Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 18,249 people, this town lies in Greater Manchester, North West.
Shaw is easy to get around without a car: on the way to work, 18% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Its weakest is cost of living: the median home sold for £205,000, 4.9 years of area income. Health outcomes fall short of most towns (C−): life expectancy is 77.3 for men and 82.1 for women. Work and incomes lag (C−): households earn a mean £42,725 a year, and 4.5% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP. Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Shaw has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
The 3 things Shaw 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 Shaw is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime to police.uk, so Shaw has no Safety Grade and, without it, no overall grade. Its other subjects still get grades, below.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 16 buildings inside Shaw’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
25% 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 Shaw.
15% live in social housing, lower than both Greater Manchester’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%). Households that own their home make up 68%. Private rents average £942 a month across the Oldham council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £350,000 | 114 |
| Semi-detached | £230,000 | 325 |
| Terraced | £165,000 | 263 |
| Flat or maisonette | £141,500 | 20 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Three of its 9 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 8 primary schools: nearly two thirds of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). GCSE results at the 8 secondary schools within 3 km: 44% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 45.5.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crompton Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 235 | B− |
| The Crompton House Church of England AcademyLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,865 | B+ |
| St Mary's CofE Primary School High CromptonTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 212 | A |
A disability affects just over a fifth of people in Shaw. At the census, 6.8% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, above Greater Manchester’s towns (5.9%) and England’s towns (5.2%) alike. Men in Shaw can expect to live to 77.3, women to 82.1 (2019–23). 2 GP practices serve the town; 78% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Shaw | Greater Manchester | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 81% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.8% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
A quarter of adults hold a degree, below both Greater Manchester’s towns (32%) and England’s towns (34%). The under-15s are 16% of the population here. The age that splits Shaw in two is 45.5. Young adults of 15 to 24 account for 9.8% of the town.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Shaw | Greater Manchester | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.8% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 28% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 24% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 16% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.3% | 5.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 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 21% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Just over a fifth of workers worked mainly from home, below both Greater Manchester’s towns (29%) and England’s towns (31%). The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 4.5%. Of the commuters living in Shaw, 14% work in the town itself. For every resident in work, Shaw has 0.4 jobs.
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.
25% of its homes were built before 1919, above both Greater Manchester’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (16%). Shaw counts 16 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 1 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Shaw. Best known first.
Art galleryGallery Oldham3.2 km outside town, to the south
MuseumEllenroad Steam Museum1.4 km outside town, to the north
MuseumRochdale Pioneers Museum4.3 km outside town, to the northwestChurchChurchSt. Thomas Church, Werneth4.1 km outside town, to the southZooZooLancaster Park & Animal Farm4.5 km outside town, to the southwestChurchChurchSt Paul's Church, Oldham4.3 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
16 listed buildings in Shaw.
Holy Trinity Church: Photo: Rept0n1x · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 1,2,3,8, Pingot: Photo: Alan Murray-Rust · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph
5 notable people were born in Shaw.
Philip Gilbert Hamerton: A.H. Palmer, Public domain · Mark Hilditch: Arshavingoon, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaw | 18,249 | — | — | D | — | C− |
| Newhey | 2,711 | 1.4 | — | C− | — | C− |
| Royton | 22,997 | 1.4 | — | D− | — | C− |
| Milnrow | 9,237 | 2.2 | — | D | — | C− |
| Trub | 1,389 | 3 | — | D | — | D |
| Oldham | 110,722 | 3.1 | — | C− | — | D− |
| Lees | 12,641 | 3.1 | — | D | — | C− |
| Delph | 2,282 | 3.2 | — | D− | — | B+ |
Trub and Delph have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Newhey, Royton, Milnrow, Trub, Oldham, Lees and Delph 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.
We can’t say from police.uk: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish street-level crime data there, so Shaw has no Safety Grade. Greater Manchester Police’s own figures cover whole boroughs, not towns.
Town in Greater Manchester, England
Shaw is a built-up area of 18,249 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
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.
