Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,939 in Lancashire, North West.
Kirkham grades C overall against UK towns: better than 32% of UK towns, and #37 of 65 in Lancashire. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 23% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is safety (C−): 35.3 violent and sexual offences and 13.7 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 19%. The median home sold for £204,000 in the last three years, 4.4 times what households in the Fylde council area earn in a year.
The thing Kirkham 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 Kirkham is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 20 buildings inside Kirkham’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
16% 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 Kirkham.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Among 16 to 64s, 3.2% claimed unemployment benefits in 2026. The car took 75% of commuters, below Lancashire’s towns (78%) but above England’s towns (70%). There are 1.1 jobs in Kirkham for each resident in work. Just over a fifth of commuters who live in Kirkham also work there.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Secondary results at the one secondary school within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 41.3, with 27% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Strike Lane Primary School’s results beat 85% of schools in England like it. Three of its 6 schools are below, each with the reason it’s listed. 63% of pupils at the town’s 4 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Willows Catholic Primary School, KirkhamLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 208 | C+ |
| Carr Hill High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 790 | C− |
| Strike Lane Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 164 | A |
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 27.2 reports per 1,000, higher than both Lancashire’s towns (17.2) and England’s towns (7.8). A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 580 offences in Kirkham and 176 cases of nuisance behaviour. Violence and sexual offences made up 55% of the total.
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.
At the census, just over a fifth of people here had a disability, about level with Lancashire’s towns (20%) and above England’s towns (17%). The nearest A&E to Kirkham is Blackpool Victoria Hospital, 6.3 miles away. 2 GP practices serve the town; 81% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Women here live to 81.5 on average and men to 79.7 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Kirkham | Lancashire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.7% | 6.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 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.
Grade II* covers 1 of them. 16% of its homes were built before 1919, about level with England’s towns (16%) and below Lancashire’s towns (23%). Relative to its size, Kirkham keeps 22 listed buildings per 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Owners make up 68% of households, about level with Lancashire’s towns (65%) and above England’s towns (61%). Private rents average £870 a month across the Fylde council area. Half of the 365 standard sales inside Kirkham’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £204,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £309,875 | 122 |
| Semi-detached | £201,000 | 135 |
| Terraced | £130,625 | 100 |
| Flat or maisonette | £108,000 | 8 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
People 65 and over make up just over a fifth of the town, higher than both Lancashire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (18%). Young adults of 15 to 24 are a tenth of the population. The middle age in Kirkham is 44.4.
48% women, 52% men
About 107 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Kirkham | Lancashire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 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
20 listed buildings in Kirkham.
Church of St John the Evangelist: Photo: Alexander P Kapp · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Railway Hotel: Photo: Seasider53 · CC BY 4.0 · Hillside and attached wings: Photo: Peter James · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 32, Poulton Street: Photo: Peter James · CC BY-SA 4.0
10 notable people were born in Kirkham.
John Bilsborrow: RexGregorian, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Philip Shuttleworth: Unidentified painter, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkham | 8,939 | — | C | B− | C− | C |
| Wesham | 4,474 | 0.8 | C+ | B | C+ | C− |
| Wrea Green | 1,899 | 1.4 | — | D | A− | C+ |
| Newton-with-Scales | 1,510 | 1.7 | — | D | B− | B+ |
| Warton (Fylde) | 4,180 | 2 | D | C+ | C− | C |
| Freckleton | 4,478 | 2.1 | C+ | B− | B− | C |
| Clifton | 1,022 | 2.8 | — | C+ | C+ | B |
| Elswick | 1,047 | 3.9 | — | D | A− | C+ |
Wrea Green, Newton-with-Scales, Clifton and Elswick have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Burglary was rare, with 12 reports in the year.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £204,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £108,000, terraced houses £130,625, semi-detached houses £201,000 and detached houses £309,875.
Town in Lancashire, England
Kirkham is a built-up area of 8,939 people, in the Fylde 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.