| Bramhall | 17,201 | 3.3 | — | D− | — | A |
| Hale | 16,716 | 4 | — | D− | — | A+ |
| Wilmslow | 25,716 | 4.3 | A | C− | B | A+ |
Wythenshawe, Cheadle, Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Bramhall and Hale have no Safety Grade: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish to police.uk. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
GCSE results beat 75% of towns in England, and primary results beat almost all (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Gatley has 3 state schools; places are handled by Stockport council.
We can’t say from police.uk: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime data there, so Gatley has no Safety Grade. Greater Manchester Police’s own figures cover whole boroughs, not towns.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £405,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £100,000, terraced houses £390,370, semi-detached houses £385,000 and detached houses £495,000.
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.