Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 53,722 in Merseyside, North West.
Bootle grades D− overall against UK towns: better than 2% of UK towns, and #23 of 25 in Merseyside. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 31% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is health (D−): life expectancy 74.2 for men, 78.3 for women. The median home sold for £145,000 in the last three years, 3.2 times what households in the Sefton council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Bootle 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 Bootle is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 25 buildings inside Bootle’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
26% 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 Bootle. Best known first.
Art galleryWalker Art Gallery3.5 km outside town, to the south · 338K visitors a year
CathedralLiverpool Cathedral4.9 km outside town, to the south
CathedralMetropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King4.2 km outside town, to the south
Big drawArt galleryTate Liverpool4.3 km outside town, to the south · 540K visitors a year
Big drawMuseumWorld Museum Liverpool3.4 km outside town, to the south · 606K visitors a year
Big drawMuseumMerseyside Maritime Museum4.2 km outside town, to the south · 945K 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 Bootle.
Women here live to 78.3 on average and men to 74.2 (2019–23). At the census, 9.3% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, above both Merseyside’s towns (7.7%) and England’s towns (5.2%). 9 GP practices serve the town; 73% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Bootle | Merseyside | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 75% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 9.3% | 7.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 26% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
St Robert Bellarmine Catholic Primary School’s results beat 97% of schools in England like it. Three of its 20 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Monica's Catholic Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 446 | C+ |
| Hillside High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 785 | C− |
| St Robert Bellarmine Catholic Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 236 | A+ |
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.
Bootle sits above both Merseyside’s towns (2.2%) and England’s towns (2.3%) on this measure. The average household earns £38K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
That puts Bootle above both Merseyside’s towns (25.4) and England’s towns (22). Burglary and damage come to 19.9 per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 6,855 crimes inside Bootle’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 749 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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
On this, Bootle is above both Merseyside’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%). Owners make up 48% of households. Bootle is the cheapest of the 25 towns in Merseyside: its median sale is £145,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £251,250 | 76 |
| Semi-detached | £174,000 | 485 |
| Terraced | £125,000 | 579 |
| Flat or maisonette | £65,000 | 87 |
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.
In the comparison, Bootle comes above both Merseyside’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%). Bootle’s listed buildings include Roman Catholic Church of St Monica, Grade I. Bootle has 25 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 1 Grade I, 2 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
For Bootle, that is below both Merseyside’s towns (30%) and England’s towns (34%). 18% of residents are children under 15. Bootle has a median age of 39.3.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Bootle | Merseyside | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 16% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 28% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.6% | 5.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 20% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Merseyside and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
25 listed buildings in Bootle, 1 of them Grade I.
Church of St Benet and Chapel House: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Castree Bros Warehouse: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Public Baths: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Former Post Office Maple Leaf Boxing Club: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0
73 notable people were born in Bootle.
Jamie Carragher: Ludovic Péron, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Steve McManaman: Chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Alex Greenwood: Katie Chan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Roy Evans: Jarvin, CC BY 3.0 · Jose Baxter: IJA, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Allan Williams: Maxgreen123, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
GCSE results trail 97% of towns in England, and primary results trail 94% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
It has more crime per resident than most places its size: 89% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more report less. Police recorded 6,855 crimes inside Bootle’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 46% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £145,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £65,000, terraced houses £125,000, semi-detached houses £174,000 and detached houses £251,250.
Large town in Merseyside, England
Bootle is a built-up area of 53,722 people, in the Sefton 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.