Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 45,499 people, this large town lies in Greater Manchester, North West.
Housing is within reach: the median home sold for £172,000, 4 years of area income. Walkability is another plus (B+) — 19% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its lowest grade is for health — life expectancy 75.7 for men, 80 for women. It also trails on jobs & income: mean household income £39,149; 4.9% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP. Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Leigh has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
The 3 things Leigh 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 Leigh is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Leigh has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 27 buildings inside Leigh’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade II*.
26% 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 Leigh.
Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 6.9% of the town, and on top of that at the census, just over a fifth of people here had a disability, above both Greater Manchester’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%). Asked at the census, 78% of residents of Leigh said they were in good or very good health. The nearest A&E to Leigh is Royal Bolton Hospital, 5.4 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Leigh | Greater Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.9% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 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.
At the town’s 14 primary schools, 54% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Leigh St John's CofE Primary’s results beat 77% of schools in England like it. Below are three of its 16 schools, each with why it was picked. Between them, 14 primaries and two secondaries teach 5,613 pupils in the town.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Thomas' CofE Primary School, LeighLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 395 | C− |
| Bedford High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,111 | B |
| Leigh St John's CofE PrimaryTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 210 | A− |
Social housing holds 17% of households, lower than Greater Manchester’s towns (21%) and near England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £746 a month across the Wigan council area. Half of the 1,778 standard sales inside Leigh’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £172,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £315,000 | 233 |
| Semi-detached | £210,000 | 670 |
| Terraced | £135,000 | 718 |
| Flat or maisonette | £112,000 | 157 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Working mainly from home: 20% of workers, below both Greater Manchester’s towns (29%) and England’s towns (31%). 40% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. Work in town: 28% of resident commuters. Jobs per working resident: 0.8.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Leigh has 27 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 3 Grade II*. Relative to its size, Leigh keeps 6 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, below Greater Manchester’s towns (7) and England’s towns (39) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
17% are under 15, lower than Greater Manchester’s towns (19%) and near England’s towns (18%). Young adults of 15 to 24 account for 11% of the town. The age that splits Leigh in two is 40.8.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Leigh | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 18% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 23% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.8% | 5.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 24% | 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 Leigh. Best known first.
27 listed buildings in Leigh.
Leigh Mill: Photo: Chris Allen · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Peter: Photo: S Parish · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Boar's Head Public House: Photo: Dave Bevis · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Leigh Town Hall: Photo: J3Mrs · CC BY-SA 3.0
99 notable people were born in Leigh.
Nigel Short: This photo was taken by Przemysław Jahr Autorem zdjęcia jest Przemysław Jahr Wykorzystując zdjęcie proszę podać jako autora: Przemysław Jahr / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pete Shelley: Bruce (kingArthur_aus), CC BY 2.0 · Alan R. Battersby: Martinb94556, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Georgie Fame: Pressens Bild / Scanpix, Public domain · Paul Mason: Marta Jara (eldiario.es), CC BY-SA 3.0 es · Brian Simpson: Martin Kraft, CC BY-SA 3.0 de
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leigh | 45,499 | — | — | A− | — | D |
| Higher Folds | 2,447 | 1.7 | — | A | — | D |
| Glazebury | 1,094 | 2.2 | — | B | B− | B+ |
| Bickershaw | 2,277 | 2.2 | — | B+ | — | D |
| Atherton | 27,571 | 2.5 | — | B+ | — | D |
| Hindley | 24,485 | 2.7 | — | B+ | — | D |
| Golborne | 25,563 | 2.8 | — | B | — | C− |
| Astley | 4,735 | 2.8 | — | B− | — | B− |
Higher Folds, Glazebury and Bickershaw have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Higher Folds, Bickershaw, Atherton, Hindley, Golborne and Astley have no Safety Grade: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish to police.uk. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £172,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £112,000, terraced houses £135,000, semi-detached houses £210,000 and detached houses £315,000.
We can’t say from police.uk: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime data there, so Leigh has no Safety Grade. Greater Manchester Police’s own figures cover whole boroughs, not towns.
Large town in Greater Manchester, England
Leigh is a built-up area of 45,499 people, in the Wigan 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.