Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
4,617 people call this town in Greater Manchester, North West home. Over-65s are 37% of the population.
Households here earn well: the mean household earns £51,973 a year. Its weakest is cost of living: a typical home costs £381,000 and rent runs £1,107 a month. Its remaining grades are unremarkable: B− for health, C+ for walkability and B for hazard risk. Walking, cycling and public transport carry 12% of commuters.
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency. Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so High Lane 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 High Lane is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so High Lane has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects are graded below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things High Lane does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 19 buildings inside High Lane’s built-up area.
11% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →19 listed buildings in High Lane.
Lyme Gate Cottage: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Outbuilding to North of Wybersley Hall: Photo: PeterMarchantManchesterBuildings · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Church of St Thomas and Lychgate: Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Clough Cottage: Photo: Dave.Dunford · CC BY-SA 4.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in High Lane.
Degrees are held by 36% of adults, higher than both Greater Manchester’s towns (32%) and England’s towns (34%). The under-15s are just over a tenth of the population here. The middle age in High Lane is 57.2. The 15-to-24 age group makes up 8% of residents.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| High Lane | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 11% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 14% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 37% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.7% | 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
Below is one of its 2 schools, and why it was picked. At the town’s 2 primary schools, 60% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Between them, two primaries teach 294 pupils in High Lane.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| High Lane Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 164 | A− |
Private renters make up 7% of households, below Greater Manchester’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (21%) alike. 3% of households live in social housing. Half of the 222 standard sales inside High Lane’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £381,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £450,000 | 121 |
| Semi-detached | £333,000 | 75 |
| Terraced | £279,500 | 16 |
| Flat or maisonette | £173,975 | 10 |
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 built before 1919 account for 11% of the housing. Of High Lane’s land, 14% lies in conservation areas, above both Greater Manchester’s towns (3%) and England’s towns (7%). Per 10,000 residents, High Lane counts 41 listed buildings.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 38% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
6% of commuters who live in High Lane also work there. The car took 86% of commuters, higher than both Greater Manchester’s towns (72%) and England’s towns (70%). The census counted 38% of workers working mainly from home.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
At the census, 4.6% of people here described their health as bad or very bad. One GP practice serves the town; 99% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. A fifth of residents in High Lane live with a disability.
| Census 2021 | High Lane | Greater Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.6% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 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.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near High Lane. Best known first.
Historic house · National TrustLyme Hall2 km outside town, to the south
MuseumAnson Engine Museum1.5 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumChadkirk Chapel3.8 km outside town, to the north
AttractionThe Lantern2 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumNew Mills Heritage Centre3.2 km outside town, to the eastAttractionAttraction · National TrustThe Cage1.3 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Town in Greater Manchester, England
High Lane is a built-up area of 4,617 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Lane | 4,617 | — | — | D− | — | B− |
| Disley | 3,891 | 1.5 | A | C | A− | A |
| Marple | 12,963 | 2 | — | D | — | C+ |
| Hazel Grove | 20,163 | 2.3 | — | D | — | B |
| Poynton | 13,015 | 2.5 | A | C− | A− | A |
| Marple Bridge | 4,702 | 2.8 | — | D− | — | A+ |
| New Mills | 9,195 | 2.8 | B | B | C+ | C+ |
| Furness Vale | 1,069 | 3.4 | — | B+ | A− | B+ |
Furness Vale has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Marple, Hazel Grove and Marple Bridge 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 High Lane 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 £381,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £173,975, terraced houses £279,500, semi-detached houses £333,000 and detached houses £450,000.
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.