Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town, home to 2,711 people, lies in Greater Manchester, North West.
The weak point is health (C−): life expectancy is 77.1 for men and 82.8 for women. It takes 4.3 years of household income in the Rochdale council area to buy the median home, at £180,000. Hazards are a real consideration (D−): 13.4% of homes face a high or medium risk of river or sea flooding. Schools are weaker too: primary results beat 10% of towns in England; secondary results beat 47% of towns in England.
Figures: life expectancy and incomes, ONS · flood risk, Environment Agency · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years. Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Newhey has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. The other subjects are graded below.
The 3 things Newhey 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 Newhey is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Newhey has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. The other subjects are graded below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 2 buildings inside Newhey’s built-up area, and 1 scheduled monument.
38% 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 Newhey.
Nearly four fifths of Newhey’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, below both Greater Manchester’s towns (81%) and England’s towns (82%). 2 GP practices serve the town; 93% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Newhey is Royal Oldham Hospital, 3.4 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Newhey | Greater Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.1% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 2 primary schools: just over half of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Newhey’s two primaries have 396 pupils between them. Secondary results at the 4 secondary schools within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 45.4, with 44% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newhey Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 285 | C− |
63% of households own their home, higher than both Greater Manchester’s towns (58%) and England’s towns (61%). Social housing holds just over one in ten households. Private rents average £855 a month across the Rochdale council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £463,000 | 13 |
| Semi-detached | £200,000 | 26 |
| Terraced | £170,000 | 68 |
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.
Its heritage register entries (2 listed buildings) are all Grade II. The national list protects one ancient monument in Newhey. The town has 7 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, about level with Greater Manchester’s towns (7) and below 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.
At the census, 14% of commuters got to work without a car. Nearly two in five commuters travelled under 5 km, lower than both Greater Manchester’s towns (47%) and England’s towns (45%). Working from home was the norm for 23% of workers at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Young adults of 15 to 24 are 11% of residents, below both Greater Manchester’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%). The share of residents under 15 is 17%. Typical age in Newhey: 43.3, the median.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Newhey | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.1% | 5.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 21% | 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 Newhey. Best known first.
MuseumEllenroad Steam Museumin town
MuseumRochdale Pioneers Museum3.9 km outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumTouchstones3.9 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
2 listed buildings in Newhey.
Ellenroad Ring Mill: Photo: Outwivcamera · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Bradley's Farmhouse: Photo: Terraldinho · CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newhey | 2,711 | — | — | C− | — | C− |
| Milnrow | 9,237 | 1 | — | D | — | C− |
| Shaw | 18,249 | 1.4 | — | D | — | C− |
| Royton | 22,997 | 2.6 | — | D− | — | C− |
| Littleborough | 12,164 | 2.9 | — | D | — | C |
| Rochdale | 111,258 | 2.9 | — | C− | — | D |
| Trub | 1,389 | 3.3 | — | D | — | D |
| Wardle | 2,112 | 3.6 | — | D | — | B− |
Trub and Wardle have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Milnrow, Shaw, Royton, Littleborough, Rochdale, Trub and Wardle 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.
2 on Historic England’s list. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
GCSE results trail 53% of towns in England, and primary results trail 90% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Newhey has 2 state schools; places are handled by Rochdale council.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £180,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £170,000, semi-detached houses £200,000 and detached houses £463,000. Household incomes are lower than in 77% of UK towns, so cost of living grades C−.
Town in Greater Manchester, England
Newhey is a built-up area of 2,711 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
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.
