Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Some 22,997 people live in this large town, in Greater Manchester, North West. Mortgage-free owners make up 40% of households.
Royton does especially well on walkability (B) — 16% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Prices are high against local incomes (D−): homes sell for a median £225,000, about 5.4 times local household income. Residents’ health trails most towns: men here can expect to live to 78.3, women to 81. Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over.
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 Royton 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 Royton is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Royton has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Royton does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 6 buildings inside Royton’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
17% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →6 listed buildings in Royton.
Lion Mill: Photo: Steven Haslington · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Church of St Paul: Photo: michael ely · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Royton.
13% of households rent privately. The median sale, £225,000, comes from 972 standard sales inside Royton’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Private rents average £939 a month across the Oldham council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £370,000 | 201 |
| Semi-detached | £240,000 | 386 |
| Terraced | £175,000 | 336 |
| Flat or maisonette | £130,000 | 49 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Of its 10 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Thornham St. James CofE Primary School’s results beat 79% of schools in England like it. Royton’s eight primaries and two secondaries have 3,906 pupils between them.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Royton Hall Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 324 | B− |
| E-ACT the Oldham Academy NorthLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,258 | B− |
| Thornham St. James CofE Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 197 | A− |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Historic England’s list names 6 listed buildings in Royton: 1 Grade II*. Relative to its size, Royton keeps 3 listed buildings per 10,000 residents. Homes from before 1919 make up 17% of the total.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Asked at the census, four in five residents of Royton said they were in good or very good health. 2 GP practices serve the town; 69% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Royton is Royal Oldham Hospital, 0.8 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Royton | Greater Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.8% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 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.
Degrees are held by 27% of adults, lower than both Greater Manchester’s towns (32%) and England’s towns (34%). One in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. The middle age in Royton is 45.7. Children under 15 make up 16% of residents.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Royton | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.9% | 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
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.
About 14% of its commuters stay in Royton for work. There are 0.7 jobs in Royton for each resident in work. Also worth knowing: households had £43K a year before tax, below both Greater Manchester’s towns (£46K) and England’s towns (£55K). The census counted nearly a quarter of workers working mainly from home.
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 Royton. Best known first.
Art galleryGallery Oldham1.5 km outside town, to the south
MuseumRochdale Pioneers Museum3.2 km outside town, to the northwest
MuseumEllenroad Steam Museum2.3 km outside town, to the northZooZooLancaster Park & Animal Farm1.6 km outside town, to the southwestChurchChurchSt. Thomas Church, Werneth2.1 km outside town, to the southChurchChurchSt Paul's Church, Oldham2.5 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
11 notable people were born in Royton.
Jack Wild: Joost Evers / Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Michelle Marsh: A Hermida from Vancouver, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Pete Wild: Ellis Frank Fabien Allen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sir Harry Platt, 1st Baronet: Unknown photographer, Public domain · Paul Newsome: Proudmary1, CC BY-SA 3.0
Large town in Greater Manchester, England
Royton is a built-up area of 22,997 people, in the Oldham 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royton | 22,997 | — | — | D− | — | C− |
| Shaw | 18,249 | 1.4 | — | D | — | C− |
| Oldham | 110,722 | 2.1 | — | C− | — | D− |
| Chadderton | 37,602 | 2.2 | — | D | — | D |
| Trub | 1,389 | 2.3 | — | D | — | D |
| Newhey | 2,711 | 2.6 | — | C− | — | C− |
| Lees | 12,641 | 2.9 | — | D | — | C− |
| Milnrow | 9,237 | 3.2 | — | D | — | C− |
Trub has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Shaw, Oldham, Chadderton, Trub, Newhey, Lees and Milnrow 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 Royton has no Safety Grade. Greater Manchester Police’s own figures cover whole boroughs, not towns.
GCSE results trail 72% of towns in England, and primary results trail 54% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
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.
