Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
39,539 people call this large town in Lancashire, North West home.
Good value, with catches elsewhere. Its best grade is for cost of living — a typical home costs £180,000 and rent runs £798 a month. Chorley’s overall grade is B−, better than half of UK towns. The ranking puts it #23 of 65 in Lancashire. Crime is the sore point: 48.7 violent and sexual offences and 16.2 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Set beside UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 84%. Residents’ health trails most towns: life expectancy is 76.3 for men and 81.5 for women.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy, ONS.
The 3 things Chorley 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 Chorley is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 38 buildings inside Chorley’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
26% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1907.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Chorley.
Private renters make up 18% of households, below both Lancashire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (21%). The social rented sector houses nearly a fifth of households. Behind the median of £180,000: 1,464 standard sales inside Chorley’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £325,000 | 339 |
| Semi-detached | £195,000 | 489 |
| Terraced | £140,000 | 526 |
| Flat or maisonette | £108,500 | 110 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Secondary results at the town’s 5 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 51, with 52% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Of its 23 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. At the town’s 13 primary schools, 62% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duke Street Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 317 | D− |
| St Michael's Church of England High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,134 | A |
| St George's Church of England Primary School, ChorleyTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 317 | A+ |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 3,806 crimes and 912 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Chorley’s built-up area. There were 33.1 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both Lancashire’s towns (17.2) and England’s towns (7.8). 52% 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.
5 GP practices serve the town; 82% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 20% of residents have a disability, about level with Lancashire’s towns (20%) and above England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Chorley is Chorley and South Ribble Hospital, 1.1 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Chorley | Lancashire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6% | 6.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 20% | 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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 24% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
At the census, nearly a fifth of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train. Just over a third of commuters who live in Chorley also work there. There are 1 jobs in Chorley for each resident in work. Households had £44K a year before tax, lower than both Lancashire’s towns (£48K) and England’s towns (£55K).
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.
Grade II* covers 3 of them, Grade I 1. Chorley’s listed buildings include Astley Hall, Grade I. Homes from before 1919 make up just over a quarter of the total, above Lancashire’s towns (22%) and England’s towns (16%) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
At 42.2, the median resident of Chorley sits in the middle of the age range. Degrees are held by 29% of adults, close to Lancashire’s towns (29%) and below England’s towns (34%). Children under 15 make up 18% of residents.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Chorley | Lancashire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.8% | 6.3% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 29% | 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 Chorley. Best known first.
MuseumAstley Hallin town
MuseumBritish Commercial Vehicle Museum4 km outside town, to the northwestMuseumMuseumSouth Ribble Museum & Exhibition Centre3.7 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
38 listed buildings in Chorley, 1 of them Grade I.
Astley Hall: Photo: Kevin Waterhouse · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St George: Photo: ProfDEH · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Church of St Laurence: Photo: Karl1587 · Public domain · The George: Photo: Barrie Price · CC BY-SA 4.0
60 notable people were born in Chorley.
Joe Gilgun: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Anna Hopkin: Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU), CC BY 3.0 · David Unsworth: https://www.flickr.com/photos/orange_wedge/, CC BY 2.0 · John Foxx: Grueslayer, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Phil Parkinson: https://www.flickr.com/photos/vagueonthehow/, CC BY 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chorley | 39,539 | — | B− | A | D | D |
| Charnock Richard | 1,098 | 1.8 | — | B+ | D | B |
| Euxton | 17,519 | 2.3 | A | A | B | B− |
| Coppull | 8,303 | 2.3 | B− | A | B− | C− |
| Whittle-le-Woods | 4,388 | 2.4 | A− | B | B− | B+ |
| Adlington | 8,777 | 2.7 | A− | A | B− | C+ |
| Brinscall | 1,332 | 3.6 | — | B | A− | A− |
| Eccleston | 4,543 | 3.8 | A | B+ | B+ | B+ |
Charnock Richard and Brinscall 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 Astley Hall.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £180,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £108,500, terraced houses £140,000, semi-detached houses £195,000 and detached houses £325,000.
Large town in Lancashire, England
Chorley is a built-up area of 39,539 people, in the Chorley 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.