Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 39,281 residents, it is a large town in Lancashire, North West.
Easy on the wallet, harder on other counts. Leyland’s overall grade, C+, puts it better than just over two in five UK towns. In the ranking it comes #28 of 65 in Lancashire. Crime is the sore point: police record 37.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 14.2 home and vehicle crimes. Set beside UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 63%. It also trails on health (C−): life expectancy 79 for men, 83.1 for women. Hazard risk is higher than most: 2.4% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Housing is within reach (A): a typical home costs £203,000 and rent runs £804 a month.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy, ONS · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The thing Leyland 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 Leyland is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 41 buildings inside Leyland’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
10% 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 Leyland.
71% of households own their home, higher than both Lancashire’s towns (65%) and England’s towns (61%). The median sale, £203,000, comes from 1,736 standard sales inside Leyland’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. The social rented sector houses 16% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £330,000 | 581 |
| Semi-detached | £193,000 | 684 |
| Terraced | £146,000 | 393 |
| Flat or maisonette | £110,000 | 78 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
St Catherine's Catholic Primary School’s results beat 89% of schools in England like it. GCSE results at the town’s 4 secondary schools: 42% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 46.5. Below are three of its 19 schools, each with why it was picked. Some 5,853 pupils attend Leyland’s 14 primaries and four secondaries.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lever House Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 293 | B |
| Balshaw's Church of England High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 921 | B+ |
| St Catherine's Catholic Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 212 | A |
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 27.7 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above Lancashire’s towns (17.2) and England’s towns (7.8) alike. 2,889 crimes and 744 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Leyland’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. 50% 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.
4 GP practices serve the town; 84% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 19% of residents have a disability, close to Lancashire’s towns (20%) and above England’s towns (17%). Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 5.4% of the town.
| Census 2021 | Leyland | Lancashire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.4% | 6.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 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 heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
A tenth of its homes were built before 1919, lower than both Lancashire’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (16%). Grade II* covers 2 of them. Leyland has one registered historic park or garden.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
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.
About 25% of its commuters stay in Leyland for work. Driving is how 84% of commuters got to work at the census. Unemployment benefit claims came to 2.9% of 16 to 64s in 2026, above both Lancashire’s towns (2.2%) and England’s towns (2.3%). There are 0.8 jobs in Leyland for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
At 42.7, the median resident of Leyland sits in the middle of the age range. 30% of adults hold a degree. People 65 and over make up a fifth of the town, close to Lancashire’s towns (20%) and above England’s towns (18%).
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Leyland | Lancashire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.4% | 6.3% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 30% | 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 Leyland. Best known first.
MuseumBritish Commercial Vehicle Museumin town
MuseumHarris Museum4.9 km outside town, to the north
MuseumAstley Hall3.4 km outside town, to the southeastMuseumMuseumSouth Ribble Museum & Exhibition Centrein townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
41 listed buildings in Leyland.
Worden Hall: Photo: Ann Cook · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Walker Monument Approximately 20 Metres South of Chancel of Church of St Andrew: Photo: Devadude2 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Eagle and Child Inn: Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · St Mary's Roman Catholic Junior School: Photo: Peter James · CC BY-SA 4.0
26 notable people were born in Leyland.
Leonora Carrington: WendyAvilesR, CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leyland | 39,281 | — | C+ | A | C− | C− |
| Farington Moss | 2,692 | 1.1 | B | B+ | C+ | C+ |
| Euxton | 17,519 | 1.9 | A | A | B | B− |
| Wymott | 2,092 | 2.3 | — | A− | B | C− |
| Whittle-le-Woods | 4,388 | 2.6 | A− | B | B− | B+ |
| Bamber Bridge | 40,359 | 2.7 | C+ | A | C | C |
| Eccleston | 4,543 | 3.5 | A | B+ | B+ | B+ |
| Penwortham | 20,489 | 3.5 | A− | A− | B− | B− |
Wymott has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
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 £203,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £110,000, terraced houses £146,000, semi-detached houses £193,000 and detached houses £330,000.
Large town in Lancashire, England
Leyland is a built-up area of 39,281 people, in the South Ribble 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.