Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 94,502 in Lancashire, North West.
Preston grades C− overall against UK towns: better than 18% of UK towns, and #45 of 65 in Lancashire. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 30% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is safety (D−): 60.8 violent and sexual offences and 26.8 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 7%. The median home sold for £140,000 in the last three years, 3 times what households in the Preston council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Preston 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 Preston is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 295 buildings inside Preston’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade I.
31% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard and a map from c. 1857.
Explore the history →Preston, Connecticut, is named after Preston.
USUS editionPreston, Connecticut, settled in 1687, takes its name from this large town.
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Preston.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Violence and sexual offences made up 44% of the total. Police figures for Preston’s built-up area: 12,707 crimes and 3,653 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. For its size, Preston records more crime per resident than 93% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 51.8 reports per 1,000, above both Lancashire’s towns (17.2) and England’s towns (7.8).
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.
Of its 41 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Preston Muslim Girls High School’s results beat 92% of schools in England like it. Its 29 primaries and five secondaries have 10,897 pupils between them.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deepdale Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 696 | B− |
| Ashton Community Science CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 837 | B |
| Preston Muslim Girls High SchoolTop results in townSecondary | Secondary | 607 | A |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 21% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
67% of commuters drove, below both Lancashire’s towns (78%) and England’s towns (70%). Jobs per working resident: 1.7. About just over two fifths of its commuters stay in Preston for work. Households take home £41K a year before tax, on average.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
13 GP practices serve the town; 78% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 6.1% of the town. Asked at the census, just over four in five residents of Preston said they were in good or very good health.
| Census 2021 | Preston | Lancashire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.1% | 6.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Census health answers are raw, so younger towns score better on them; for the Health Grade we use age-adjusted figures 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.
Preston’s listed buildings include the Church of St Walburge, Grade I. It counts 295 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 3 Grade I, 11 Grade II*. Of the town’s land, 7% lies in conservation areas, about level with England’s towns (7%) and above Lancashire’s towns (2%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The owner-occupied share of households is 48%. 23% live in social housing, above both Lancashire’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (18%). Private rents average £790 a month across the Preston council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £268,247 | 240 |
| Semi-detached | £175,000 | 728 |
| Terraced | £123,000 | 1,238 |
| Flat or maisonette | £110,000 | 369 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
11% of residents are 65 or over. Children under 15 make up 19%, above both Lancashire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Line up the people of Preston by age and the one in the middle is 33.1. Degrees are held by 28% of adults.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Preston | Lancashire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 18% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 29% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 22% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 11% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.1% | 6.3% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 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 Preston. Best known first.
MuseumHarris Museumin town
CathedralSyro-Malabar Cathedral of St Alphonsa, Prestonin town
MuseumMuseum of Lancashirein town
MuseumRibble Steam Railwayin town
MuseumLancashire Infantry Museum100 m outside town, to the northeast
Historic houseSamlesbury Hall4.2 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
295 listed buildings in Preston, 3 of them Grade I.
Church of St Walburge: Photo: Dr Greg · CC BY 3.0 · Harris Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery: Photo: Dave Wilson · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Preston War Memorial: Photo: Francis C. Franklin · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Thorn Emi Works: Photo: Peter James · CC BY-SA 4.0
346 notable people were born in Preston.
Phil Jones: Matt Janzer from Missoula, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Richard Arkwright: Joseph Wright of Derby, Public domain · Sam Johnstone: Catherine Kõrtsmik, CC BY 2.0 · Gordon Milne: Eric Koch for Anefo, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl · Tim Farron: Richard Townshend, CC BY 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preston | 94,502 | — | C− | B+ | D− | D |
| Fulwood | 34,693 | 1.4 | B | B− | C | C |
| Penwortham | 20,489 | 2.2 | A− | A− | B− | B− |
| Higher Walton | 1,607 | 2.9 | — | A | B+ | B |
| Cottam | 5,507 | 3 | C+ | C | C− | B |
| Broughton | 2,468 | 3.2 | — | C− | C− | B+ |
| Bamber Bridge | 40,359 | 3.2 | C+ | A | C | C |
| Grimsargh | 2,594 | 3.5 | C+ | C− | B− | B− |
Higher Walton and Broughton have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 1.3 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Church of St Walburge.
By type: flats £110,000, terraced houses £123,000, semi-detached houses £175,000 and detached houses £268,247.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Large town in Lancashire, England
Preston is a built-up area of 94,502 people, in the Preston 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.