Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 39,227 in Merseyside, North West.
Prescot grades D overall against UK towns: better than 12% of UK towns, and #15 of 25 in Merseyside. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 21% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D): median sale £221,500, 5.5 years of area income; rent £840 a month.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Prescot is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 45 buildings inside Prescot’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I.
10% 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 Prescot.
On this, Prescot is above both Merseyside’s towns (58%) and England’s towns (61%). Private renters make up 15% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £336,872 | 416 |
| Semi-detached | £225,000 | 755 |
| Terraced | £150,000 | 356 |
| Flat or maisonette | £105,000 | 101 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Three of its 17 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prescot Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 448 | B |
| Rainhill High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,535 | B+ |
| Eccleston Lane Ends Primary SchoolTop results in townPrimary | Primary | 244 | A |
Women here live to 81.2 on average and men to 77.9 (2019–23). At the census, 7.1% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, below Merseyside’s towns (7.7%) but above England’s towns (5.2%). 6 GP practices serve the town; 83% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Prescot | Merseyside | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.1% | 7.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 21% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
In the comparison, Prescot comes above both Merseyside’s towns (25.4) and England’s towns (22). Burglary and damage come to 12.4 per 1,000 residents a year. Police recorded 3,538 crimes inside Prescot’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 485 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
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 25% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For Prescot, that is above both Merseyside’s towns (2.2%) and England’s towns (2.3%). The average household earns £44K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Prescot sits below both Merseyside’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%) on this measure. 21% of residents are 65 or over. Prescot has a median age of 43.9.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Prescot | Merseyside | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 21% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.5% | 5.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 29% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Merseyside and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
That puts Prescot above both Merseyside’s towns (5%) and England’s towns (7%). Homes from before 1919 make up 10% of the total. Prescot’s listed buildings include Church of St Mary, Grade I.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Prescot. Best known first.
MuseumWorld of Glass3.3 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumNorth West Museum of Road Transport3.8 km outside town, to the northeastMuseumMuseumRainhill Railway Museumin townWildlife parkWildlife parkKnowsley Safari900 m outside town, to the northwestCastleCastleKnowsley Hall1.6 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
45 listed buildings in Prescot, 1 of them Grade I.
Manor Farmhouse: Photo: Sue Adair · CC BY-SA 2.0 · West Derby War Memorial: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Former Picture Palace Cinema, Prescot: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Former town house and Parr's Bank: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0
40 notable people were born in Prescot.
Steven Gerrard: Эдгар Брещанов, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Melanie C: The Academy, CC BY 3.0 · Martin Kelly: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cfcunofficial/, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Willy Russell: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0 · Kym Marsh: Marple Bridge Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Lewis Travis: ITFC1234, CC0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prescot | 39,227 | — | D | D | C− | D |
| Cronton | 1,234 | 2.2 | — | D− | A | B− |
| Huyton with Roby | 59,844 | 2.5 | D | D | C− | D− |
| St Helens | 107,684 | 2.8 | D | C+ | D | D− |
| Knowsley | 2,345 | 3.5 | — | D− | C | D− |
| Widnes | 59,938 | 3.8 | C− | B | D | D |
| Hale Bank | 1,618 | 4.6 | — | B+ | C− | C− |
| Liverpool | 506,564 | 5.5 | D− | C− | D | D− |
Cronton, Knowsley and Hale Bank have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
It has more crime per resident than most places its size: 67% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less. Police recorded 3,538 crimes inside Prescot’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 £221,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £105,000, terraced houses £150,000, semi-detached houses £225,000 and detached houses £336,872. Household incomes are lower than in 83% of UK towns, so cost of living grades D.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on GOV.UK’s flood risk service.
Large town in Merseyside, England
Prescot is a built-up area of 39,227 people, in the Knowsley 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.