Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 16,593 in Lancashire, North West.
Heysham grades D overall against UK towns: better than 6% of UK towns, and #57 of 65 in Lancashire. Its strongest subject is walkability (B): 17% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is health (D): life expectancy 76.1 for men, 80.1 for women. The median home sold for £185,000 in the last three years, 4.2 times what households in the Lancaster council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Heysham 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 Heysham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 24 buildings inside Heysham’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
17% 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 1890.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Heysham. Best known first.
CastleLancaster Castle3.7 km outside town, to the east
CathedralLancaster Cathedral4.5 km outside town, to the east
MuseumJudges' Lodgings Museum3.8 km outside town, to the east
MuseumLancaster City Museum3.9 km outside town, to the east
MuseumLancaster Maritime Museum3.6 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Heysham.
There is no GP practice in Heysham: the nearest is 2 miles off. Disability touches just over a fifth of the town’s population. 78% of the town’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%).
| Census 2021 | Heysham | Lancashire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.4% | 6.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 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.
Of its 5 schools, two are shown below, each with the reason. Heysham St Peter's Church of England Primary School’s results beat nearly four in five schools in England like it. Between them, five primaries teach 1,367 pupils in the town.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morecambe and Heysham Sandylands Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 428 | B− |
| Heysham St Peter's Church of England Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 230 | A− |
Violence and sexual offences made up 53% of the total. Homes saw 15.6 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, above both Lancashire’s towns (9.8) and England’s towns (9.4). 1,166 crimes and 286 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Heysham’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026.
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.
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.
Nearly a fifth of workers worked mainly from home at the census. Unemployment benefit claims came to 3.3% of 16 to 64s in 2026, higher than both Lancashire’s towns (2.2%) and England’s towns (2.3%). Heysham counts 0.6 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
7% live in social housing, below both Lancashire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £823 a month across the Lancaster council area. 696 standard sales inside Heysham’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £185,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £280,000 | 123 |
| Semi-detached | £185,900 | 352 |
| Terraced | £157,000 | 139 |
| Flat or maisonette | £110,000 | 82 |
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.
Heysham’s listed buildings include the Parish Church of St Peter, Grade I. Homes from before 1919 make up 17% of the total, below Lancashire’s towns (23%) but above England’s towns (16%). One scheduled monument lies in the town.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The 65-and-over age group makes up 21% of residents. People aged 15 to 24 make up 9.8% of the town, below Lancashire’s towns (12%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Residents of Heysham have a median age of 43.8.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Heysham | Lancashire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.8% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.8% | 6.3% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lancashire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
24 listed buildings in Heysham, 1 of them Grade I.
Parish Church of St Peter: Photo: Ian Taylor · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Old Hall Inn: Photo: Karl and Ali · CC BY-SA 2.0 · High cross in St Peter's churchyard, Heysham: Photo: Colin Park · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jenny Wren Cottage: Photo: Unknown photographer · CC BY-SA 4.0
3 notable people were born in Heysham.
David Perkins: Ingy The Wingy, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heysham | 16,593 | — | D | C+ | C− | D |
| Morecambe | 32,745 | 1.9 | D− | C+ | D | D |
| Overton | 1,016 | 2.8 | — | C | C+ | C− |
| Lancaster | 52,646 | 3.6 | C+ | B− | D | C− |
| Bolton-le-Sands | 6,728 | 5 | B | D | A | A− |
| Bailrigg | 4,788 | 5.1 | A | D | A+ | B |
| Galgate | 2,085 | 5.7 | — | C | B+ | B |
| Halton | 2,652 | 5.7 | B− | D | A− | A |
Overton and Galgate have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
About the middle for its size: 66% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C−.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £185,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £110,000, terraced houses £157,000, semi-detached houses £185,900 and detached houses £280,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Lancashire, England
Heysham is a built-up area of 16,593 people, in the Lancaster 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.