Living in Manchester

Manchester is a city in North West, with a Census 2021 built-up area usual resident population of 470,405.

Overall grade B Good

Graded on default priorities: nature, shops and GP, flood risk. Crime, schools and transport are shown on this page but are not in this grade.

Is Manchester a good place to live?

It depends on what matters to you. Tell PlaceFit your priorities, such as good schools, low crime, a short commute or countryside nearby, and Manchester is graded against them, with every figure's source and date shown.

Manchester in figures

Each figure is the published value for Manchester, with the period it covers, the area it was measured over and its source.

Parks, woods and public green space

9.9% of the area is parks, woods or public green space. Period: latest release, 7 Oct 2026. Area: A 3 km radius around the centre of the named place. Source: OS Open Greenspace and OS Open Zoomstack woodland.

Countryside around

0.7% of the area is countryside, not built up. Period: latest release, 7 Oct 2026. Area: A 3 km radius around the centre of the named place. Source: OS Open Zoomstack urban areas.

Parks and playgrounds nearby

139 parks, playing fields and play areas. Period: latest release, 7 Oct 2026. Area: A 3 km radius around the centre of the named place. Source: OS Open Greenspace.

Peak drive to the nearest city or large town

11 min at peak. Period: retrieved 4 Nov 2026. Area: Place centre to the nearest other major town or city (ONS Major Towns and Cities), or to the reader's chosen destination. Source: OSRM routing on the OpenStreetMap road network.

Flood risk from rivers and the sea

1.1% of nearby postcodes have homes at medium or high flood risk. Period: latest release, 2 Nov 2026. Area: A 3 km radius around the centre of the named place. Source: Environment Agency Risk of Flooding from Rivers and Sea (postcodes). Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0. © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2025. All rights reserved. Some features of this map are based on digital spatial data from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, © NERC (CEH). © Crown Copyright and Database Rights 2025 OS AC0000807064. This product is produced in part from PAF® and Multiple Residence Data, the copyright in which is owned by Royal Mail Group Limited and/or Royal Mail Group plc. All rights reserved. Licence number AC0000807064

Shops and everyday services

115.0 shops and services per km². Period: latest release, 2 Nov 2026. Area: A 3 km radius around the centre of the named place. Source: Overture Maps Places.

Nearest GP

0.5 km to the nearest surgery. Period: latest release, 2 Nov 2026. Area: Straight-line distance from the place centre, searched to 15 km. Source: NHS England GP practices and branch surgeries (ODS).

Fast broadband

About 94.35% of homes can get gigabit broadband. Period: latest release, 1 Jul 2025. Area: Postcode district (for example NG25). Source: Ofcom Connected Nations — fixed broadband. Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Schools nearby

52 schools in range. Period: latest release, 2 Nov 2026. Area: A 3 km radius around the centre of the named place. Source: Get Information about Schools (GIAS).

Registered childcare nearby

59 registered providers. Period: latest release, 30 Jun 2026. Area: A 3 km radius around the centre of the named place. Source: Ofsted childcare providers and inspections management information.

Buses within a 10-minute walk

132 bus stops within 800 m. Period: latest release, 2 Oct 2026. Area: Walking bands of 400 m, 800 m and 1,200 m from the place centre. Source: NaPTAN national public transport access nodes.

Mobile signal

99.81% of the area gets 4G on all four networks. Period: latest release, 1 Jan 2026. Area: Local or unitary authority area. Source: Ofcom Connected Nations — mobile coverage.

Air quality

3 declared air quality management areas. Period: retrieved 4 Nov 2026. Area: Declared air quality management areas intersecting the analysis area. Source: Planning Data platform (planning.data.gov.uk).

Recorded crime

390 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Period: 12 months to September 2024 (estimate). Area: 2021 census neighbourhoods (LSOAs) centred within the analysis area, estimated from council totals. Source: Home Office police recorded crime open data tables (estimate). An estimate, not a count: about 49,264 reports among 126,264 residents. Method: estimate for councils whose police force publishes too few street-level records (Greater Manchester, and Gloucestershire councils with gaps): each council's Home Office recorded crime for the year, scaled to police.uk's count, shared between its neighbourhoods by an earlier year's police.uk records, then counted in the 2021 census neighbourhoods (LSOAs) centred within 3 km and divided by their Census 2021 residents (neighbourhood shares from police.uk records for July 2018 to June 2019). Confidence: limited. Per resident, not per visitor: town centres and the coast record more because more people pass through than live there.

More about Manchester

Compare Manchester with nearby places

Where the figures for Manchester come from

Police.uk recorded crime, Department for Education schools, NaPTAN bus stops, Ordnance Survey green space, NHS GP surgeries, Ofcom broadband and Environment Agency flood risk, each measured over about 3 km around the centre of Manchester.

Open the full Manchester overview · How PlaceFit measures places