Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,023 in Merseyside, North West.
Meols grades A− overall against UK towns: better than 76% of UK towns, and #3 of 25 in Merseyside. Its strongest subject is safety (A): 12.1 violent and sexual offences and 4.1 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Its weakest is cost of living (D): median sale £400,000, 8.7 years of area income; rent £859 a month.
The 3 things Meols 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 Meols is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 2 buildings inside Meols’s built-up area.
21% 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 Meols.
Owners make up just over nine in ten households, higher than both Merseyside’s towns (58%) and England’s towns (61%). Social housing holds 2% of households. No town in Merseyside costs more to buy into than Meols, at £400,000, the highest of 25.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £456,000 | 64 |
| Semi-detached | £395,000 | 115 |
| Terraced | £302,500 | 12 |
| Flat or maisonette | £182,475 | 8 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Attainment 8 at the 3 secondary schools within 3 km averages 56.5, and 70% of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Its only school is listed below. At the 12 primary schools within 3 km, 59% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (three-year average).
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Meols Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 450 | A− |
122 crimes and 17 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Meols’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence and sexual offences made up 44% of the total. There were 3.1 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), below Merseyside’s towns (8.2) and England’s towns (7.8) 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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Every one of Meols’s 2 listed buildings sits at Grade II, the most common listing. For its size, Meols has 4 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, below both Merseyside’s towns (11) and England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
One GP practice serves the town; four in five patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey. At the census, 4.2% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, below both Merseyside’s towns (7.7%) and England’s towns (5.2%). 16% of residents in Meols live with a disability.
| Census 2021 | Meols | Merseyside | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 85% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.2% | 7.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 16% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 39% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
1.5% of 16 to 64s claimed unemployment benefits in 2026, below both Merseyside’s towns (2.3%) and England’s towns (2.3%). The car carried 83% of commuters at the census. Of the commuters living in Meols, 3% work in the town itself. At the census, 39% of workers worked mainly from home.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
One measure of family life: 15% of residents are under 15. People 65 and over make up 27% of the town, above both Merseyside’s towns (19%) and England’s towns (18%). The 15-to-24 age group makes up 8.9% of residents. Half the people of Meols are older than 51.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 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.
| Meols | Merseyside | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.9% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 27% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 9.6% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.7% | 5.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 48% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Merseyside and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meols | 5,023 | — | A− | D | A | B |
| Hoylake | 5,311 | 0.9 | B+ | C− | B− | C+ |
| West Kirby | 13,383 | 2 | A | D | B+ | A− |
| Greasby | 9,175 | 2.4 | A | C− | A | B+ |
| Caldy | 1,227 | 2.9 | — | D− | A | A+ |
| Wallasey | 85,619 | 4.3 | D | B− | C− | D |
| Birkenhead | 109,854 | 4.6 | D | B− | D | D− |
| Heswall | 29,082 | 4.9 | A− | D | A− | B+ |
Caldy has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £400,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £182,475, terraced houses £302,500, semi-detached houses £395,000 and detached houses £456,000.
Secondary schools stand out: GCSE results beat 97% of towns in England. Primary results are closer to the middle, trailing 63%. One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Wirral council.
Town in Merseyside, England
Meols is a built-up area of 5,023 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.