Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 10,723 people, this town lies in Lancashire, North West.
A tough set of grades. Overall, Brierfield earns a D, better than 8% of UK towns. It ranks #53 of 65 in Lancashire. Safety is its weak spot: 41.3 violent and sexual offences and 16.3 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Against UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has more crime per resident than 75%. Work and incomes lag: households earn a mean £41,865 a year, and 6.4% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Cost of living is its strong suit (B): the median home sold for £173,000, 4.2 years of area income.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP.
The 3 things Brierfield 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 Brierfield is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 8 buildings inside Brierfield’s built-up area.
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 Brierfield.
A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 898 offences in Brierfield and 259 cases of nuisance behaviour. There were 28.1 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both Lancashire’s towns (17.2) and England’s towns (7.8). 54% 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.
Some 949 pupils attend Brierfield’s three primaries. Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy’s results beat 96% of schools in England like it. Below are two of its 4 schools, each with why it was picked. Secondary results at the 6 secondary schools within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 40.5, with 33% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pendle Primary AcademyLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 415 | C+ |
| Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary AcademyTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 126 | A+ |
The nearest A&E to Brierfield is Royal Blackburn Hospital, 11.3 miles away. Men in Brierfield can expect to live to 79.4, women to 82.1 (2019–23). Also worth knowing: 2 GP practices serve the town; 79% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Brierfield | Lancashire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6% | 6.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy and early deaths.
8% live in social housing, below Lancashire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Private rents average £670 a month across the Pendle council area. Half of the 329 standard sales inside Brierfield’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £173,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £266,500 | 86 |
| Semi-detached | £185,000 | 123 |
| Terraced | £85,000 | 120 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
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 8 listed buildings in Brierfield, every one Grade II. For its size, Brierfield has 7 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
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.
Working from home was the norm for nearly a fifth of workers at the census. The car took just over four in five commuters, above both Lancashire’s towns (78%) and England’s towns (70%); what’s more, 58% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. Work in town: 6% of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Those 65 and older account for 16% of residents. Half of Brierfield is older than 35.8, half younger. People aged 15 to 24 make up 13% of the town, above Lancashire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Graduates make up 27% of adults.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Brierfield | Lancashire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 23% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 13% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 21% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 16% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 28% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5% | 6.3% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lancashire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Brierfield. Best known first.
MuseumPendle Heritage Centre2.2 km outside town, to the north · 100K visitors a year
MuseumTowneley Hall4.5 km outside town, to the south
MuseumWeavers' Triangle3.1 km outside town, to the south
CastleCastercliff2.8 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumMuseum of Local Crafts & Industries4.5 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumGawthorpe Hall3.6 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
8 listed buildings in Brierfield.
Town Hall: Photo: Dr Neil Clifton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Brierfield Methodist Church: Photo: Dr Neil Clifton · CC BY-SA 2.0
9 notable people were born in Brierfield.
Bernie Calvert: Juhani Salonen / Lehtikuva, CC0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brierfield | 10,723 | — | D | B | D | C− |
| Nelson | 33,808 | 1.3 | C− | B+ | D | D |
| Fence | 1,585 | 1.4 | — | C− | A | A− |
| Burnley | 78,266 | 1.9 | D | B+ | D− | D |
| Barrowford | 5,887 | 1.9 | C+ | B | C+ | A− |
| Colne | 18,914 | 3.5 | D | B+ | D | D |
| Padiham | 10,121 | 3.7 | D | A− | D− | D |
| Trawden | 1,204 | 4.1 | — | C+ | C | B |
Fence and Trawden have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
GCSE results trail 87% of towns in England, and primary results trail 62% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Town in Lancashire, England
Brierfield is a built-up area of 10,723 people, in the Pendle 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.
