Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 57,607 in Merseyside, North West.
Bebington grades B− overall against UK towns: better than 50% of UK towns, and #9 of 25 in Merseyside. Its strongest subject is walkability (B+): 18% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is health (C): life expectancy 79 for men, 82.7 for women. The median home sold for £229,997 in the last three years, 5 times what households in the Wirral council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Bebington 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 Bebington is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 246 buildings inside Bebington’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
12% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Bebington. Best known first.
Art galleryLady Lever Art Galleryin town
MuseumPort Sunlight Museumin town
CathedralLiverpool Cathedral3.6 km outside town, to the north
Art galleryWalker Art Gallery4.8 km outside town, to the north · 338K visitors a year
Big drawArt galleryTate Liverpool3.6 km outside town, to the north · 540K visitors a year
CathedralMetropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King4.4 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Bebington.
Bebington has a median age of 45.1 years. Retirement age and beyond: 23% of residents are 65 or older. Degrees are held by a third of adults, higher than Merseyside’s towns (30%) and near England’s towns (34%).
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Bebington | Merseyside | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.5% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 23% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.2% | 5.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Merseyside and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Key Stage 2 results at the town’s 14 primary schools: three in five pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Of its 22 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason. Bebington’s 17 primaries and five secondaries have 10,505 pupils between them.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poulton Lancelyn Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 507 | A |
| St John Plessington Catholic CollegeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,556 | C− |
| Wirral Grammar School for GirlsTop results in townSecondary | Secondary | 1,224 | A+ |
6% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, between Merseyside’s towns (7.7%) and England’s towns (5.2%). 9 GP practices serve the town; 84% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. Self-reported good health: 81% of Bebington’s residents.
| Census 2021 | Bebington | Merseyside | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 81% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6% | 7.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 22% | 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 Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 28% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Jobs per working resident: 0.8. 36% of commuters travelled under 5 km, below both Merseyside’s towns (45%) and England’s towns (45%). Average household income comes to £50K a year before tax. About 24% of its commuters stay in Bebington for work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Private tenants account for 13% of households. Social housing holds just over one in ten households, lower than both Merseyside’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%). 2,340 standard sales inside Bebington’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £229,997.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £353,000 | 441 |
| Semi-detached | £235,000 | 1,150 |
| Terraced | £185,000 | 549 |
| Flat or maisonette | £118,700 | 200 |
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 12% of the total, below both Merseyside’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (16%). For its size, Bebington has more listed buildings than any other town in Merseyside. Its listed buildings include the Church of St Andrew, Grade I. At the top of the list, 2 are Grade I and 3 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 3,053 offences in Bebington and 335 cases of nuisance behaviour. Homes saw 8.3 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, lower than Merseyside’s towns (10.6) and near England’s towns (9.4). Violence and sexual offences were half of the crimes.
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.
246 listed buildings in Bebington, 2 of them Grade I.
Port Sunlight War Memorial: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lady Lever Art Gallery: Photo: Rept0n1x · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Candle Factory Court: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Bridge Inn: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0
82 notable people were born in Bebington.
Lottie Dod: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Scewing, Public domain · Pete Burns: User:Mathew Street, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Banner Johnstone: Leslie Ward, Public domain · Paul Heaton: Simon Fernandez, CC BY 2.0 · Michael Goodliffe: Aubrey Davidson-Houston, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bebington | 57,607 | — | B− | C | B− | C |
| Willaston (Cheshire West and Chester) | 2,472 | 3.2 | — | C− | A+ | A |
| Birkenhead | 109,854 | 3.7 | D | B− | D | D− |
| Heswall | 29,082 | 4.2 | A− | D | A− | B+ |
| Neston | 14,963 | 4.3 | B | C | B | B |
| Ellesmere Port | 65,425 | 5.6 | D | B+ | C− | C− |
| Greasby | 9,175 | 5.6 | A | C− | A | B+ |
| Liverpool | 506,564 | 5.6 | D− | C− | D | D− |
Willaston (Cheshire West and Chester) has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades B−.
Band D council tax in Bebington is £2,501 for 2026–27, more than in 64% of UK towns (council, county, police and fire). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Large town in Merseyside, England
Bebington is a built-up area of 57,607 people, in the Wirral 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.