Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 34,921 people, this large town lies in Lancashire, North West.
Health is its weak spot: life expectancy is 75.2 for men and 80.2 for women. Jobs and pay trail most towns: the mean household earns £39,468 a year. Prices are modest for what you get (A−): a typical home costs £148,000 and rent runs £805 a month. Add walkability to its strengths (A−) — nearly a fifth of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. The overall grade comes out at C−, #44 of 65 in Lancashire. Nationally, it does better than 22% of UK towns. Safety is weaker too — 41.5 violent and sexual offences and 17.2 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Against UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has more crime per resident than 76%.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Skelmersdale is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Skelmersdale does most differently from other towns.
Historic England lists 38 buildings inside Skelmersdale’s built-up area.
4% 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 Skelmersdale.
Half of Skelmersdale is older than 38.4, half younger. Children under 15 make up 19%, above both Lancashire’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%). Retirement age and beyond: 16% of residents are 65 or older.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Skelmersdale | Lancashire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 13% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 24% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 16% | 20% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 25% | 20% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.8% | 6.3% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 21% | 29% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Lancashire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
GCSE results at the town’s 3 secondary schools: 31% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 40.2. Cobbs Brow School’s results beat 85% of schools in England like it. Below are three of its 23 schools, each with why it was picked. Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 17 primary schools: nearly three in five pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holland Moor Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 412 | B− |
| Lathom High School : A Technology CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 806 | C |
| Cobbs Brow SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 308 | A |
Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 7.3% of the town, and at the census, just over a fifth of people here had a disability, above both Lancashire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (17%). Self-reported good health: 78% of Skelmersdale’s residents. Also worth knowing: 4 GP practices serve the town; 69% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Skelmersdale | Lancashire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.3% | 6.3% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 20% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Police figures for Skelmersdale’s built-up area: 2,823 crimes and 607 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 26.3 reports per 1,000, higher than both Lancashire’s towns (17.2) and England’s towns (7.8). Violence and sexual offences accounted for nearly half of recorded crime.
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.
17% rent privately, below both Lancashire’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (21%). Home ownership stands at 54% of households. From September 2023 to August 2026, 917 homes sold inside Skelmersdale’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £148,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £265,000 | 193 |
| Semi-detached | £166,500 | 300 |
| Terraced | £120,000 | 385 |
| Flat or maisonette | £80,000 | 39 |
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.
Homes from before 1919 make up 4% of the total, below both Lancashire’s towns (23%) and England’s towns (16%). None of the 38 listed buildings reaches Grade II* or Grade I; all are Grade II. Relative to its size, Skelmersdale keeps 11 listed buildings per 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 16% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
19% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, near Lancashire’s towns (19%) and lower than England’s towns (27%). Work in town: 29% of resident commuters. There are 0.8 jobs in Skelmersdale for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
9 notable people were born in Skelmersdale.
Jessica Gagen: Zebrichcois, CC0
Large town in Lancashire, England
Skelmersdale is a built-up area of 34,921 people, in the West Lancashire 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skelmersdale | 34,921 | — | C− | A− | D | D− |
| Orrell | 23,412 | 2.7 | — | B− | — | C |
| Parbold | 2,409 | 2.7 | — | C | A+ | A |
| Appley Bridge | 5,131 | 3.1 | — | C+ | — | B |
| Rainford | 5,573 | 3.5 | C+ | D | B+ | B− |
| Shevington | 5,315 | 3.5 | — | B | — | C+ |
| Burscough | 8,773 | 4.4 | B− | B− | B− | C |
| Shevington Moor | 2,717 | 4.6 | — | C+ | — | B− |
Parbold has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Orrell, Appley Bridge, Shevington and Shevington Moor have no Safety Grade: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish to police.uk. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £148,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £80,000, terraced houses £120,000, semi-detached houses £166,500 and detached houses £265,000.
GCSE results trail 89% of towns in England, and primary results trail 61% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
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.