Neighbourhood · Bolton · North West
Smithills
Bolton 008 · 5 sub-areas · 8,209 residents
Verdict
How are these scored? →Best for Couples (86/100)Watch-out: Solo renters (64/100)Liveability 85/100 · Top quartileCommuter neighbourhood
Smithills is a commuter neighbourhood within Bolton — train into Manchester runs in around 54 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it. Most homes are owner-occupied, so turnover is low and many residents have been here a long time.
Liveability
85/100
Top quartile
Overview
Overview
What's it like to live in Smithills?
A snapshot of Smithills
2 parks and 2 playgrounds are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; there's effectively nothing within walking distance — eating out, drinking and shopping mean a drive; The streets feel safe by national standards — police-recorded crime is well below the country-wide median; rents are below the national norm, with a typical home letting at around £878 a month; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 5 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Smithills in Bolton
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FAQ
Frequently asked
- What's the median rent in Smithills?
- The median monthly rent across Smithills is £878.
- How safe is Smithills?
- Smithills has a safety score of — out of 100, where higher is safer. The score is the national percentile rank of police-recorded crimes per 1,000 residents per year, inverted.
- How well-connected is Smithills?
- Transport score: — out of 100. Combines walking time to the nearest rail station, walking time to the nearest metro stop, and public-transport time to clusters with 5,000+ jobs. The nearest rail station is roughly 35 minutes' walk.
- What schools are near Smithills?
- There are 21 schools within 2 km of Smithills, of which 22% are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is approximately 671 m away.
- What is the council tax band in Smithills?
- The most common council tax band in Smithills is A, with the typical Band D annual charge around £1,828. Council tax is set by Bolton council and applies to every property in the area.
- How long is the commute from Smithills to London?
- By the fastest direct train, the journey from Smithills to central London is approximately 175 minutes. This is the fastest no-change rail journey from the local area centroid; door-to-door times will vary with walking time to the station.
- Is gigabit broadband available in Smithills?
- 100% of premises in Smithills are gigabit-capable according to Ofcom Connected Nations 2025. Most properties can already buy gigabit packages.
- What is the deprivation rank of Smithills?
- Smithills sits in IMD decile 4 of 10, where 1 is the most deprived 10% of local areas nationally and 10 is the least deprived. The Index of Multiple Deprivation combines income, employment, education, health, crime, barriers and environment.
- What's the tenure mix in Smithills?
- 78% of households in Smithills are owner-occupied. The remainder is split between private renting and social housing — see the Demographics section for the full breakdown from Census 2021.
- What is the average property price in Smithills?
- The average property price across Bolton (the local authority covering Smithills) is approximately £200,025, per HM Land Registry's House Price Index. Per-local area prices vary; see the cost-of-living section for medians by property type.
- Is Smithills a commuter town or workplace hub?
- Commuter town — most working residents travel out for work. (0.40 jobs per working-age resident. Median resident salary £29,409.)
- Which local areas are part of Smithills?
- Smithills contains 5 local areas: Bolton 008B, Bolton 008A, Bolton 008C, Bolton 008E, Bolton 008D.
FAQ
Frequently asked about Smithills
Short answers anchored in the data above. Each link goes to the relevant section or methodology page.
- What is the average rent in Smithills?
- The estimated median monthly rent in Smithills is £878. This is derived from the council-area ONS rental figure scaled by the local sale-price gradient — see the Cost section for the breakdown by bedroom count and the affordability ratio against local salaries.
- Is Smithills a safe place to live?
- Smithills has a safety score of 100/100. The score is the national percentile rank of police-recorded crime per 1,000 residents, inverted so 100 is the safest 1% of England + Wales. The Safety section below shows the breakdown by category.
- What schools are near Smithills?
- 22% of schools within 2 km of Smithills are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted. The Schools section lists individual schools with inspection ratings.
- How long is the commute from Smithills?
- Public-transport commute time from Smithills to central London is approximately 175 minutes. The Transport section has commute times to every major UK city hub.
- How is Smithills different from the rest of Bolton?
- Smithills contains 5 sub-areas. The "Sub-areas" section below lets you drill into each one individually — they often vary by 20%+ on rent and demographics within the same neighbourhood.
- Where does Smithills rank in Bolton?
- Smithills scores 85/100 on our composite liveability index. To see how it stacks up against every other neighbourhood in Bolton, see the Cities table on the Bolton page.
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