Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
On the way to work, 14% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Home to 17,074 people, this town lies in Greater Manchester, North West.
Schools are its strong suit — primary results beat 87% of towns in England; secondary results beat 48% of towns in England. Buying in is costly (D): homes sell for a median £277,500, about 5.8 times local household income. The rest of its grades are middling: B for health and B− for walkability. Hazard risk is weaker too — 1.6% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy, ONS · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency. Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Ramsbottom has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
The 3 things Ramsbottom 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 Ramsbottom is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Ramsbottom has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 38 buildings inside Ramsbottom’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
27% 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 Ramsbottom.
14% of households rent privately. Social housing holds 7% of households, lower than both Greater Manchester’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £969 a month across the Bury council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £423,500 | 196 |
| Semi-detached | £290,000 | 188 |
| Terraced | £224,000 | 259 |
| Flat or maisonette | £148,000 | 64 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Attainment 8 at the 3 secondary schools within 3 km averages 45.8, and 44% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Hazlehurst Primary Academy’s results beat nearly every one of schools in England like it. Between them, seven primaries and one secondary teach 2,076 pupils in Ramsbottom.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greenmount Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 229 | A− |
| Woodhey High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,111 | B+ |
| Hazlehurst Primary AcademyTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 156 | A+ |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Of Ramsbottom’s land, 16% lies in conservation areas, higher than both Greater Manchester’s towns (3%) and England’s towns (7%). This Greater Manchester town counts 38 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 1 Grade II*. Per 10,000 residents, Ramsbottom counts 22 listed buildings.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
85% of people in Ramsbottom rate their own health good or very good. At the census, 16% of people here had a disability, below Greater Manchester’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (17%) alike. 2 GP practices serve the town; just over three quarters of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Ramsbottom | Greater Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 36% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took 84% of commuters, above both Greater Manchester’s towns (72%) and England’s towns (70%). Working from home was the norm for 36% of workers at the census. Work in town: 13% of resident commuters. 2% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Nearly a quarter of residents have reached 65. The 15-to-24 age group: 10%, below both Greater Manchester’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%). Residents of Ramsbottom have a median age of 46.7. Among adults, 41% have a degree.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Ramsbottom | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.6% | 5.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 41% | 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 Ramsbottom. Best known first.
MuseumTurton Tower3.9 km outside town, to the west
MuseumBury Transport Museum3.5 km outside town, to the south
MuseumThe Fusilier Museum3.8 km outside town, to the south
Art galleryBury Art Museum & Sculpture Centre3.9 km outside town, to the south
MuseumHelmshore Mills Textile Museum4.1 km outside town, to the north
MuseumThe Whitaker4.9 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
38 listed buildings in Ramsbottom.
Grant Arms Hotel: Photo: John Tomlinson · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Andrew: Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Congregational Chapel: Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ramsbottom War Memorial: Photo: Peter Broster · CC BY 4.0
11 notable people were born in Ramsbottom.
Henry Holland: Craig Grobler, CC BY-SA 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ramsbottom | 17,074 | — | — | D | — | B |
| Edenfield | 2,048 | 2.4 | — | C | B | B− |
| Edgworth | 1,649 | 3 | — | C− | A− | A− |
| Bury | 81,115 | 3.1 | — | C | — | C− |
| Ainsworth | 1,595 | 3.7 | — | C+ | — | C+ |
| Haslingden | 16,005 | 4.3 | C | B | C | C− |
| Rawtenstall | 23,683 | 5 | C− | B− | C− | C− |
| Radcliffe | 31,114 | 5.1 | — | C+ | — | D |
Edenfield, Edgworth and Ainsworth have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Bury, Ainsworth and Radcliffe 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 Ramsbottom 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.
Town in Greater Manchester, England
Ramsbottom is a built-up area of 17,074 people, in the Bury 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.