Blackburn’s lowest grade is for health — men here can expect to live to 75.6, women to 80. It lags on safety as well — 44.5 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 18.3 home and vehicle crimes. Against UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has more crime per resident than 59%. Prices are modest for what you get: homes sell for a median £170,000, about 4 times local household income. Walking, cycling and public transport work well here: 17% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. The overall grade lands at C−, #41 of 65 in Lancashire. That leaves it better than 25% of UK towns.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · life expectancy, ONS · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Blackburn is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Haworth Art Gallery: Alexander P Kapp; cropped by Beyond My Ken 20:33, 28 August 2011 (UTC), CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Blackburn.
Health
People in Blackburn live shorter lives than in 94% of UK towns
At the census, 6.5% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, close to Lancashire’s towns (6.3%) and above England’s towns (5.2%). 18 GP practices serve the town; nearly three quarters of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Blackburn is Royal Blackburn Hospital, 1.3 miles away.
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.
SchoolsB
Results at Blackburn’s schools beat 62% of towns in England
Attainment 8 at the town’s 9 secondary schools averages 47.1, and 49% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Below are three of its 59 schools, each with why it was picked. 63% of pupils at the town’s 39 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
Department for Education · GIAS, Key Stage 2 and GCSE resultsSee all 59 schools →
Safety
Per resident, Blackburn sees more crime than 90% of UK towns
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Over the year to August 2026, 11,498 offences were reported in Blackburn, along with 2,872 incidents of anti-social behaviour. There were 30.6 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both Lancashire’s towns (17.2) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences accounted for nearly half of recorded crime.
44.5violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearDSafety Grade
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 41% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: about the middle for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
More crimeLess crime
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual5,608
Damage & arson1,068
Public order968
Other theft813
Shoplifting762
Vehicle crime730
Drugs463
Other crime395
Anti-social2,872
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.
44.5
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
18.3
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
30.6
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
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.
History
Old homes shape Blackburn: 31% were built before 1919, more than in Lancashire’s towns or England’s towns
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Blackburn counts 81 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 4 Grade II*. It has 2 registered historic parks and gardens. Relative to its size, Blackburn keeps 6 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, below both Lancashire’s towns (16) and England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Work & commuteJobs & income grade C−
6% of 16 to 64s in Blackburn claim unemployment benefits, more than in Lancashire’s towns and England’s towns
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.
57% of commuters who live in Blackburn also work there. For every resident in work, Blackburn has 1.2 jobs. Short trips to work, under 5 km: 61%, above both Lancashire’s towns (49%) and England’s towns (45%). Households take home £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
HousingCost of living grade B
More households in Blackburn live in social housing than in Lancashire’s towns or England’s towns: 20%
From September 2023 to August 2026, 3,982 homes sold inside Blackburn’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £170,000. Private rents average £716 a month across the Blackburn with Darwen council area. Owners make up three in five households, below Lancashire’s towns (65%) and close to England’s towns (61%).
£170Kmedian sale
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Blackburn£170K
Typical UK town£277K
By type
Median
Sales
Detached
£294,995
995
Semi-detached
£185,000
1,313
Terraced
£117,025
1,505
Flat or maisonette
£100,000
169
60%
of households own their home · England 61%
19%
rent privately · England 21%
£716
average private rent a month, Blackburn with Darwen council area
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Who lives here
Children make up 22% of Blackburn, above Lancashire’s towns and England’s towns
14% of the population is aged 15 to 24, above Lancashire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. The 65-and-over age group makes up 14% of residents. Half the people of Blackburn are older than 35.5. Among adults, 26% have a degree.
35.5median age
BlackburnLancashireEngland
Ages · share of residents
14%
Under 1515–2425–4445–6465+
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications25%
Apprenticeship5%
A levels or similar15%
Degree level26%
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
WomenEnglandMen
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
Ian McShane: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0 · Michael Winterbottom: Ukrainian Film Festival Ltd., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Adam Wharton: MichaelEmilio, CC BY 4.0 · John Morley: W. & D. Downey, Public domain · Anthony Pilkington: NCFCQ, CC0 · Diana Vickers: The original uploader was Sumeet 92 at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0
Myerscough Smithy, Hoddlesden and Langho have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Blackburn
How many listed buildings are there in Blackburn?
It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Is Blackburn safe?
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades D.
Is Blackburn expensive to live in?
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £170,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £100,000, terraced houses £117,025, semi-detached houses £185,000 and detached houses £294,995.
Does Blackburn flood?
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
About Blackburn
City in Lancashire, England
Blackburn is a built-up area of 124,958 people, in the Blackburn with Darwen 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
Population
124,958 (Census 2021)
Council
Blackburn with Darwen (mostly)
County
Lancashire
Region
North West
Area
12 sq mi (31 km²)
ONS code
E63000869
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.
