Darwen Town
Blackburn with Darwen 016 · 4 sub-areas · 6,433 residents
Blackburn with Darwen 016 is a residential area within Blackburn with Darwen, home to around 6,400 people. A typical two-bedroom property lets for about £655 a month — well below the UK national median and a fraction of what you'd pay in Manchester or London. Rents rose around 7% last year, so affordability is still strong but the direction of travel is worth watching.
Darwen Town is a commuter neighbourhood within Blackburn with Darwen — train into Manchester runs in around 47 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it.
Overview
What's it like to live in Darwen Town?
3 parks and 4 playgrounds are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; Recorded crime is higher than the national norm — common for built-up urban areas, but worth weighing if you're looking for a quieter base; Public transport is genuinely strong; most errands and a fair share of social life don't need a car; rents are below the national norm, with a typical home letting at around £707 a month; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 4 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Darwen Town in Blackburn with Darwen
Living in Darwen Town
This part of Blackburn with Darwen sits firmly at the affordable end of the northern England rental market. The area has a settled, mixed feel — more than half of households own their home, which gives the streets a quieter, established character compared to the more transient inner-city neighbourhoods nearby. Greenspace is genuinely accessible: around half of residents are within easy walking distance of a park or open space, and the nearest is typically under 400 metres away.
On cost, it's hard to argue with the numbers. A two-bed here runs around £655 a month — roughly half the UK national median for the same property type. Even with rents climbing 7% over the past year, this remains one of the more affordable places to rent in the North West. Council tax (Band D) comes to about £2,455 a year, which is in line with the broader Blackburn with Darwen area. The deposit hurdle is low too: at current rents and local salaries, most renters can save a deposit in just over two years.
The population skews slightly younger in the 18–34 bracket, with a solid family presence — around 15% of households are couples with children. Single-person households make up a significant share at nearly two in five, which reflects the mix of young professionals and older residents living alone. The area is predominantly UK-born, with a relatively low ethnic diversity index compared to some other parts of Blackburn.
Practically speaking, the nearest mainline rail station is under a kilometre away — roughly a ten-minute walk — connecting you to Manchester in around 49 minutes by public transport. Most residents, though, drive: nearly six in ten commute by car. Broadband coverage is full gigabit across the area, with no properties falling below the minimum standard. See the streets and sub-areas below for more on specific pockets within the neighbourhood.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Blackburn with Darwen 016 a nice place to live?
- It depends on your priorities. Rents are genuinely low, greenspace is close by, and the area has a settled, owner-occupied feel. The trade-off is a crime rate roughly double the national average and a weaker-than-average school picture. For buyers or renters who value affordability over everything else, it stacks up well — but it's worth visiting specific streets before committing.
- What is the rent in Blackburn with Darwen 016?
- A typical one-bedroom property runs around £529 a month, a two-bed about £655, and a three-bed roughly £773. These are estimates scaled from council-level data using local sale prices. Rents rose around 7% in the past year, but the area remains well below the UK national median for equivalent property types.
- Is Blackburn with Darwen 016 safe?
- The crime rate here is around 170 incidents per 1,000 residents a year — roughly double the UK national average. The area sits in the most deprived fifth of English neighbourhoods, which tends to correlate with higher crime. It's not uniformly unsafe, but personal safety is a factor worth researching at street level before moving in.
- What's the commute from Blackburn with Darwen 016 to Manchester?
- By public transport it's around 49 minutes to Manchester. The nearest mainline rail station is about 840 metres away — a ten-minute walk. That said, nearly 60% of residents commute by car, so public transport links are functional but not heavily used. Working from home is also common, with around one in five residents doing so.
- Who lives in Blackburn with Darwen 016?
- A fairly even mix of age groups, with young adults (18–34) and under-18s each making up around 21–22% of the population. More than half of households own their home, and nearly two in five are single-person households. The area is predominantly UK-born, with a low ethnic diversity index relative to other parts of Blackburn.
- What schools are near Blackburn with Darwen 016?
- There are 52 schools within 2km, but only around 28% of them are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted — well below the national average of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding school is just over 5km away. Families prioritising school quality should check catchment boundaries carefully, as oversubscription at the better-rated schools in the area is common.
- How affordable is buying a home in Blackburn with Darwen 016?
- Very affordable by UK standards. The median house price is around £122,000, and at local salary levels most renters can save a deposit in just over two years. That's one of the faster deposit timescales in the region. The rent-to-take-home ratio runs at around 41%, so day-to-day budgeting is tighter than the low headline rents might suggest.