Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The large town has 20,163 residents and lies in Greater Manchester, North West. Mortgage-free owners make up 45% of households.
Hazel Grove’s best grade is for schools: primary results beat 84% of towns in England; secondary results beat 80% of towns in England. Households here earn well (A−): mean household income £54,710; 2% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Cost of living is its weak spot — a typical home costs £320,000 and rent runs £1,119 a month. Hazard risk is higher than most: 1.9% of homes face a high or medium risk of river or sea flooding.
Figures: 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 Hazel Grove has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
The 2 things Hazel Grove 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 Hazel Grove is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Hazel Grove has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 7 buildings inside Hazel Grove’s built-up area.
15% 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 Hazel Grove. Best known first.
Historic house · National TrustLyme Hall4.5 km outside town, to the southeast
Historic houseBramall Hall1.2 km outside town, to the west
MuseumAnson Engine Museum2.1 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumHat Works3.3 km outside town, to the northwest
Historic houseAbney Hall4.9 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Hazel Grove.
Social housing holds 5% of households, below Greater Manchester’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Private renters make up just over one in ten households. Half of the 956 standard sales inside Hazel Grove’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £320,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £445,000 | 239 |
| Semi-detached | £325,000 | 456 |
| Terraced | £233,750 | 168 |
| Flat or maisonette | £150,000 | 93 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Torkington Primary School’s results beat 98% of schools in England like it. GCSE results at the 7 secondary schools within 3 km: 55% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 51.1. At the town’s 6 primary schools, 69% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norbury Hall Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 457 | A |
| Hazel Grove High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,452 | A− |
| Torkington Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 233 | A+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
15% of homes date from before 1919. Of Hazel Grove’s land, 1% lies in conservation areas, lower than both Greater Manchester’s towns (3%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
16% are under 15, below Greater Manchester’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Young adults of 15 to 24 account for 9.3% of the town. Hazel Grove has a median age of 45.3 years. Among adults, 36% have a degree.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Hazel Grove | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.3% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 24% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.8% | 5.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 36% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Greater Manchester and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 36% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Nearly four in five commuters drove, higher than both Greater Manchester’s towns (72%) and England’s towns (70%). Hazel Grove counts 0.9 jobs per working resident. Home was the main workplace for 36% of workers at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
84% of Hazel Grove’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, above Greater Manchester’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (82%) alike. 2 GP practices serve the town; just over nine in ten patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Hazel Grove is Stepping Hill Hospital, 0.7 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Hazel Grove | 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 · 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 nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazel Grove | 20,163 | — | — | D | — | B |
| Bramhall | 17,201 | 1.9 | — | D− | — | A |
| Poynton | 13,015 | 2 | A | C− | A− | A |
| High Lane | 4,617 | 2.3 | — | D− | — | B− |
| Marple | 12,963 | 2.5 | — | D | — | C+ |
| Stockport | 117,925 | 2.7 | — | C− | — | D |
| Woodford | 2,241 | 2.9 | — | D− | — | A+ |
| Romiley | 10,902 | 2.9 | — | D | — | C |
Woodford has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Bramhall, High Lane, Marple, Stockport, Woodford and Romiley have no Safety Grade: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish to police.uk. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
GCSE results beat 80% of towns in England, and primary results beat 84% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
We can’t say from police.uk: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime data there, so Hazel Grove has no Safety Grade. Greater Manchester Police’s own figures cover whole boroughs, not towns.
Large town in Greater Manchester, England
Hazel Grove is a built-up area of 20,163 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
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.