Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 22,892 in Merseyside, North West.
Formby grades B+ overall against UK towns: better than 73% of UK towns, and #5 of 25 in Merseyside. Its strongest subject is jobs & income (A−): mean household income £56,870; 1.8% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Its weakest is cost of living (D−): median sale £327,000, 7.2 years of area income; rent £938 a month.
The 3 things Formby 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 Formby is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 27 buildings inside Formby’s built-up area.
9% 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 Formby.
9.2% of residents are 15 to 24, lower than both Merseyside’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%). The under-15s are 14% of the population here. At 52.1, the median resident of Formby sits in the middle of the age range. Degrees are held by two in five adults.
53% women, 47% men
About 90 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.
| Formby | Merseyside | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.2% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 17% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 31% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 13% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.5% | 5.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 40% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Merseyside and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
At the town’s 7 primary schools, 64% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). Our Lady of Compassion Catholic Primary School’s results beat nine in ten schools in England like it. GCSE results at the town’s 2 secondary schools: 52% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 50.8. Below are three of its 9 schools, each with why it was picked.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Luke's Church of England Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 365 | C |
| Formby High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,157 | B+ |
| Trinity St Peter's CofE Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 238 | A |
Private renters make up one in ten households, below both Merseyside’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (21%). 3% of households rent from a council or housing body. From September 2023 to August 2026, 1,097 homes sold inside Formby’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £327,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £455,450 | 466 |
| Semi-detached | £284,525 | 470 |
| Terraced | £260,000 | 51 |
| Flat or maisonette | £188,750 | 110 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
3 GP practices serve the town; 85% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. 18% of residents have a disability, lower than Merseyside’s towns (22%) yet higher than England’s towns (17%). Asked at the census, just over four in five residents of Formby said they were in good or very good health. The nearest A&E to Formby is Southport and Formby District General Hospital, 6.4 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Formby | Merseyside | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 82% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.9% | 7.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy and early deaths.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Before 1919: that is when 9% of homes were built. Of Formby’s land, 2% lies in conservation areas, below Merseyside’s towns (6%) and England’s towns (7%) alike. For its size, Formby has 12 listed buildings per 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 36% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Formby counts 0.7 jobs per working resident. The car took four in five commuters, above Merseyside’s towns (71%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. Working from home was the norm for 36% of workers at the census. Work in town: 23% of resident commuters.
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.
Violent crime ran at 19.4 per 1,000 residents a year, below Merseyside’s towns (26.8) and England’s towns (22) alike; what’s more, each year, 6.1 burglaries and acts of damage are recorded per 1,000 residents. Formby logged 918 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 180 complaints of anti-social conduct. Of all the crimes, 44% 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.
27 listed buildings in Formby.
Cross Approximately 30 Metres South of Chapel of St Luke's Church: Photo: David Hawgood · CC BY-SA 2.0 · White Cottage: Photo: Norman Caesar · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Stone Cross in Centre of Roundabout: Photo: Bill Boaden · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Peter: Photo: Norman Caesar · CC BY-SA 2.0
15 notable people were born in Formby.
Thomas Hill: Werner100359, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Rhian Teasdale: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0 · Bernice Vere: Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Formby | 22,892 | — | B+ | D− | B+ | B+ |
| Hightown | 2,018 | 2.4 | — | D− | A− | C+ |
| Crosby | 50,218 | 5.4 | C− | D | C | C− |
| Lydiate | 6,516 | 5.5 | B | D | A | B |
| Maghull | 20,367 | 6.1 | C | D | C+ | B− |
| Southport | 94,438 | 6.4 | C− | C− | C | C− |
| Litherland | 18,752 | 6.5 | D | C | C− | D− |
| Bootle | 53,722 | 7.1 | D− | C+ | D− | D− |
Hightown has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Secondary schools stand out: GCSE results beat 77% of towns in England. Primary results are closer to the middle, beating 64%.
Large town in Merseyside, England
Formby is a built-up area of 22,892 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.