Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town in Lancashire, North West, home to 13,559 people. Secondary school results beat 98% of towns in England.
Bacup grades low on several counts. Police record more crime here than in most towns: police record 48.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 23 home and vehicle crimes. Against UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has more crime per resident than 89%. Health is weaker too — life expectancy 75.7 for men, 81.2 for women. Its strongest is cost of living: homes sell for a median £150,000, about 3.3 times local household income. The overall grade comes out at C−, #47 of 65 in Lancashire. Set against the rest, it does better than 16% of UK towns. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B− for schools and B for walkability.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy, ONS · commuting, Census 2021.
The 3 things Bacup 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 Bacup is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 52 buildings inside Bacup’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
41% 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 Bacup.
In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 1,350 crimes and 322 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Bacup’s built-up area. There were 39.6 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above Lancashire’s towns (17.2) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. Also worth knowing: half of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences.
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
At the town’s 5 primary schools, nearly half of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). One of its 6 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. Secondary results at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 58.5, with 73% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bacup Thorn Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 253 | C+ |
Just over a fifth of residents have a disability, above both Lancashire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (17%). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 7.6% of the town. One GP practice serves the town; 80% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Self-reported good health: 78% of Bacup’s residents.
| Census 2021 | Bacup | Lancashire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.6% | 6.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Bacup has 52 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 2 Grade II*. Scaled to its population, Bacup has 38 listed buildings per 10,000 people, above Lancashire’s towns (15) and close to England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Owners make up three in five households. Private rents average £811 a month across the Rossendale council area. The £150,000 median rests on 533 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £297,475 | 100 |
| Semi-detached | £176,500 | 120 |
| Terraced | £124,000 | 307 |
| Flat or maisonette | £95,000 | 6 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 19% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Bacup counts 0.4 jobs per working resident. 31% of commuters travelled under 5 km, lower than both Lancashire’s towns (49%) and England’s towns (45%). A household here earns £42K a year before tax, on average.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
People aged 15 to 24 make up 10% of the town, below both Lancashire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (12%). The middle age in Bacup is 40.3. Over-65s are 17% of the population.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Bacup | Lancashire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 17% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.5% | 6.3% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lancashire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
52 listed buildings in Bacup.
The Laurels: Photo: robert wade · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Waterloo Hotel: Photo: Dr Neil Clifton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St John the Evangelist: Photo: Tim Green from Bradford · CC BY 2.0 · Stubbylee Hall: Photo: robert wade · CC BY-SA 2.0
20 notable people were born in Bacup.
Johnny Clegg: davidata, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Matty James: @cfcunofficial (Chelsea Debs) London, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Reece James: Ungry Young Man, CC BY 2.0 · Marc Pugh: https://www.flickr.com/photos/joncandy/, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bacup | 13,559 | — | C− | B | D | D |
| Weir | 1,290 | 1.9 | — | C | B | C− |
| Whitworth | 6,713 | 2.8 | C− | B− | C− | C− |
| Rawtenstall | 23,683 | 3.3 | C− | B− | C− | C− |
| Todmorden | 12,971 | 4.2 | C− | A | D | D |
| Wardle | 2,112 | 4.3 | — | D | — | B− |
| Edenfield | 2,048 | 4.7 | — | C | B | B− |
| Haslingden | 16,005 | 5.2 | C | B | C | C− |
Weir, Wardle and Edenfield have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Wardle has no Safety Grade: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish to police.uk. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 1.6 times the typical UK town for its size.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £150,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £95,000, terraced houses £124,000, semi-detached houses £176,500 and detached houses £297,475.
Town in Lancashire, England
Bacup is a built-up area of 13,559 people, in the Rossendale 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.