Merseybank & Barlow Moor
Manchester 042 · 4 sub-areas · 7,169 residents
Manchester 042 is a residential neighbourhood within Manchester, home to around 7,200 people with a notably mixed tenure profile. A typical two-bedroom flat lets for about £1,210 a month — close to the UK median for a 2-bed, and more affordable than many parts of inner Manchester. Nearly half of residents own their home, which is unusually high for this part of the city.
Merseybank & Barlow Moor is a mid-density neighbourhood of Manchester in the North West region. It sits between busier and quieter parts of the local authority and isn't dominated by a single use — there's a mix of workplaces, housing and local services. A high share of adults are degree-educated, which often shows up in the kind of jobs people commute to.
Overview
What's it like to live in Merseybank & Barlow Moor?
2 parks and 1 playgrounds are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; The streets feel safe by national standards — police-recorded crime is well below the country-wide median; Public transport is genuinely strong; most errands and a fair share of social life don't need a car; rents are roughly in line with the national norm, at around £1,347 a month for a typical home; 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.
Merseybank & Barlow Moor in Manchester
Living in Merseybank & Barlow Moor
This part of Manchester sits in a middle band — not the cheapest corner of the city, but well short of the prices you'd find closer to the city core. The neighbourhood has a settled feel, with a meaningful share of owner-occupiers giving the streets more long-term residents than you'd typically expect this close to a major city. Around 47% of households own their home, which stands out in a city where private renting and social housing tend to dominate.
Rents here are relatively contained. A two-bedroom property runs around £1,210 a month — roughly in line with the UK national median for a 2-bed and noticeably less than you'd pay in inner-city Manchester postcodes. Three-bedroom homes come in at about £1,400 a month, which gives families genuine value compared to city-centre alternatives. Rents rose around 2.8% in the past year, a moderate pace by recent Manchester standards.
The population skews younger overall, with just over a quarter of residents aged 18–34, but there's also a solid 35–49 cohort at nearly 23%. Single-person households account for around a third of all homes. Ethnic diversity is meaningful here — the diversity index sits at 49.7 — and around 77% of residents were born in the UK. Just over half of adults hold a degree-level qualification, which is well above the national average.
Day-to-day connectivity is reasonable. The nearest tram stop is roughly a kilometre away — about a 13-minute walk — and the public transport journey to Manchester city centre takes around 35 minutes. A significant share of residents work from home: over 40% did so at the last count, which is higher than the Manchester norm. Gigabit broadband covers the whole area, so remote workers are well served.
See the streets and sub-areas below for more detail on specific pockets within the neighbourhood.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Manchester 042 a nice place to live?
- It's a settled, mixed neighbourhood with a notably low crime rate and a high share of owner-occupiers — both signs of stability. Rents are moderate by Manchester standards, and full gigabit broadband coverage makes it practical for remote workers. The trade-off is that only around 37% of nearby schools are rated Good or Outstanding, which is well below the national norm.
- What is the rent in Manchester 042?
- A one-bedroom property runs around £990 a month, a two-bedroom about £1,210, and a three-bedroom roughly £1,400. These are estimates scaled from city-level data using local sale prices. Rents rose around 2.8% over the past year — moderate compared to recent trends in hotter parts of Manchester.
- Is Manchester 042 safe?
- Very much so by the numbers. The recorded crime rate is just 0.6 incidents per 1,000 residents annually — far below the UK national rate of around 80 per 1,000. That makes it one of the lower-crime areas in Manchester. As always, it's worth walking the neighbourhood yourself to get a feel for specific streets.
- What's the commute from Manchester 042 to Manchester city centre?
- The public transport journey takes around 35 minutes. The nearest tram stop is roughly a 13-minute walk away, and the nearest mainline rail station is about 2,800 metres from the neighbourhood. Just over 40% of residents work from home, so many avoid the commute entirely.
- Who lives in Manchester 042?
- A genuinely mixed population. Around 47% own their home — high for this part of Manchester — alongside 29% in social housing and 24% renting privately. Over half of adults hold a degree. Single-person households make up about a third of all homes, and the 18–34 age group accounts for just under 29% of residents.
- What schools are near Manchester 042?
- There are 70 schools within typical catchment distance, though only around 37% are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted — well below the national average of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is about 1,180 metres away. Check the Ofsted website and Manchester City Council's school finder for up-to-date ratings and admissions criteria.
- How affordable is buying a home in Manchester 042?
- The median sale price is around £289,000. At current rents and typical savings rates, it takes roughly 4.8 years to save a deposit — moderate compared to other parts of Manchester and well below what you'd face in southern cities. The area is more buyer-accessible than many urban neighbourhoods.