Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
13,383 people call this town in Merseyside, North West home.
West Kirby does the important things well, at a cost. Its strongest is schools — primary results beat 87% of towns in England; secondary results beat 97% of towns in England. The catch is cost of living: homes sell for a median £330,000, about 7.2 times local household income. Put together, the subjects come to an A overall, ranking #2 of 25 in Merseyside. Nationally, it does better than 87% of UK towns.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years.
The 3 things West Kirby 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 West Kirby is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists 8 buildings inside West Kirby’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
28% 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 West Kirby.
GCSE results at the town’s 3 secondary schools: 70% of pupils get a strong pass (grade 5+) in English and maths, and the Attainment 8 average is 56.5. Calday Grange Grammar School’s results beat 96% of schools in England like it. Below are three of its 7 schools, each with why it was picked. West Kirby’s four primaries and three secondaries have 4,816 pupils between them.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Kirby St Bridget's CofE Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 420 | A |
| Calday Grange Grammar SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,493 | A+ |
| West Kirby Grammar SchoolTop results in townSecondary | Secondary | 1,181 | A+ |
6% live in social housing, below Merseyside’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (18%) alike. Private renters make up 15% of households. Only one of the 25 towns in Merseyside costs more to buy into than West Kirby, whose median sale is £330,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £540,000 | 186 |
| Semi-detached | £325,000 | 220 |
| Terraced | £275,000 | 114 |
| Flat or maisonette | £233,500 | 170 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Asked at the census, 83% of residents of West Kirby said they were in good or very good health. At the census, 18% of people here had a disability, about level with England’s towns (17%) and below Merseyside’s towns (22%). Life expectancy here is 84.4 for women and 83.1 for men (2019–23). One GP practice serves the town; just over three quarters of patients rate theirs good in the GP Patient Survey.
| Census 2021 | West Kirby | Merseyside | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 78% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.4% | 7.7% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 18% | 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.
Reported offences in West Kirby came to 522 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 135. Violence came to 17.1 per 1,000 residents a year, below both Merseyside’s towns (26.8) and England’s towns (22). Per 1,000 residents, 7.1 burglaries and acts of damage are recorded a year.
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 38% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The census counted 38% of workers working mainly from home. 79% of commuters drove, above Merseyside’s towns (71%) and England’s towns (70%) alike. The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 1.7%. Work in town: 13% of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Historic England’s list names 8 listed buildings in West Kirby: 1 Grade II*. Scaled to its population, West Kirby has 6 listed buildings per 10,000 people, lower than both Merseyside’s towns (11) and England’s towns (39).
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Typical age in West Kirby: 50.4, the median. Those 65 and older account for 28% of residents. The 15-to-24 age group: 8.8%, below both Merseyside’s towns (13%) and England’s towns (12%). Children under 15 make up 16% of residents.
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.
| West Kirby | Merseyside | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 17% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 8.8% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 18% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 29% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 28% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 12% | 21% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.6% | 5.4% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 47% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Merseyside and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
8 listed buildings in West Kirby.
Church of St Bridget: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Nook Cottage the Nook: Photo: Mark D. Baxter · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Barclays Bank: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Church of St Andrew: Photo: Rodhullandemu · CC BY-SA 4.0
17 notable people were born in West Kirby.
Joanna Scanlan: Marcus Liversedge, CC BY 3.0 · Shirley Hughes: Transangst, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sam Hughes: MGPetch, CC0 · Thomas Vernon Griffiths: Auckland Weekly News, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Kirby | 13,383 | — | A | D | B+ | A− |
| Caldy | 1,227 | 0.9 | — | D− | A | A+ |
| Hoylake | 5,311 | 1.5 | B+ | C− | B− | C+ |
| Meols | 5,023 | 2 | A− | D | A | B |
| Greasby | 9,175 | 2.4 | A | C− | A | B+ |
| Heswall | 29,082 | 3.9 | A− | D | A− | B+ |
| Birkenhead | 109,854 | 5 | D | B− | D | D− |
| Wallasey | 85,619 | 5.6 | D | B− | C− | D |
Caldy has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Police recorded 522 crimes inside West Kirby’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 44% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
GCSE results beat 97% of towns in England, and primary results beat 87% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2).
Town in Merseyside, England
West Kirby is a built-up area of 13,383 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.