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England
Local IntelligenceYour community understood

Discover BL3Bolton

Bolton covers all 1,387 BL3 postcodes. Figures are for the council area, not for BL3 alone
Wards in BL3
Figures for
Council area

Map of Bolton

The map needs JavaScript. The figures below do not.

This map outlines Bolton and its wards. Use Full screen for the layers: neighbourhood deprivation (IoD2025, England only) and nearby schools. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

People

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310,085
Resident population · 2024
3.4%
Population change · 2022 to 2024
0.8 percentage points higher than England
North West 2.8%England 2.6%
How do we know this?
FigureSourcePeriodGeographyMethod and limits
Resident population
Estimated usual resident population (mid-year estimate).
Office for National Statistics
Lower layer Super Output Area mid-year population estimates by single year of age (mid-2022 revised, mid-2023, mid-2024)
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0
2024Bolton (Council area)aggregated, high quality
Population change 2022 to 2024 (%)
Percentage change between mid-2022 (revised) and mid-2024.
Office for National Statistics
Lower layer Super Output Area mid-year population estimates by single year of age (mid-2022 revised, mid-2023, mid-2024)
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0
2022-2024Bolton (Council area)aggregated, high quality
Method: Mid-year population estimates

ONS mid-year estimates are modelled from the 2021 Census, births, deaths and migration. Mid-2022 is the revised series. Ages are grouped: 0-15 means ages 0 to 15 inclusive, working age 16-64, 65 and over. Change 2022-2024 compares the revised mid-2022 with mid-2024 estimates for the same boundaries. Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-year estimates for council areas published by ONS from National Records of Scotland and NISRA (via Nomis), for 2022 to 2024, to match the England and Wales years. No small-area (ward or neighbourhood) estimates are held for them.

Homes

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£207,500
Median sale price · Year to Oct 2025
31% lower than England
North West £225,000England £300,000
3.8%
Change in median sale price · Year to Oct 2025 vs a year earlier
2.1 percentage points higher than England
North West 4.2%England 1.7%
How do we know this?
FigureSourcePeriodGeographyMethod and limits
Median sale price
Median price of homes sold in the 12-month period (needs 10+ sales).
HM Land Registry
Price Paid Data (standard price paid, category A)
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 (HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, Crown copyright)
Year to Oct 2025Bolton (Council area)aggregated, high quality
Change in median sale price over a year
Percentage change in the median between consecutive 12-month windows. Not mix-adjusted.
HM Land Registry
Price Paid Data (standard price paid, category A)
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 (HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, Crown copyright)
Year to Oct 2025 vs Year to Oct 2024Bolton (Council area)aggregated, high quality
Method: Price paid medians

Sales are mapped from postcode to each geography exactly. The headline is the median sale price over the latest 12 COMPLETE months (a month is complete when national standard sales are at least 85% of the average of the 24 months before it; currently November 2024 to October 2025) and the 12 months before that. Months after that (Nov 2025 onward in the April 2026 extract) are still being registered and are excluded. Yearly medians use complete calendar years 2016-2024. Medians need at least 10 sales; sales counts are published for any area. Medians describe homes that sold, not all homes, and are not adjusted for the mix of property types, so a change in the median can reflect what was sold. Registration lags completion, so recent months can be revised up. Only standard price paid sales (category A) are included.

Education

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149
Schools in the area · Oct 2026
93%
Graded schools rated Good or Outstanding · 31 Aug 2026
1.8 percentage points higher than England
North West 89.7%England 91.2%
How do we know this?
FigureSourcePeriodGeographyMethod and limits
Schools in the area
Open schools (excluding children's centres) with a postcode in the area.
Department for Education (Get Information about Schools) via WhatSchool data
Establishment records, pupil numbers, FSM, SEN, absence; Ofsted outcomes
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 (DfE Get Information about Schools and Ofsted data, via WhatSchool)
Oct 2026Bolton (Council area)aggregated, high quality
Graded schools rated Good or Outstanding
Share of schools with a 1-4 Ofsted grade that are Outstanding or Good.
Department for Education (Get Information about Schools) via WhatSchool data
Establishment records, pupil numbers, FSM, SEN, absence; Ofsted outcomes
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 (DfE Get Information about Schools and Ofsted data, via WhatSchool)
as at 31 Aug 2026Bolton (Council area)aggregated, high quality
Method: Schools in an area

Each open school is located by the postcode of its GIAS record, so it belongs to exactly one postcode district, ward, built-up area, constituency, council and so on. A school is counted where it is, not where its pupils live; pupils often cross boundaries. Children's centres are excluded. Phase and type are the GIAS labels grouped for display.

