Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
In Greater Manchester, North West, this town has 11,117 residents.
School results are strong (B+): primary results beat 83% of towns in England; secondary results beat 46% of towns in England. Buying the median home, at £185,000, takes 4.3 years of household income in the Bolton council area. Its weakest subject is health — men here can expect to live to 76.5, women to 82.8. The local economy is weaker than most (C): households earn a mean £45,103 a year, and 4.1% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
Figures: life expectancy and incomes, ONS · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · claimants, DWP. Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Kearsley has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Kearsley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Kearsley has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Kearsley does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 12 buildings inside Kearsley’s built-up area.
18% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →12 listed buildings in Kearsley.
Church of St Stephen: Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Kearsley Mill: Photo: Chris Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of the Holy Trinity: Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Saviour: Photo: Rebecca Moon · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Kearsley.
Aged 15 to 24: 11% of residents. Half the people of Kearsley are older than 40.8. 18% are under 15, below Greater Manchester’s towns (19%) and close to England’s towns (18%).
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Kearsley | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 17% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.3% | 5.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 23% | 32% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Greater Manchester and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Of its 6 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. Attainment 8 at the 10 secondary schools within 3 km averages 44.8, and 45% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Between them, five primaries teach 1,012 pupils in Kearsley.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spindle Point Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 238 | A |
| Prestolee Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 231 | A |
One GP practice serves the town; 78% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. A disability affects nearly a fifth of people in Kearsley. 5.6% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, between Greater Manchester’s towns (5.9%) and England’s towns (5.2%).
| Census 2021 | Kearsley | Greater Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.6% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 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.
Nearly two thirds of households own their home, higher than both Greater Manchester’s towns (58%) and England’s towns (61%). Behind the median of £185,000: 384 standard sales inside Kearsley’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 | £325,000 | 28 |
| Semi-detached | £201,500 | 178 |
| Terraced | £168,250 | 122 |
| Flat or maisonette | £120,000 | 56 |
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.
Before 1919: that is when 18% of homes were built. Kearsley has 11 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, between Greater Manchester’s towns (7) and England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 23% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Just over four in five commuters drove, above Greater Manchester’s towns (72%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. For 37% of commuters, work was under 5 km away. The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 4.1%.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Kearsley. Best known first.
MuseumBolton Art Gallery, Library & Museum4.3 km outside town, to the northwest
Garden · RHSRHS Garden Bridgewater3.8 km outside town, to the south
Historic house · RHSWorsley New Hall3.9 km outside town, to the southAquariumAquariumBolton Aquarium4.3 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Town in Greater Manchester, England
Kearsley is a built-up area of 11,117 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kearsley | 11,117 | — | — | C | — | C− |
| Farnworth | 28,761 | 1.5 | — | C | — | D− |
| Wardley | 2,298 | 1.7 | — | D− | — | C− |
| Little Lever | 12,524 | 1.7 | — | D | — | C− |
| Little Hulton | 25,824 | 1.8 | — | D | — | D− |
| Walkden | 18,684 | 1.9 | — | D− | — | C |
| Radcliffe | 31,114 | 2.5 | — | C+ | — | D |
| Swinton | 22,886 | 2.7 | — | D− | — | C− |
Wardley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Farnworth, Wardley, Little Lever, Little Hulton, Walkden, Radcliffe and Swinton 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 Kearsley has no Safety Grade. Greater Manchester Police’s own figures cover whole boroughs, not towns.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £185,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £120,000, terraced houses £168,250, semi-detached houses £201,500 and detached houses £325,000. Household incomes are lower than in 79% of UK towns, so cost of living grades C.
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.