Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 16,716: a town in Greater Manchester, North West.
Hale does especially well on health (A+): men here can expect to live to 83.3, women to 86.4. Jobs & income is a strength too (A+): households earn a mean £73,283 a year, and 1.1% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Prices are high against local incomes: homes sell for a median £710,000, about 12.9 times local household income. Natural hazards weigh less here than in most UK towns (A).
Figures: 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 Hale has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. The other subjects are graded below.
The 3 things Hale 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 Hale is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Hale has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. The other subjects are graded below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 39 buildings inside Hale’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 →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Hale. Best known first.
Historic house · National TrustDunham Massey Hall3.3 km outside town, to the west
Historic house · National TrustTatton Park Mansion4.6 km outside town, to the southwest
Historic house · National TrustTatton Park3.9 km outside town, to the southwest
Historic house · National TrustOld Hall3.4 km outside town, to the southwest
Garden · National TrustTatton Park Gardens4.6 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Hale.
Men in Hale can expect to live to 83.3, women to 86.4 (2019–23). Of the 97 towns in Greater Manchester, Hale has the second-smallest share in bad or very bad health: 2.5%. 89% of the town’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%). 2 GP practices serve the town; 89% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Hale | Greater Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 89% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 2.5% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 12% | 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.
Below are three of its 4 schools, each with why it was picked. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 3 primary schools: 75% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Hale’s three primaries and one secondary have 1,947 pupils between them.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stamford Park Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 426 | A− |
| Saint Ambrose CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,096 | A+ |
| Well Green Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 226 | A+ |
Social housing holds 5% of households, lower than both Greater Manchester’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%). 12% of households rent privately. Only one of the 81 towns in Greater Manchester costs more to buy into than Hale, whose median sale is £710,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £975,000 | 268 |
| Semi-detached | £660,000 | 201 |
| Terraced | £585,000 | 141 |
| Flat or maisonette | £272,000 | 90 |
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.
Hale’s listed buildings include Royd House, Grade I. Conservation areas cover nearly a quarter of the town’s land, above both Greater Manchester’s towns (3%) and England’s towns (7%). It has 39 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 2 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 51% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Short trips to work, under 5 km: 34%, below both Greater Manchester’s towns (47%) and England’s towns (45%). Driving is how 83% of commuters got to work at the census. Of the commuters living in Hale, 7% work in the town itself. Working from home was the norm for just over half of workers at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
People 65 and over make up 20% of the town, above both Greater Manchester’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). 9.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24. Ages in Hale split evenly at 43.9: half are older, half younger. One measure of family life: 21% of residents are under 15.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Hale | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 21% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 8.6% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 2.8% | 5.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 12% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 58% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Greater Manchester and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
39 listed buildings in Hale, 1 of them Grade I.
Halecroft: Photo: Anthony O'Neil · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Hale Chapel: Photo: Roger May · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Footbridge, Hale Station: Photo: Rept0n1x · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cloughbank Farmhouse: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hale | 16,716 | — | — | D− | — | A+ |
| Bowdon | 6,107 | 1.4 | — | D− | — | A |
| Altrincham | 49,672 | 1.7 | — | D | — | B |
| Wythenshawe | 97,665 | 2.9 | — | D− | — | D |
| Sale | 62,545 | 3.2 | — | D | — | B− |
| Gatley | 9,149 | 4 | — | D− | — | B |
| Mobberley | 1,349 | 4.1 | — | C | A+ | B+ |
| Wilmslow | 25,716 | 5 | A | C− | B | A+ |
Mobberley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Bowdon, Altrincham, Wythenshawe, Sale and Gatley have no Safety Grade: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish to police.uk. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £710,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £272,000, terraced houses £585,000, semi-detached houses £660,000 and detached houses £975,000.
Among the strongest in England: GCSE results beat 92% of towns in England, and primary results beat 96% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Its Grade I building is Royd House.
We can’t say from police.uk: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime data there, so Hale has no Safety Grade. Greater Manchester Police’s own figures cover whole boroughs, not towns.
Town in Greater Manchester, England
Hale is a built-up area of 16,716 people, in the Trafford 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.