Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,963 in Merseyside, North West.
Billinge grades B− overall against UK towns: better than 53% of UK towns, and #8 of 25 in Merseyside. Its strongest subject is hazard risk (A): 0% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea. Its weakest is walkability (D): 8% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. The median home sold for £235,000 in the last three years, 5.6 times what households in the St. Helens council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Billinge 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 Billinge is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 7 buildings inside Billinge’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*.
8% 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 Billinge.
The under-15s are just over a tenth of the population here. Nearly a tenth of the population is aged 15 to 24, below Merseyside’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Line up the people of Billinge by age and the one in the middle is 53.3.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Billinge | Merseyside | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 12% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.2% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 17% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 34% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.1% | 5.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 31% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Merseyside and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Nearly four in five pupils at the town’s 3 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Some 547 pupils attend Billinge’s three primaries. Attainment 8 at the 2 secondary schools within 3 km averages 48, and 44% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billinge Chapel End Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 205 | B+ |
| St Mary's Catholic Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 177 | A+ |
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.
By car: that was how nine in ten commuters travelled at the census. Households had £43K a year before tax, below Merseyside’s towns (£48K) and England’s towns (£55K) alike. Work in town: 4% of resident commuters. Jobs per working resident: 0.3.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Private renters make up 6% of households, below both Merseyside’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (21%). 8% of households rent from a council or housing body. Half of the 190 standard sales inside Billinge’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £235,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £349,000 | 43 |
| Semi-detached | £221,000 | 131 |
| Terraced | £208,500 | 14 |
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.
Billinge has 7 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Historic England’s list: 2 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Billinge has less crime per resident than 71% of them. Violence accounts for 19.5 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Over the year to August 2026, 195 offences were reported locally, along with 15 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Of all the crimes, 46% were 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.
One GP practice serves the town; 93% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. A disability affects just over a fifth of people in Billinge. The nearest A&E to Billinge is Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, 5.6 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Billinge | Merseyside | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.5% | 7.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Read these answers with age in mind: they aren’t adjusted, so younger places do better. The Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Billinge. Best known first.
Historic houseBispham Hall1.4 km outside town, to the north
MuseumNorth West Museum of Road Transport3.7 km outside town, to the south
MuseumWorld of Glass4.2 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumSmithy Heritage Centre4.5 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
7 listed buildings in Billinge.
Birchley Hall: Photo: Colin Park · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Mary and Presbytery: Photo: Rept0n1x · CC BY-SA 3.0
18 notable people were born in Billinge.
Ken Owen: Shadowgate, CC BY 2.0 · Lauren Bate: Nicola, CC BY-SA 4.0 · David Lynn: Pvt pauline, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Joe Shorrocks: Fleets, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lee Mitchell: Photo by: Rob Lawton from Warrington, United Kingdom derivative work: This deal is getting worse all the time., CC BY-SA 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billinge | 4,963 | — | B− | C− | B+ | C+ |
| Haydock | 16,143 | 2.3 | D | C+ | C | D |
| Ashton-in-Makerfield | 26,367 | 2.6 | — | B+ | — | C− |
| Orrell | 23,412 | 2.8 | — | B− | — | C |
| Rainford | 5,573 | 3.2 | C+ | D | B+ | B− |
| St Helens | 107,684 | 3.4 | D | C+ | D | D− |
| Wigan | 81,580 | 4 | — | A− | — | D |
| Newton-le-Willows | 24,651 | 4.1 | D | C | C− | D |
Ashton-in-Makerfield, Orrell and Wigan have no Safety Grade: Greater Manchester Police doesn’t publish to police.uk. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Primary schools stand out: Key Stage 2 results beat 98% of towns in England. Secondary results are closer to the middle, beating 55%. Billinge has 3 state schools; places are handled by St. Helens council.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Town in Merseyside, England
Billinge is a built-up area of 4,963 people, in the St. Helens 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.