Method: Pupil-weighted school measures

FSM, SEN and absence percentages are school-level figures averaged with school roll (January 2026 census) as the weight; KS2 and KS4 measures are averaged with the number of eligible pupils (KS2) or the KS4 cohort as the weight. This equals the share of pupils in the area's schools, not of pupils living in the area. The England value uses the same method on the same files and is the comparator. Suppressed school values are skipped, so coverage differs by measure (the number of schools used is in the notes). Ofsted outcomes are the latest overall grade on record at 31 August 2026; schools inspected under the new report-card framework may carry no single grade.

Economy

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£675
Median weekly pay, full-time employees living here · 2025
12% lower than England
North West £735England £770
119,000
Jobs located in the area · 2024
Fewer jobs per head than England here 0.62
North West 0.76England 0.77
How do we know this?
FigureSourcePeriodGeographyMethod and limits
Median gross weekly pay, full-time employees living here
Median gross weekly pay of full-time employees who live in the area (ASHE, place of residence). Cash terms, not inflation adjusted.
Office for National Statistics
Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), via Nomis: tables 7 (place of work) and 8 (place of residence)
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0
2025Bolton (Council area)direct, high quality
Coefficient of variation 4.3%.
Jobs located in the area (BRES employment)
Employees plus working owners at workplaces in the area (BRES). Rounded; place of work, not residence.
Office for National Statistics
Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES), open access, via Nomis
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0
2024Bolton (Council area)direct, high quality
Rounded by ONS. Compared through jobs per working-age resident (2024): North West 0.76, England 0.77, here 0.62.
Method: Earnings from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings

ASHE is a 1% sample of employee jobs from HMRC PAYE records, with a reference week in April. We hold the median gross pay of full-time employees, by place of residence (where the employee lives) and by place of work (where the job is), for the latest survey year and the years back to 2015. Median weekly pay is gross pay before tax for the pay period that includes the reference date; annual pay is gross annual pay for the year to April. Pay is in cash terms: it is not adjusted for inflation, so changes over time include price rises. Survey estimates have a margin of error that grows as areas get smaller; each value carries its coefficient of variation and values with a CV above 10% are marked low quality. Estimates ONS judges too unreliable (CV above about 40%) are not published and appear here as absent. Self-employed people are not covered. Residence-based figures describe people who live in the area wherever they work; workplace-based figures describe jobs located in the area wherever the employee lives. The two can differ a lot in commuter areas and city centres.

Method: Employment by industry (BRES)

BRES is the official source of employee and employment estimates by detailed industry and area. Employment is employees plus working owners, counted at the place of work and in the survey week in September. It covers all sectors except small farm agriculture, and the self-employed who are not registered for PAYE or VAT. ONS rounds BRES employment and suppresses small cells, so industry sums may not add to the total. Jobs here are not residents: people may live elsewhere. Part-time and full-time jobs count equally (they are not full-time equivalents).

Community

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546
Charities registered here · Oct 2026
Fewer than England here 1.8 per 1,000
North West 2.1 per 1,000England 2.7 per 1,000
23
Charities registered in the last 12 months · Year to Sep 2026
How do we know this?
FigureSourcePeriodGeographyMethod and limits
Charities based in the area
Registered charities whose registered address is in the area.
Charity Commission for England and Wales; OSCR (Scotland); Charity Commission for Northern Ireland
Registers of charities (registered address, latest income, charitable purposes)
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 (Charity Commission, OSCR and CCNI terms apply: not the register itself, no direct marketing)
Oct 2026Bolton (Council area)aggregated, medium quality
By registered address. Counts charities by their registered contact address (often a trustee or a head office), not where they work. England and Wales register only. Compared through charities based per 1,000 residents (Oct 2026): North West 2.1 per 1,000, England 2.7 per 1,000, here 1.8 per 1,000.
Charities registered in the last 12 months
New charity registrations (registered address in the area) Oct 2025 - Sep 2026.
Charity Commission for England and Wales
Register event history (registration, removal)
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 (Charity Commission terms apply: not the register itself)
Year to Sep 2026Bolton (Council area)aggregated, medium quality
Method: Charities in an area

A charity is placed by the postcode of its registered/contact address (or the nearest postcode to its geocoded address; some are placed by the nearest postcode to a geocoded address), so counts show where charities are based, not where they work: a national charity with a London address is counted in London. Income is the latest annual income on the register, summed; it is dominated by a few very large charities. "Declaring the area" counts charities that name the local authority (or its county) as an area of operation on the register; it does not mean services are delivered everywhere in that area. Registered charities only; unregistered community groups, small charities below the registration threshold and removed charities are not counted.

