Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 11,022 people, this town lies in Lancashire, North West.
Great Harwood’s overall grade, D, puts it better than 11% of UK towns. In the ranking it comes #52 of 65 in Lancashire. Police record more crime here than in most towns: 39.8 violent and sexual offences and 17.1 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 27%. It lags on jobs & income as well: the mean household earns £37,583 a year. Buying a home costs less than in most towns: a typical home costs £140,000 and rent runs £648 a month. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B− for walkability and B for hazard risk.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Great Harwood 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 Great Harwood is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 8 buildings inside Great Harwood’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
53% 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 Great Harwood.
Among the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Great Harwood has more crime per resident than 73% of them. Police recorded 835 crimes inside the town’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 215 reports of anti-social behaviour. There were 26.3 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both Lancashire’s towns (17.2) and England’s towns (7.8). Of all the crimes, 51% were 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.
GCSE results at the 4 secondary schools within 3 km: 40% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 43.8. Great Harwood’s five primaries have 820 pupils between them. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 5 primary schools: 52% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Harwood Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 210 | C− |
One GP practice serves the town; 78% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 6.7% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, above both Lancashire’s towns (6.3%) and England’s towns (5.2%). A fifth of residents in Great Harwood live with a disability.
| Census 2021 | Great Harwood | Lancashire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.7% | 6.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
Social housing holds 10% of households, below Lancashire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Private tenants account for 23% of households. 547 standard sales inside Great Harwood’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £140,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £285,000 | 88 |
| Semi-detached | £213,745 | 129 |
| Terraced | £115,000 | 323 |
| Flat or maisonette | £78,000 | 7 |
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.
Working mainly from home: 19% of workers, below Lancashire’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (31%) alike. Each working resident is matched by 0.5 jobs in Great Harwood. About 13% of its commuters stay in Great Harwood for work. At the census, 14% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train.
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.
Historic England’s list names 8 listed buildings in Great Harwood: 2 Grade II*. For its size, Great Harwood 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
People 65 and over make up 21% of the town, about level with Lancashire’s towns (20%) and above England’s towns (18%). Ages in Great Harwood split evenly at 42.7: half are older, half younger. Children under 15 make up 17% of residents.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Great Harwood | Lancashire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.3% | 6.3% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 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 Great Harwood. Best known first.
Abbey or priory · English HeritageWhalley Abbey2.8 km outside town, to the north
Historic houseNorthcote Manor2.7 km outside town, to the northwestHistoric houseHistoric houseMartholme1 km outside town, to the northeastMuseumMuseumAccrington Dome3.9 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
8 listed buildings in Great Harwood.
Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady and St Hubert, and attached presbytery: Photo: Alexander P Kapp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Town Hall: Photo: David Dixon · 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Harwood | 11,022 | — | D | B | D | C− |
| Clayton-le-Moors | 7,969 | 1.1 | D | B | D | D |
| Rishton | 6,653 | 1.3 | D | B | D | D |
| Church | 5,030 | 2.1 | D− | B+ | D− | D |
| Langho | 1,723 | 2.2 | — | A | B | A |
| Billington | 1,743 | 2.2 | — | A | A | A− |
| Read | 2,049 | 2.7 | — | A− | A | A |
| Huncoat | 1,258 | 2.7 | — | B− | C+ | C− |
Langho, Billington, Read and Huncoat have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £140,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £78,000, terraced houses £115,000, semi-detached houses £213,745 and detached houses £285,000.
GCSE results trail 66% of towns in England, and primary results trail 89% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Town in Lancashire, England
Great Harwood is a built-up area of 11,022 people, in the Hyndburn 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.