Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 50,218 in Merseyside, North West.
Crosby grades C− overall against UK towns: better than 20% of UK towns, and #13 of 25 in Merseyside. Its strongest subject is walkability (A): 24% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D): median sale £248,000, 5.5 years of area income; rent £938 a month.
The 3 things Crosby 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 Crosby is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 109 buildings inside Crosby’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*, and 1 scheduled monument.
34% 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 Crosby.
For Crosby, that is above both Merseyside’s towns (58%) and England’s towns (61%). 15% of households live in social housing.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £456,250 | 228 |
| Semi-detached | £280,000 | 850 |
| Terraced | £210,000 | 519 |
| Flat or maisonette | £151,000 | 363 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Three of its 20 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Crosby Catholic Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 725 | C− |
| Chesterfield High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,692 | B |
| St Luke's Halsall Church of England Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 234 | A |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 33% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Crosby sits above both Merseyside’s towns (2.2%) and England’s towns (2.3%) on this measure. 36% 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
At the census, 21% of people here had a disability, below Merseyside’s towns (22%) but above England’s towns (17%). Women here live to 82.6 on average and men to 78.2 (2019–23). 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.
| Census 2021 | Crosby | Merseyside | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.8% | 7.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
That puts Crosby above both Merseyside’s towns (14%) and England’s towns (16%). Crosby has 109 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 2 Grade II*.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
On this, Crosby is below both Merseyside’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%). People 65 and over make up 22% of the town. Half the people of Crosby are older than 45.7.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Crosby | Merseyside | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.5% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 22% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.3% | 5.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 35% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Merseyside and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Violence came to 31.2 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Merseyside’s towns (25.4) and England’s towns (22). Police recorded 3,178 crimes inside Crosby’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 478 reports of anti-social behaviour. Homes see 11.4 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year.
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
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Crosby. Best known first.
MuseumFort Perch Rock1.6 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumLFC Museum4.5 km outside town, to the southeastTheme parkTheme parkFarmer Ted's Farm Park4.8 km outside town, to the northTheme parkTheme parkFunfair1.9 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
109 listed buildings in Crosby.
Merchant Taylors School (Girls) That Portion Which Was the Original Foundation: Photo: Merchant Taylors' Schools · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Standing cross at the junction of Green Lane and Water Street: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Seaforth Arms Hotel: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Fitness Connection Health Club: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0
53 notable people were born in Crosby.
J. Bruce Ismay: unknown (see Simon Adams's Titanic book "credit" section), Public domain · Vincent Nichols: Catholic Church (England and Wales) ( Catholic Church England and Wales ), CC BY-SA 2.0 · F. David Peat: Chwikish, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Anne Robinson: Earth Mountain, CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crosby | 50,218 | — | C− | D | C | C− |
| Litherland | 18,752 | 1.2 | D | C | C− | D− |
| Bootle | 53,722 | 2 | D− | C+ | D− | D− |
| Hightown | 2,018 | 3.1 | — | D− | A− | C+ |
| Aintree | 6,212 | 3.3 | C+ | D | C+ | C+ |
| Maghull | 20,367 | 3.8 | C | D | C+ | B− |
| Lydiate | 6,516 | 4.2 | B | D | A | B |
| Wallasey | 85,619 | 5 | D | B− | C− | D |
Hightown has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades C. Police recorded 3,178 crimes inside Crosby’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 49% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
An older town. At the 2021 Census, 22% of residents were 65 or over and 29% were 45 to 64, against 18% and 25% across England’s towns; 16% were under 15.
Large town in Merseyside, England
Crosby is a built-up area of 50,218 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.