Method: Change events

Events are dated records from public registers: company insolvency notices in The Gazette (loaded from July 2025, so the window is under 24 months), charity registrations and removals (Charity Commission register events), and school opening and closing dates (GIAS), where academy conversions, relaunches and mergers are labelled separately from genuine new schools and closures. They are located at the registered office, registered address or school premises, which is not necessarily where an organisation operates or where affected people live. Each council shows only its most recent events per type (cap per type); wards show all loaded events. The Gazette feed carries insolvency notices only, not planning, licensing or other notices. A notice is an event on the register, not a judgement about the organisation. No individuals' names are stored.

The future

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How much of the work residents do generally available AI tools could speed up

  • A small part 55.8%
  • Some 17.8%
  • Much 25.2%
  • Not yet assessed 1.2%

CareerMash staging data (11 Oct 2026), approved by the owner for this preview, subject to change; not yet independently validated

What stands out about this place?

Findings where this place differs most from its surroundings, with the evidence behind each one. A difference is not a verdict: it is a prompt to look closer.

Neighbourhoodshigh confidence

Higher than England: Share of residents living in the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England (overall)

Share of residents living in the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England (overall) is 28.8% in Bolton (2025), compared with 10.2% in England (18.6 percentage points higher; n = 310,085).

28.8% here10.2% England
How do we know this?
Source
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (LSOA 2021 ranks and deciles) (Open Government Licence v3.0)
Period
2025
Geography
Council area, compared with England
Method
Summarising deprivation for an area. The Indices of Deprivation rank every LSOA in England; decile 1 contains the most deprived 10 per cent of LSOAs nationally. Ranks and deciles are ordinal, so they are never averaged. An area is described by (1) how many of its LSOAs fall in each national decile, (2) how many of its residents live in LSOAs of each decile (mid-2024 population apportioned to output areas, see the area apportioning method), (3) the share of residents in the most deprived 10 and 20 per cent of LSOAs nationally, and (4) the median decile of residents. IoD is a relative measure of small areas, not of individuals: most people in a deprived LSOA are not deprived and many deprived people live elsewhere. England only. Where an area straddles the England-Wales border the figures cover the English part only and are not published unless 90 per cent of residents are covered.
Limitations
none recorded
See Living here
Homeshigh confidence

Higher than England: Change in private rents over a year

Change in private rents over a year is 11.1% in Bolton (Aug 2026), compared with 4.0% in England (7.1 percentage points higher).

11.1% here4% England
How do we know this?
Source
Office for National Statistics: Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics (Open Government Licence v3.0)
Period
Aug 2026
Geography
Council area, compared with England
Method
Private rents (PIPR). The ONS Price Index of Private Rents measures the change in rents paid by private tenants, and publishes an average (mean) monthly rent per local authority from the same data. The figure is a mean, not a median, so a few very high rents pull it up, especially in London and where there are few lettings. It covers rents paid for homes let on the private market (not social rents) and reflects all tenancies in the stock, not only new lets, except in Scotland where the underlying data are mainly advertised new lets, which makes Scotland not directly comparable with England and Wales. Annual change is the change in the rental price index, not in the cash average. Rents are in cash terms, not adjusted for inflation. Averages by number of bedrooms are held for the latest month only.
Limitations
  • Change in the rental price index.
See Living here
Educationhigh confidence

Lower than similar council areas: Pupils eligible for free school meals

Pupils eligible for free school meals is 27.4% in Bolton (2025/26), compared with 37.7% across five council areas with a similar profile (Walsall, Wolverhampton, Rochdale, Stoke-on-Trent, Oldham); 10.3 percentage points lower. It lies outside the range of all five (33.1% to 43.0%).

27.4% here37.7% five similar council areas: Walsall, Wolverhampton, Rochdale, Stoke-on-Trent, Oldham
How do we know this?
Source
Department for Education (Get Information about Schools) via WhatSchool data: Establishment records, pupil numbers, FSM, SEN, absence; Ofsted outcomes (Open Government Licence v3.0 (DfE Get Information about Schools and Ofsted data, via WhatSchool))
Period
2025/26
Geography
Council area, compared with five similar council areas: Walsall, Wolverhampton, Rochdale, Stoke-on-Trent, Oldham
Method
Pupil-weighted school measures. FSM, SEN and absence percentages are school-level figures averaged with school roll (January 2026 census) as the weight; KS2 and KS4 measures are averaged with the number of eligible pupils (KS2) or the KS4 cohort as the weight. This equals the share of pupils in the area's schools, not of pupils living in the area. The England value uses the same method on the same files and is the comparator. Suppressed school values are skipped, so coverage differs by measure (the number of schools used is in the notes). Ofsted outcomes are the latest overall grade on record at 31 August 2026; schools inspected under the new report-card framework may carry no single grade.
Limitations
  • Share of pupils at schools in the area; pupil-weighted. From 140 schools. Schools are counted where they are located, not where pupils live.
  • Similar areas are the five council areas closest on population size, share aged 65 and over, share aged under 16, share of neighbourhoods in the most deprived 20%, median house price (standardised); this is a convenience comparison, not a like-for-like guarantee.
See Education
Homesmedium confidence

