Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
5,311 people call this town in Merseyside, North West home. Over-65s are 27% of the population.
A well-rated place to live, with prices to match. Its schools beat most: primary results beat 89% of towns in England; secondary results beat 97% of towns in England. Hoylake ranks #6 of 25 in Merseyside, with a B+ overall. On that grade it does better than 69% of UK towns. Fewer journeys need a car: on the way to work, 26% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. The trade-off is cost of living — homes sell for a median £275,000, about 6 times local household income. Its other grades sit near the middle: B− for safety, C+ for health, B for jobs & income and B for hazard risk.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · life expectancy and income, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Environment Agency.
The 3 things Hoylake 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 Hoylake is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 6 buildings inside Hoylake’s built-up area.
56% 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 Hoylake.
Key Stage 2 results at the 5 primary schools within 3 km: 70% of pupils meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average). There is one school here; it is shown below. Secondary results at the 3 secondary schools within 3 km: an Attainment 8 score of 56.5, with 70% at grade 5 or above in English and maths.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hoylake Holy Trinity CofE Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 288 | B+ |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 35% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Households had £53K a year before tax, higher than Merseyside’s towns (£47K) and near England’s towns (£55K). At the census, just over a third of workers worked mainly from home. 14% of commuters who live in Hoylake also work there. For every resident in work, Hoylake has 0.9 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
43% of adults hold a degree. Children under 15 make up 14%, below Merseyside’s towns (17%) and England’s towns (18%) alike; what’s more, the share aged 15 to 24 is 8.5%. Half of Hoylake is older than 50, half younger.
53% women, 47% men
About 89 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.
| Hoylake | Merseyside | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 14% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.5% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 27% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.3% | 5.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 43% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Merseyside and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Council and housing-body homes hold 7% of households. Behind the median of £275,000: 271 standard sales inside Hoylake’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026. Private tenants account for 22% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £835,000 | 20 |
| Semi-detached | £375,000 | 53 |
| Terraced | £257,500 | 90 |
| Flat or maisonette | £225,000 | 108 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
23% of residents have a disability, close to Merseyside’s towns (22%) and above England’s towns (17%). Self-reported good health: 78% of Hoylake’s residents. There is no GP practice locally: the nearest is 1.1 miles off. Men in Hoylake can expect to live to 79.5, women to 81.7 (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Hoylake | Merseyside | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.5% | 7.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as 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.
None of the 6 listed buildings reaches Grade II* or Grade I; all are Grade II. Conservation areas cover 51% of Hoylake’s land, above both Merseyside’s towns (5%) and England’s towns (7%). This Merseyside town has 11 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The 12 months to August 2026 brought 279 recorded crimes inside Hoylake’s built-up area, and 33 reports of anti-social behaviour. Of all the crimes, 43% were violence and sexual offences. Homes saw 8.4 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, below Merseyside’s towns (10.6) and England’s towns (9.4) alike.
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.
6 listed buildings in Hoylake.
Hoylake Chapel: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Church of St Hildeburgh: Photo: Eirian Evans · CC BY-SA 2.0 · 52a MARKET STREET: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Drinking fountain at West End: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0
19 notable people were born in Hoylake.
Chris Boardman: Cs-wolves, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Graham Richards: Johanna Austin, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Joe Lloyd: Stuyvesant Company, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hoylake | 5,311 | — | B+ | C− | B− | C+ |
| Meols | 5,023 | 0.9 | A− | D | A | B |
| West Kirby | 13,383 | 1.5 | A | D | B+ | A− |
| Caldy | 1,227 | 2.4 | — | D− | A | A+ |
| Greasby | 9,175 | 2.8 | A | C− | A | B+ |
| Heswall | 29,082 | 5 | A− | D | A− | B+ |
| Wallasey | 85,619 | 5.1 | D | B− | C− | D |
| Birkenhead | 109,854 | 5.2 | D | B− | D | D− |
Caldy has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
GCSE results beat 97% of towns in England, and primary results beat 89% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Wirral council.
Town in Merseyside, England
Hoylake is a built-up area of 5,311 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.