Barrow-in-Furness
Town · 54,065 residents
52Fair
Fair · among the lowest-scoring towns
Check Local Score out of 100 · 60 is typical for the country
Each arc is a topic, coloured by its score
What’s good
- Affordability scores 77, well above the typical 60
- 57% of residents live within five minutes of a park
Check before you view
- Radon: part of the area is in an affected zone, and a home test is cheap
- Transport scores 31, below the typical 60
The essentials
Everyday life
The area
Around Barrow-in-Furness
Hindpool59Beacon Hill53Roose46Croslands ParkBarrow Island53AbbotsmeadVickerstownSandscale51Newbarns51Salthouse44South NewbarnsAldingham55
See all 19 in the guide ↓Map outline: Official built-up area
Is Barrow-in-Furness a good place to live?
Barrow-in-Furness scores 52/100 overall, which the scorecard rates as fair — 60 is typical for the country.
It stands out for affordability (77) and environment (76).
It scores lowest on transport (31).
Scores come from official data on safety, schools, transport, prices, health, food & drink and the local environment, for Barrow-in-Furness in North West, each measured against the national average.
Summary of Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness reads as a working shipbuilding town rather than a commuter satellite: terraced streets running down towards the docks, semis further out, and a housing stock that's overwhelmingly freehold rather than let out. It's a place people tend to own rather than rent, and the streetscape says industry first, lifestyle second — this isn't a town that's dressed itself up for visitors, and it doesn't pretend to be.
The numbers back up that impression of affordability over aspiration. A median house price around £135,000 sits well below both the regional figure and the national one, and against its own council area, Westmorland and Furness, homes here are markedly cheaper — the trade-off being an income decile and deprivation ranking that place it among the less well-off parts of the country. A terraced house on a freehold title, going for under half the national terraced median, is the honest description of what a For Sale board here means. Schooling is mixed rather than uniformly reassuring: Victoria Academy holds an Outstanding rating and sits alongside solidly Good options like Furness Academy and Ramsden Infant School, though the average Ofsted profile across the town's 32 schools and a negative Progress 8 score suggest secondary outcomes lag what the primary sector achieves. Two rail stations — Barrow-in-Furness and Roose — give the town a rail line rather than a rail network, useful for slower, less frequent journeys rather than a daily commuter dash, and that shows up in a transport grade that trails the rest of the town's marks.