Wide range between wards in Bolton: Households that own their home

Households that own their home (2021) varies within Bolton: from 28.0% in Queens Park & Central to 85.7% in Heaton, Lostock & Chew Moor, across 20 wards. The upper tenth of wards is 33.5 percentage points above the lower tenth.

Heaton, Lostock & Chew Moor figure

85.7% Heaton, Lostock & Chew Moor28% Queens Park & Central
How do we know this?
Source
Office for National Statistics (Census 2021): Census 2021 housing and household summary by Output Area (tenure, accommodation type, cars, overcrowding, household size, general health) (Open Government Licence v3.0)
Period
2021
Geography
Ward, compared with lowest-value ward (Queens Park & Central)
Method
Census 2021 housing summary. Percentages by output area are converted back to counts using the OA household total (or usual residents for health) and rolled up as in the area apportioning method, so area figures are household-weighted. England only: Welsh OAs are not in the loaded table, so Welsh and Scottish places have no value. Labelled 2021.
Limitations
  • This figure is an estimate; see the methodology.
  • Census 2021 is a snapshot taken in March 2021 and may have changed since.
  • Ward and neighbourhood boundaries differ in size; the range shows variation within the area, not a ranking of places.
See Living here
Economyhigh confidence

Decrease between Jul 2024 and Jul 2026: People claiming unemployment-related benefits

People claiming unemployment-related benefits in Bolton went from 11,845 (Jul 2024) to 9,770 (Jul 2026): down 17.5%.

9,770 here11,845 same place, Jul 2024
How do we know this?
Source
Office for National Statistics (Department for Work and Pensions data): Claimant count by sex and age, via Nomis (NM_162_1) (Open Government Licence v3.0)
Period
Jul 2026
Geography
Council area, compared with same place, Jul 2024
Method
Claimant count. The claimant count is the number of people claiming benefit mainly for being unemployed: Jobseeker's Allowance plus those Universal Credit claimants who are required to look for work. It is not the same as unemployment as measured by surveys: it misses people who are out of work but do not claim and counts some who are working part-time but claim. Under Universal Credit, more people have to look for work than under the old system, so figures after 2013 are not comparable with earlier years. The rate is claimants as a share of residents aged 16 to 64. Figures are for the month shown and are revised slightly the following month; the latest revised month is used.
Limitations
  • Claimant count, aged 16 and over.
See Economy
Communitymedium confidence

Lower than England: Charities based in the area per 1,000 residents

Charities based in the area per 1,000 residents is 1.76 per 1,000 in Bolton (Oct 2026), compared with 2.69 per 1,000 in England (about 65% of the England rate; n = 310,085).

1.8 per 1,000 here2.7 per 1,000 England
How do we know this?
Source
Charity Commission for England and Wales; OSCR (Scotland); Charity Commission for Northern Ireland: Registers of charities (registered address, latest income, charitable purposes) (Open Government Licence v3.0 (Charity Commission, OSCR and CCNI terms apply: not the register itself, no direct marketing))
Period
Oct 2026
Geography
Council area, compared with England
Method
Charities in an area. A charity is placed by the postcode of its registered/contact address (or the nearest postcode to its geocoded address; some are placed by the nearest postcode to a geocoded address), so counts show where charities are based, not where they work: a national charity with a London address is counted in London. Income is the latest annual income on the register, summed; it is dominated by a few very large charities. "Declaring the area" counts charities that name the local authority (or its county) as an area of operation on the register; it does not mean services are delivered everywhere in that area. Registered charities only; unregistered community groups, small charities below the registration threshold and removed charities are not counted.
Limitations
  • A charity's recorded location is not necessarily where its services are delivered.
See Living here

What's changing

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Recent dated records tied to this place. They are events, not judgements.

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Sources used on this page

12

Registered offices are not operating locations. Ranks and deciles are never averaged. Census 2021 figures are labelled 2021.