Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town, home to 9,237 people, lies in Greater Manchester, North West.
Walkability is its strong suit: 18% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. Housing is expensive: a typical home costs £207,500 and rent runs £855 a month. It also trails on health (C−) — men here can expect to live to 77.4, women to 83.8.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy, ONS. Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Milnrow 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 Milnrow is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Milnrow has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects are graded below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The thing Milnrow does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 17 buildings inside Milnrow’s built-up area.
21% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →17 listed buildings in Milnrow.
Former Meeting Room Adjacent to Chancel of St James Church: Photo: Terraldinho · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Church of St James: Photo: Tim Green from Bradford · CC BY 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Milnrow.
Private tenants account for 16% of households. 17% live in social housing, lower than both Greater Manchester’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%). The median sale, £207,500, comes from 353 standard sales inside Milnrow’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £323,000 | 69 |
| Semi-detached | £210,000 | 170 |
| Terraced | £160,000 | 98 |
| Flat or maisonette | £125,000 | 16 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Attainment 8 at the 6 secondary schools within 3 km averages 44.9, and 43% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. At the town’s 2 primary schools, 51% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Milnrow’s two primaries and one secondary have 1,733 pupils between them.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moorhouse AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 210 | D |
| Hollingworth AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,331 | A− |
At the census, 79% of people in Milnrow called their health good or very good, below Greater Manchester’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (82%) alike. Seeing a GP means leaving Milnrow: the nearest practice is 0.7 miles away. Women here live to 83.8 on average and men to 77.4 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Milnrow | Greater Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 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 · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
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.
Working mainly from home: 23% of workers, lower than both Greater Manchester’s towns (29%) and England’s towns (31%). The average household earns £43K a year before tax. Of the commuters living in Milnrow, 6% work in the town itself. In 2026, 3.4% of 16 to 64s were claiming unemployment benefits.
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.
Just over a fifth of its homes were built before 1919, about level with Greater Manchester’s towns (20%) and above England’s towns (16%). Per 10,000 residents, Milnrow counts 18 listed buildings.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
27% of adults hold a degree. The 15-to-24 age group: 9.8%, below Greater Manchester’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. The under-15s are 17% of the population here. Milnrow has a median age of 44.4.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Milnrow | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.8% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.4% | 5.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 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 Milnrow. Best known first.
MuseumRochdale Pioneers Museum2.1 km outside town, to the west
MuseumEllenroad Steam Museum200 m outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumTouchstones2.3 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Town in Greater Manchester, England
Milnrow is a built-up area of 9,237 people, in the Rochdale 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milnrow | 9,237 | — | — | D | — | C− |
| Newhey | 2,711 | 1 | — | C− | — | C− |
| Rochdale | 111,258 | 2.1 | — | C− | — | D |
| Littleborough | 12,164 | 2.1 | — | D | — | C |
| Shaw | 18,249 | 2.2 | — | D | — | C− |
| Wardle | 2,112 | 2.7 | — | D | — | B− |
| Royton | 22,997 | 3.2 | — | D− | — | C− |
| Trub | 1,389 | 3.3 | — | D | — | D |
Wardle and Trub have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Newhey, Rochdale, Littleborough, Shaw, Wardle, Royton and Trub have no Safety Grade: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish to police.uk. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Milnrow has 3 state schools; places are handled by Rochdale council.
We can’t say from police.uk: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime data there, so Milnrow has no Safety Grade. Greater Manchester Police’s own figures cover whole boroughs, not towns.
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 £207,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £125,000, terraced houses £160,000, semi-detached houses £210,000 and detached houses £323,000. Household incomes are lower than in 85% of UK towns, so cost of living grades D.
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.