Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
78,266 people call this large town in Lancashire, North West home.
Safety lags (D−): police record 52.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 26.2 home and vehicle crimes. Against UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has more crime per resident than 86%. Buying a home costs less than in most towns: a typical home costs £132,500 and rent runs £631 a month. All told, that adds up to a D overall and a rank of #54 of 65 in Lancashire. It comes out better than 8% of UK towns. Health lags: men here can expect to live to 75.4, women to 79.5. Schools are weaker too — primary results beat 12% of towns in England; secondary results beat 10% of towns in England. Jobs & income is weaker too — mean household income £39,519; 6.3% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP.
The 3 things Burnley 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 Burnley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 185 buildings inside Burnley’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
43% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 3 old photos and postcards going back to 1851.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Burnley. Best known first.
MuseumWeavers' Trianglein town
MuseumPendle Heritage Centre4.2 km outside town, to the north · 100K visitors a year
MuseumTowneley Hall300 m outside town, to the southeast
CastleCastercliff3.3 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumMuseum of Local Crafts & Industries300 m outside town, to the southeastMuseumMuseumQueen Street Mill Textile Museumin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Burnley.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
There were 37.3 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both Lancashire’s towns (17.2) and England’s towns (7.8). In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 9,731 crimes and 2,301 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Burnley’s built-up area. Violence and sexual offences were 43% of the crimes.
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.
GCSE results at the town’s 4 secondary schools: 31% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 39.3. Wellfield Methodist and Anglican Church School’s results beat 81% of schools in England like it. Three of its 40 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. 52% of pupils at the town’s 22 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heasandford Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 630 | C− |
| Unity CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,402 | D |
| Wellfield Methodist and Anglican Church SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 208 | A− |
At the census, 7% of people here described their health as bad or very bad. 78% of Burnley’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, lower than both Lancashire’s towns (80%) and England’s towns (82%). 10 GP practices serve the town; 70% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. The nearest A&E to Burnley is Royal Blackburn Hospital, 9.8 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Burnley | Lancashire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7% | 6.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 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.
At the top of the list, 1 are Grade I and 2 Grade II*. Burnley’s listed buildings include Queen Street Mill, Grade I. The register of parks and gardens lists 5 here.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 16% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
16% of workers did their job mainly from home at the census. At the census, 21% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, between Lancashire’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (27%). Driving is how nearly three quarters of commuters got to work at the census. Also worth knowing: about 47% of its commuters stay in Burnley for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Owners make up 59% of households. 3,257 standard sales inside Burnley’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £132,500. It is the 61st most expensive of 65 towns of 2,500+ in Lancashire.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £278,995 | 546 |
| Semi-detached | £175,000 | 907 |
| Terraced | £88,000 | 1,701 |
| Flat or maisonette | £88,250 | 103 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
20% are under 15, above both Lancashire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Half the people of Burnley are older than 38.7. People 65 and over make up 17% of the town.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Burnley | Lancashire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 17% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 25% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.4% | 6.3% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 24% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lancashire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
185 listed buildings in Burnley, 1 of them Grade I.
Queen Street Mill: Photo: Alexander P Kapp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Burnley Mechanics: Photo: robert wade · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Peter: Photo: Alexander P Kapp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Castle: Photo: Trappedinburnley · CC BY-SA 4.0
209 notable people were born in Burnley.
Ian McKellen: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0 · Jay Rodriguez: Adam Haworth, CC BY 2.0 · Harvey Barnes: Pottercomuneo, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Oliver Norwood: Vickerman625, CC BY-SA 3.0 · James Anderson: NAPARAZZI, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Sophie Hitchon: Citizen59, CC BY 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnley | 78,266 | — | D | B+ | D− | D |
| Brierfield | 10,723 | 1.9 | D | B | D | C− |
| Padiham | 10,121 | 2.6 | D | A− | D− | D |
| Fence | 1,585 | 2.8 | — | C− | A | A− |
| Hapton | 2,240 | 3 | — | B | B− | C+ |
| Nelson | 33,808 | 3.2 | C− | B+ | D | D |
| Barrowford | 5,887 | 3.9 | C+ | B | C+ | A− |
| Huncoat | 1,258 | 4.3 | — | B− | C+ | C− |
Fence, Hapton and Huncoat have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Its Grade I building is Queen Street Mill. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £132,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £88,250, terraced houses £88,000, semi-detached houses £175,000 and detached houses £278,995.
GCSE results trail 90% of towns in England, and primary results trail 88% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Large town in Lancashire, England
Burnley is a built-up area of 78,266 people, in the Burnley 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.