Placetrics
City · North West

Living in Bolton

35 neighbourhoods · 177 sub-areas
Crime vs nat. avg
160.6× safer
160.6× safer than nat. · 0.6 / 1k / yr · #4 of 318 cities
Good schools
100%
#1 of 296 cities
Commute to hub
40 min
#71 of 318 cities
Jobs density
0.40
#185 of 318 cities
Avg rent
£878/mo
+10.1% YoY · #101 of 314 cities
Council tax
£153/mo
Estimated (Band D)
Section 1 / 8

Neighbourhoods in Bolton

Tap any row or map polygon to drill into that neighbourhood — hovering on desktop will preview the link before you click. Switch the tab strip above the table to focus on Affordability, Schools, Transport, Safety or Wealth — the columns swap and the default sort follows.

35 neighbourhoods · 177 sub-areas

Rent, scores and YoY change at a glance.

Rumworth North£659+10.1%85100
Halliwell & Brownlow Fold£718+10.1%85100
Central Bolton£721+10.1%85100
Farnworth North£740+10.1%85
Rumworth South£740+10.1%85100
Burnden & Great Lever£749+10.1%85100
Farnworth South£758+10.1%85
Astley Bridge & Waters Meeting£765+10.1%85100
Tonge£776+10.1%85100
Gilnow & Victory£786+10.1%85100
Harper Green£817+10.1%85100
Highfield & New Bury£822+10.1%85
Breightmet North£832+10.1%85
Kearsley & Stoneclough£850+10.1%85
Daubhill & Fernhill Gate£862+10.1%99100
Breightmet South & Darcy Lever£876+10.1%91100
Little Lever£877+10.1%85100
Heaton & Deane£880+10.1%85100
Lever Edge£885+10.1%85100
Smithills£886+10.1%85100
Hall I' th' Wood£886+10.1%92100
Horwich South & Middlebrook£888+10.1%90100
Westhoughton West£906+10.1%85100
Horwich North£929+10.1%85100
Eagley & Sharples£938+10.1%85
Blackrod & Butterwick Fields£940+10.1%85100
Horwich East£955+10.1%85100
Westhoughton East£994+10.1%85
Doffcocker & Moss Bank£997+10.1%85100
Westhoughton Daisy Hill£1,004+10.1%85100
Over Hulton£1,008+10.1%79
Lostock & Ladybridge£1,049+10.1%85100
Dunscar & Egerton£1,063+10.1%79100
Harwood£1,079+10.1%84100
Bromley Cross & Bradshaw£1,097+10.1%82

Sources: ONS, MHCLG, DfT, DESNZ, Defra, Police.uk, Ofsted, Ofcom, HM Land Registry. Some columns (salary, council tax, HPI) are published at council-area level.

Section 2 / 8

Where to look in Bolton

Three short answers to "where should I focus?" in Bolton. Each list is filtered from the same neighbourhood data above — the basis of each shortlist is stated above the list so you know what's been weighted.

Top 5 cheapest

Lowest estimated monthly rent. Rent is the LAD-published ONS PIPR median, scaled per neighbourhood by local sale prices (Land Registry).

  1. 1.Rumworth North£659/mo
  2. 2.Halliwell & Brownlow Fold£718/mo
  3. 3.Central Bolton£721/mo
  4. 4.Farnworth North£740/mo
  5. 5.Rumworth South£740/mo
Top 5 most desirable

Highest composite liveability — combines safety, schools, transport access and rental affordability into one 0–100 score (higher = more liveable).

  1. 1.Daubhill & Fernhill Gate99/100
  2. 2.Hall I' th' Wood92/100
  3. 3.Breightmet South & Darcy Lever91/100
  4. 4.Horwich South & Middlebrook90/100
  5. 5.Gilnow & Victory85/100
Section 3 / 8

Cost of living

Median rent and council tax across Bolton.

Avg rent
£878/mo
#101 of 314 cities
Sale price
£188,000
+4.2% YoY
Yrs to deposit
3.2 yr
Rent & price breakdownBy bedroom count · property type · affordability
council-area level rent by bedroom
ONS PIPR median for the council area
1 bed£642/mo
2 bed£800/mo
3 bed£969/mo
4 bed£1,428/mo
Sale price by property type
HMLR HPI average
Detached£371,151
Semi-detached£219,006
Terraced£164,481
Flat£115,463
Affordability
Price-to-earnings6.4×
Rent / take-home36%
Council tax (estimated, full council area)£1,836/yr
Mortgage (25y, 5%)£994/mo

Rent: ONS PIPR (council area). Council tax: VOA + MHCLG. Sale prices: HM Land Registry.

Section 4 / 8

Safety in Bolton

Greater Manchester Police don't publish to data.police.uk, so crime metrics for Bolton are intentionally blank. National rank against the 335 council area peer set is shown for context where available.

Source: data.police.uk — incident counts adjusted for population, then averaged across the council area's neighbourhoods. National average = England + Wales population-weighted mean.

