Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A city of 109,854 in Merseyside, North West.
Birkenhead grades D overall against UK towns: better than 11% of UK towns, and #16 of 25 in Merseyside. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 24% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is health (D−): life expectancy 75.4 for men, 80 for women. The median home sold for £175,000 in the last three years, 3.8 times what households in the Wirral council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Birkenhead 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 Birkenhead is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 295 buildings inside Birkenhead’s built-up area, 6 of them Grade I, and 3 scheduled monuments.
30% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds a map from 1879.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Birkenhead. Best known first.
MuseumU-boat Storyin town
GardenBirkenhead Parkin town
MuseumWilliamson Art Gallery & Museumin town
Abbey or prioryBirkenhead Prioryin town
MuseumTransport Museumin town
Art galleryWalker Art Gallery2.2 km outside town, to the northeast · 338K visitors a yearPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Birkenhead.
A disability affects a quarter of people in Birkenhead, and at the census, nearly one in ten residents said their health was bad or very bad, above both Merseyside’s towns (7.7%) and England’s towns (5.2%). 76% of people in Birkenhead rate their own health good or very good. 17 GP practices serve the town; 83% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Birkenhead | Merseyside | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.7% | 7.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 25% | 22% | 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.
Secondary results at the town’s 7 secondary schools: an Attainment 8 score of 46.7, with 44% at grade 5 or above in English and maths. Upton Hall School FCJ’s results beat 96% of schools in England like it. Half of pupils at the town’s 30 primary schools met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Of its 48 schools, three are shown below, each with the reason.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Townfield Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 487 | A− |
| Woodchurch High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,399 | D |
| Upton Hall School FCJTop results in townSecondary | Secondary | 1,004 | A+ |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Burglary and damage came to 17.2 per 1,000 residents a year, higher than both Merseyside’s towns (9.5) and England’s towns (9.4). Birkenhead logged 11,452 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 1,533 complaints of anti-social conduct. Of all the crimes, 45% 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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 22% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
About 39% of its commuters stay in Birkenhead for work. The town counts 1 jobs per working resident. Household income came to £40K a year before tax, lower than both Merseyside’s towns (£48K) and England’s towns (£55K). 52% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Birkenhead’s listed buildings include Numbers 1 to 18 (Consecutive) Including Railings to Front, Grade I. Homes from before 1919 make up 30% of the total, above Merseyside’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%) alike. At the top of the list, 6 are Grade I and 12 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Social housing holds 24% of households, above Merseyside’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. The private rented sector houses 23% of households. Private rents average £859 a month across the Wirral council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £370,000 | 510 |
| Semi-detached | £215,000 | 1,381 |
| Terraced | £133,000 | 1,231 |
| Flat or maisonette | £119,975 | 550 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Young adults of 15 to 24 account for just over a tenth of the town. Half of Birkenhead is older than 40.9, half younger. 18% are under 15, about level with England’s towns (18%) and above Merseyside’s towns (17%).
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Birkenhead | Merseyside | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 19% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.3% | 5.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Merseyside and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
295 listed buildings in Birkenhead, 6 of them Grade I.
Birkenhead Park: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Town Hall: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Clover Almshouses: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Pumping Station to East of Wallasey Dock: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0
334 notable people were born in Birkenhead.
Glenda Jackson: Studio Publicity, Public domain · Taron Egerton: Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0 · Barbara Steele: Trailer to "The Pit and the Pendulum" 1961, Public domain · Patricia Routledge: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0 · Andrew Comyn Irvine: Unknown photographer, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birkenhead | 109,854 | — | D | B− | D | D− |
| Wallasey | 85,619 | 2.4 | D | B− | C− | D |
| Greasby | 9,175 | 2.6 | A | C− | A | B+ |
| Heswall | 29,082 | 3.5 | A− | D | A− | B+ |
| Bebington | 57,607 | 3.7 | B− | C | B− | C |
| Meols | 5,023 | 4.6 | A− | D | A | B |
| Caldy | 1,227 | 4.9 | — | D− | A | A+ |
| West Kirby | 13,383 | 5 | A | D | B+ | A− |
Caldy has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Its Grade I buildings include Numbers 1 to 18 (Consecutive) Including Railings to Front. It also has 3 scheduled monuments.
It has more crime per resident than most places its size: 68% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more report less.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £175,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £119,975, terraced houses £133,000, semi-detached houses £215,000 and detached houses £370,000.
GCSE results beat 52% of towns in England, and primary results trail 91% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
City in Merseyside, England
Birkenhead is a built-up area of 109,854 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.