Halton ranked best English area to raise a family

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 17 Oct, 10:32 · Archive

Halton has been ranked the best of 126 English local authorities for raising children.

Halton has been ranked the best of 126 English local authorities for raising families, according to a study by mortgage lender Pepper Money. The North West area, which includes Runcorn and Widnes, topped the ranking after performing strongly across five equally weighted factors used to assess locations.

Pepper Money assessed each local authority on house prices, workplace earnings, access to private outdoor space, the proportion of schools rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, and crime rates. Each factor was converted into a percentile rank before the scores were averaged to produce an overall result.

Other North West areas also performed well in the ranking. Warrington was another North West location in the top three, whilst five North West local authorities featured in the top 20: Halton, Warrington, Cheshire West and Chester, Cheshire East and Knowsley, alongside Blackburn with Darwen.

The study used housing figures, workplace earnings and outdoor-space data from ONS sources. School data came from Ofsted, whilst crime rates were calculated using police-force-level crime totals and ONS mid-2025 population estimates.

How it is being reported

• Halton beats 125 areas to be named England's best place to raise a familyHalton topped a ranking of 126 English local authorities, thanks to its combination of house prices, schools, crime rates, earnings and access to outdoor space.Warrington Guardian · 17 Oct, 09:50
• Halton beats 125 areas to be named England's best place to raise a familyHalton topped a ranking of 126 English local authorities, thanks to its combination of house prices, schools, crime rates, earnings and access to outdoor space.Northwich Guardian · 17 Oct, 09:50

In this story: Halton · Runcorn · Widnes · Pepper Money · Warrington · Cheshire West and Chester · Cheshire East · Blackburn with Darwen

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem