# Atherton

Town in Wigan and Bolton, North West.

Atherton is a town in Wigan and Bolton, North West. Median sale price £199,975 in 2025. About 28,553 people.

Town. Code E63001213. In: [Towns](https://openindex.co.uk/places/towns) › [Wigan](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan)

Atherton is an ONS built-up area: the land built up as one town, whatever council it is in. Figures for Atherton add up the census output areas (or, for claimants, the neighbourhoods) that sit mostly inside it, so they are close to, but not exactly, the town’s own.

## Key figures

- **Median sale price: £199,975** (2025). The median price paid for a home in Atherton was £199,975 in 2025. 229th cheapest of 1,092. Source: Worked out by Open Index from HM Land Registry Price Paid Data. Published 28 September 2026. https://openindex.co.uk/town/atherton#f-house-sales-median-price
- **Population: 27,571** (2021). Atherton had 27,571 usual residents at the census (ONS Census 2021). 406th most populated of 1,209. Source: Census 2021, England and Wales and Scotland's Census 2022 and Census 2021, Northern Ireland, 2021. Published 21 July 2026. https://openindex.co.uk/town/atherton#f-population
- **People in radon Affected Area squares: 86%** (2022). About 86% of people in Atherton live in a 1 km square that the radon atlas marks as a radon Affected Area. UK 44%. Source: Worked out by Open Index from the UKHSA and BGS radon atlas and census output areas. Published 1 December 2022. https://openindex.co.uk/town/atherton#f-radon-affected-share
- **Gigabit broadband coverage: 95.0%** (January 2026). In Atherton, 95.0% of homes and businesses could get gigabit-capable broadband in January 2026 (Ofcom). UK 87.8%. Source: Connected Nations (Ofcom), January 2026. Published 13 May 2026. https://openindex.co.uk/town/atherton#f-gigabit-coverage

## On the map

- [Radon Affected Area by town](https://openindex.co.uk/map/radon-affected-areas?place=E63001213) (Worked out by Open Index · 2022): About 86% of people in Atherton live in a 1 km square that the radon atlas marks as a radon Affected Area.
- [Sales per year by town](https://openindex.co.uk/map/house-sales-per-year?place=E63001213) (Worked out by Open Index · 2025): 432 homes were sold in Atherton in 2025.
- [Population by town](https://openindex.co.uk/map/population?place=E63001213) (Census 2021, England and Wales): Atherton had 27,571 usual residents at the census.
- [Deprivation score by council](https://openindex.co.uk/map/deprivation-score-england?place=E63001213) (English Indices of Deprivation 2025): Published for whole councils, so the map colours all of Wigan, where most of this town lies. The outline is Atherton.

## How Atherton compares

Each town against every other town the measure covers.

| Measure | Atherton | Rank | Compared with |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Median sale price | £199,975 | 54th cheapest | 161 towns, North West · 2025 |
| Population | 27,571 | 65th most populated | 161 towns, North West · 2021 |
| People in radon Affected Area squares | 86% | 49th most people in radon Affected Areas | 161 towns, North West · 2022 |
| Gigabit broadband coverage | 95.0% | joint 61st lowest | 161 towns, North West · Jan 2026 |

## What is the population of Atherton?

Atherton had 27,571 usual residents at the census.
Atherton is the 406th most populated of 1,209 in the UK.

## Deprivation in Atherton, neighbourhood by neighbourhood

- Deprivation is ranked by neighbourhood, so Atherton has no single figure. Of its 16 neighbourhoods with a rank:
- Decile 1 (England’s most deprived 10%): 4 neighbourhoods
- Decile 2: 1 neighbourhood
- Decile 3: 3 neighbourhoods
- Decile 4: 1 neighbourhood
- Decile 6: 1 neighbourhood
- Decile 7: 3 neighbourhoods
- Decile 8: 2 neighbourhoods
- Decile 9: 1 neighbourhood

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2025. Decile 1 is the most deprived tenth of neighbourhoods in England.

## Neighbourhoods in Atherton

| Area | People (census) | Recorded crime per 1,000 | Deprivation decile | Gigabit broadband |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Bolton 030A](https://openindex.co.uk/bolton/neighbourhood/e01004892) | 1,580 | – | 7 | 96.5% |
| [Bolton 030B](https://openindex.co.uk/bolton/neighbourhood/e01004896) | 1,315 | – | 9 | 95.8% |
| [Wigan 017A](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/neighbourhood/e01006239) | 2,082 | – | 1 | 97.0% |
| [Wigan 017B](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/neighbourhood/e01006240) | 1,573 | – | 1 | 98.5% |
| [Wigan 017C](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/neighbourhood/e01006241) | 2,539 | – | 3 | 94.1% |
| [Wigan 017D](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/neighbourhood/e01006287) | 1,143 | – | 8 | 98.6% |
| [Wigan 017E](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/neighbourhood/e01006289) | 1,689 | – | 1 | 98.5% |
| [Wigan 022A](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/neighbourhood/e01006290) | 1,389 | – | 7 | 96.6% |
| [Wigan 022B](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/neighbourhood/e01006291) | 1,463 | – | 3 | 99.3% |
| [Wigan 022C](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/neighbourhood/e01006292) | 1,500 | – | 6 | 98.5% |
| [Wigan 022D](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/neighbourhood/e01006293) | 1,618 | – | 3 | 96.6% |
| [Wigan 023A](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/neighbourhood/e01006242) | 1,931 | – | 4 | 94.6% |
| [Wigan 023B](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/neighbourhood/e01006243) | 2,120 | – | 8 | 97.4% |
| [Wigan 023C](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/neighbourhood/e01006244) | 1,676 | – | 2 | 90.1% |
| [Wigan 023D](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/neighbourhood/e01006245) | 2,629 | – | 7 | 82.7% |
| [Wigan 025A](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/neighbourhood/e01006288) | 1,824 | – | 1 | 99.6% |

## Your MP

- [Leigh and Atherton](https://openindex.co.uk/constituency/leigh-and-atherton): Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op)), MP since July 2024.

As of 18 October 2026. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0. Source: UK Parliament, Members API.

## Councils Atherton sits in

[Wigan](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan), [Bolton](https://openindex.co.uk/bolton)

## Postcode districts covering Atherton

[BL5](https://openindex.co.uk/postcode/bl5), [M29](https://openindex.co.uk/postcode/m29), [M46](https://openindex.co.uk/postcode/m46)

## Middle areas in Atherton

[Atherton North](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/atherton-north), [Atherton South East & Tyldesley West](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/atherton-south-east-and-tyldesley-west), [Atherton South West](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan/atherton-south-west), [Over Hulton](https://openindex.co.uk/bolton/over-hulton)

## Towns near Atherton

[Bolton](https://openindex.co.uk/town/bolton), [Hindley](https://openindex.co.uk/town/hindley), [Tyldesley](https://openindex.co.uk/town/tyldesley), [Leigh](https://openindex.co.uk/town/leigh), [Westhoughton](https://openindex.co.uk/town/westhoughton), [Little Hulton](https://openindex.co.uk/town/little-hulton)

## Atherton in brief

Atherton is a town in Wigan and Bolton, North West.
About 28,553 people lived in Atherton in mid-2024 (worked out by Open Index from ONS small-area estimates); the median price paid for a home was £199,975 in 2025 across 432 sales (HM Land Registry).
The median price paid for a home in Atherton was £199,975 in 2025.
Atherton had 27,571 usual residents at the census.
About 86% of people in Atherton live in a 1 km square that the radon atlas marks as a radon Affected Area.
In Atherton, 95.0% of homes and businesses could get gigabit-capable broadband in January 2026.

## About

- Type: Town
- Code: E63001213
- Constituency: [Leigh and Atherton †](https://openindex.co.uk/constituency/leigh-and-atherton)
- Council: [Wigan †](https://openindex.co.uk/wigan)
- Region: [North West](https://openindex.co.uk/north-west)
- Nation: [England](https://openindex.co.uk/england)
- Area: 5.77 km²
- People, mid-2024: 28,553*
- Neighbourhoods: 16
- Output areas: 89

* People: worked out by Open Index from neighbourhood estimates, shared out by where people lived at the census (by area in Northern Ireland). This area's edges do not follow neighbourhood edges, so the figure is close but not exact.
† Best fit: the constituency and council this town mostly lies in. Its edges do not follow theirs.

## Next door

[Tyldesley](https://openindex.co.uk/town/tyldesley), [Hindley](https://openindex.co.uk/town/hindley), [Bolton](https://openindex.co.uk/town/bolton), [Leigh](https://openindex.co.uk/town/leigh), [Westhoughton](https://openindex.co.uk/town/westhoughton), [Little Hulton](https://openindex.co.uk/town/little-hulton)

## Latest updates for Atherton

- August 2026 house prices published: HM Land Registry and partners · Oct 2026.
- September 2026 rent published: ONS private rents · Oct 2026.
- Dental practices updated: NHS England · Oct 2026.
- Schools updated: Ofsted · Oct 2026.

The same figures as JSON: https://openindex.co.uk/v1/places/E63001213

## How to cite

Source: Open Index, openindex.co.uk. Link to this page, https://openindex.co.uk/town/atherton, or to one figure with its anchor, https://openindex.co.uk/town/atherton#f-house-sales-median-price.

Open Index's own text and the figures it works out are licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Source data keeps its publishers' licences, named with each figure. Give each figure's period and source with it.

Snapshot 2026.10.9. The HTML page: https://openindex.co.uk/town/atherton