Section 5 / 8

Schools in Bolton

100% of schools serving Bolton are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. Best 5% nationally (#1 of 296 cities)

Good or Outstanding
100%
#1 of 296 cities
Good w/in 2 km
38%
#125 of 318 cities
School breakdownOfsted distribution · best neighbourhoods for schools
Ofsted rating distribution
Good100%
Outstanding (count)0
Good (count)1
Requires improvement0
Inadequate0
Best neighbourhoods for schools in Bolton
by school score
Kearsley & Stoneclough94/100
Lostock & Ladybridge88/100
Farnworth South86/100

Ofsted school inspection ratings, latest inspection per school.

Section 6 / 8

Transport in Bolton

Modelled door-to-door commute from this council area to nearby employment hubs. Closest first.

To Manchester
40 min
Median across local areas
To Liverpool
64 min
Median across local areas
To Leeds
92 min
Median across local areas
Transport detailAll city commute times · mode share · best-connected neighbourhoods
Commute to major UK cities
public transport, off-peak typical
Manchester
40 min
Liverpool
64 min
Leeds
92 min
Sheffield
95 min
Birmingham
129 min
London
157 min
Edinburgh
194 min
Glasgow
194 min
Bristol
230 min
Cardiff
231 min
How residents travel to work
Census 2021, mode share
Car60%Public5%Active8%WFH23%
Best-connected neighbourhoods in Bolton
by transport score
Farnworth North97/100
Hall I' th' Wood97/100
Central Bolton90/100

DfT Journey Time Statistics + ONS Travel-to-Work.

Section 7 / 8

Job access from Bolton

Bolton has 0.40 jobs per resident locally. Below median

Jobs per resident
0.40
#185 of 318 cities
5y jobs growth
-1.5%
Job access detailReachability tiers · sector mix in this council area
Reachable jobs by mode
Drive — 100 jobs6 min
PT — 100 jobs6 min
Drive — 500 jobs7 min
PT — 500 jobs10 min
Drive — 5,000 jobs12 min
PT — 5,000 jobs21 min
Local job mix by sector
ONS BRES, % of local jobs
Retail & hospitality
22.1%
Health & social care
15.5%
Manufacturing
11.8%
Education
9.0%
Professional & business svcs
7.5%
Construction
5.7%
Finance & insurance
2.6%
Tech & ICT
2.0%

ONS BRES (jobs density) + DfT job-accessibility minutes.

FAQ

Frequently asked about Bolton

Short answers to the questions we get most often. Each answer is anchored in the data above and links onward where you can dig deeper.

What is the average rent in Bolton?
The median monthly rent across Bolton is £878, based on ONS Private Rental Prices data. Individual neighbourhoods vary — see the shortlist above for the cheapest and most desirable areas.
Where is the cheapest place to rent in Bolton?
The cheapest neighbourhood in Bolton by estimated median rent is Rumworth North at approximately £659/month. The full top-five cheapest list and our methodology are above.
What's the best neighbourhood to live in Bolton?
By our composite liveability score (which blends safety, transport, schools, rent affordability and EPC), the top-ranked neighbourhood in Bolton is Daubhill & Fernhill Gate at 99/100. The score is editorial; see /methodology/scoring/liveability for the formula.
Is Bolton a safe area?
Bolton has an average safety score of 100/100 across its constituent neighbourhoods (higher is safer). The score is the national percentile rank of police-recorded crimes per 1,000 residents per year, inverted so 100 means the safest 1% of England + Wales.
What is council tax in Bolton?
The most common council tax band in Bolton is not yet published, with the Band D annual charge currently around £1,960. Council tax is set at the local authority level so the same banding applies to every postcode within Bolton.
What is the average salary in Bolton?
The median annual resident salary in Bolton is £29,409, per ONS ASHE 2025. This is salary for people who live in Bolton, not for people who commute in to work there. Workplace median salary is published separately.
What is the average house price in Bolton?
The average property price in Bolton is approximately £200,025 according to HM Land Registry's House Price Index. Individual neighbourhoods vary — typically ±20% around this council area median.
What's the rental yield in Bolton?
Gross rental yield in Bolton is approximately 5.1% — the council-area level median rent annualised over the council-area level median sale price. Net yield (after agency, void, maintenance and tax) typically runs 30–40% lower.
How long does it take to save a deposit in Bolton?
Saving a 10% deposit at the council area median sale price on the council area median salary, while putting away 10% of takehome pay each month, takes approximately 3.2 years in Bolton. Faster if you save more, slower if rents are eating into savings.
Is gigabit broadband available in Bolton?
100% of premises in Bolton are gigabit-capable per Ofcom Connected Nations 2025. Coverage is patchier in older terraces and rural fringes — check your specific postcode for service availability.
What's the unemployment rate in Bolton?
5.3% of 16-64 residents in Bolton are on the DWP Claimant Count — Universal Credit while seeking work, or Jobseeker's Allowance. That's the live monthly local indicator. It's narrower than the ONS Labour Force Survey "ILO unemployment rate" (which counts anyone actively job-seeking on a separate denominator) and narrower again than Census 2021's "% unemployed" (which is calculated against all 16+ residents and so isn't directly comparable).
How many neighbourhoods are in Bolton?
Bolton contains 35 neighbourhood neighbourhoods covering 177 sub-areas (local areas). Browse the full list at the bottom of this page or use the neighbourhood map above to drill into a specific area.
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Section 8 / 8

All sub-areas in Bolton

Every local area, ordered by crawl priority. Most readers want the neighbourhood-level view — these are for deep-link cases or external search-engine arrivals.