Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 85,619 in Merseyside, North West.
Wallasey grades D overall against UK towns: better than 10% of UK towns, and #17 of 25 in Merseyside. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 23% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is schools (D): primary results beat 19% of towns in England; secondary results beat 3% of towns in England. The median home sold for £185,000 in the last three years, 4 times what households in the Wirral council area earn in a year.
The 3 things Wallasey 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 Wallasey is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 57 buildings inside Wallasey’s built-up area, 5 of them Grade II*.
41% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1909.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Wallasey. Best known first.
MuseumFort Perch Rockin town
MuseumEureka! Science + Discoveryin town
Art galleryWalker Art Gallery2.3 km outside town, to the east · 338K visitors a year
CathedralLiverpool Cathedral2.8 km outside town, to the east
Big drawArt galleryTate Liverpool1.3 km outside town, to the east · 540K visitors a year
CathedralMetropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King3 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Wallasey.
Attainment 8 at the town’s 4 secondary schools averages 36.5, and nearly a quarter of pupils get grade 5 or above in English and maths. Below are two of its 30 schools, each with why it was picked. Between them, 21 primaries and four secondaries teach 10,890 pupils in Wallasey.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St George's Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 922 | B+ |
| Weatherhead High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,500 | C+ |
77% of people in Wallasey rate their own health good or very good. At the census, 8.2% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, higher than both Merseyside’s towns (7.7%) and England’s towns (5.2%). Men in Wallasey can expect to live to 76.7, women to 80.8 (2019–23). 15 GP practices serve the town; 85% of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | Wallasey | Merseyside | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.2% | 7.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 25% | 22% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy and early deaths among them, do allow for age.
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.
Household income came to £42K a year before tax, below Merseyside’s towns (£48K) and England’s towns (£55K) alike. 28% of commuters who live in Wallasey also work there. For every resident in work, Wallasey has 0.5 jobs.
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.
Burglary and damage came to 12 per 1,000 residents a year, higher than both Merseyside’s towns (9.5) and England’s towns (9.4). Wallasey logged 6,027 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 866 complaints of anti-social conduct. For its size, Wallasey records less crime per resident than 75% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more. Of all the crimes, 54% 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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 5 of them. Wallasey counts 57 listed buildings on the national list (Historic England): 5 Grade II*. Conservation areas cover 1% of the town’s land, near both Merseyside’s towns (6%) and England’s towns (7%).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Social housing holds 15% of households, below Merseyside’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Private rents average £859 a month across the Wirral council area. Renting privately is how 23% of households live.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £298,995 | 421 |
| Semi-detached | £215,000 | 1,450 |
| Terraced | £150,000 | 1,080 |
| Flat or maisonette | £123,000 | 413 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Wallasey has a median age of 43.2 years. A tenth of the population is aged 15 to 24, lower than both Merseyside’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%). The 65-and-over age group makes up 20% of residents.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Wallasey | Merseyside | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6% | 5.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Merseyside and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
57 listed buildings in Wallasey.
Fort Perch Rock: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Roman Catholic Church of English Martyrs: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Memorial Chapel: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Grain Warehouse to North of Grain Warehouse Dock: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0
114 notable people were born in Wallasey.
Jonathan Walters: Michael Kranewitter, CC BY-SA 3.0 at · Jay Spearing: Anthony Booker, CC BY 2.0 · Miles Dempsey: War Office official photographer, Public domain · Saunders Lewis: Y Drych, Public domain · Tyler Morton: Werner100359, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Heather Couper: Gallina3795, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wallasey | 85,619 | — | D | B− | C− | D |
| Birkenhead | 109,854 | 2.4 | D | B− | D | D− |
| Greasby | 9,175 | 3.5 | A | C− | A | B+ |
| Meols | 5,023 | 4.3 | A− | D | A | B |
| Litherland | 18,752 | 4.7 | D | C | C− | D− |
| Bootle | 53,722 | 4.8 | D− | C+ | D− | D− |
| Crosby | 50,218 | 5 | C− | D | C | C− |
| Hoylake | 5,311 | 5.1 | B+ | C− | B− | C+ |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades C−.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £185,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £123,000, terraced houses £150,000, semi-detached houses £215,000 and detached houses £298,995.
Large town in Merseyside, England
Wallasey is a built-up area of 85,619 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.