Bolton
Bolton is covered by postcode districts BL1, BL2, BL3, BL5, BL6, BL7 and 3 more. It is mostly in the Bolton council area: 4,386 of its 4,397 postcodes. The others are in Bury.
ONS publishes this built-up area as Bolton (Bolton).
Every postcode in Bolton, and which are new since 2020
- New since 2020: 111
- In use before 2020: 4,286
- Outline: where 5 or more new postcodes since 2020 lie together
Of the 4,397 postcodes in Bolton that ONS places, 111 are new since 2020 and 4,286 were in use before 2020.
Each mark is a postcode's centre point as ONS gives it, not a building. Press one to see its postcode and open its page. New since 2020 means it came into use in January 2020 or later. A dashed outline shows where 5 or more lie within 150 metres of each other. It is not a boundary, and no boundary is drawn. Where marks overlap, the one first in the key is drawn; the counts include every postcode.
The middle of its postcodes: latitude 53.5850, longitude -2.4332. Open this area on OpenStreetMap
Sources: ONS Postcode Directory, August 2026, loaded 20 October 2026; roads, rivers and built-up areas: Ordnance Survey open maps. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Drawn by us. Street map: Ordnance Survey, OS Open Zoomstack, Open Government Licence v3.0, drawn with MapLibre.
The 5 newest postcodes
What is it like to live in Bolton?
Homes sold for a typical £205,000 in the 12 months to September 2026, up 5% on the 12 months before. At 3,570 of the 4,264 postcodes Ofcom reports on, every home and business can get gigabit broadband. The Environment Agency counts 840 homes and businesses at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, at 188 of its 4,397 postcodes. It has 62 primary schools, 15 secondary schools and 3 all-through schools at its postcodes within 12 km of its centre. At least 5 GP practices are at its postcodes. The nearest railway station is Bolton, 1.3 km from the middle of its postcodes in a straight line.
We don't rate places; here are the figures so you can judge.
Sources: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data; Ofcom Connected Nations; Environment Agency flood risk; Get Information about Schools; NHS GP practices; NaPTAN. Each figure is from a section of this page, which gives its date.
What do homes cost in Bolton?
Homes in Bolton sold for a typical £205,000 in the 12 months to September 2026, across 1,499 sales, up 5% on the 12 months before, HM Land Registry's figures show.
- Detached £365,000 293 sales
- Semi-detached £230,000 488 sales
- Terraced £160,000 590 sales
- Flat or maisonette £115,000 128 sales
Each bar is that kind's typical price, against the most expensive kind here.
Across the whole BL1 district, Bolton's main postcode district: a typical £200,000.
Sales at the postcodes ONS places in Bolton: standard sales of homes at market value. A typical price is the median, the middle sale. Sales take weeks to be registered, so the last month or two are incomplete. Each postcode page gives the figure for its own postcode sector.
Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, files dated 28 October 2026.
Are new homes being built in Bolton?
111 of the 4,397 postcodes now in use in Bolton came into use in January 2020 or later, ONS says. In the 12 months to September 2025, 25 of the 1,912 homes sold in Bolton were newly built (1%), HM Land Registry's records show; across the BL1 district, 2%.
The newest postcodes
A new postcode is often a new street or estate, but Royal Mail also makes new postcodes when it reorganises old ones, so not every one means new homes. Only postcodes still in use are counted.
New homes among the homes sold
| Period | In Bolton | Across the BL1 district |
|---|---|---|
| The 12 months to September 2026 | 5 of 1,499 (Under 1%) | 3 of 593 (Under 1%) |
| The 12 months to September 2025 | 25 of 1,912 (1%) | 13 of 772 (2%) |
Standard sales of homes at market value that HM Land Registry marks as newly built. New homes take longer to be registered than other sales, so the latest 12 months count fewer of them than were sold. A share is given from 5 sales or more.
Sources: ONS Postcode Directory, August 2026, loaded 20 October 2026; HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, files dated 28 October 2026.
What broadband can you get in Bolton?
Ofcom reports on 4,264 of the 4,397 postcodes in Bolton. At 3,570 of them every home and business can get gigabit broadband.
Ofcom gives each postcode's share of homes and businesses, not how many there are, so these count postcodes. Each postcode page has its own figures. A provider's checker answers for one address.
Check one address on Ofcom's checkerSource: Ofcom Connected Nations, Connected Nations, Spring 2026, data for January 2026.
Is Bolton at risk of flooding?
188 of the 4,397 postcodes in Bolton have a home or business in an area at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, the Environment Agency says. At those, it puts 840 homes and businesses in an area at high or medium risk.
High: 3.3% or more a year (1 in 30). Medium: 1% to 3.3% a year. Low: 0.1% to 1% a year. Very low: under 0.1% a year (1 in 1,000). Each band is the chance of flooding in any one year.
Homes and businesses in an area at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, as the Environment Agency counts them, added up over the postcodes. It is for the land, not each building, and leaves out surface water, groundwater and sewers. Each postcode page has its own figures and its flood warning areas.
Source: Environment Agency flood risk, published 6 July 2026.
Which schools are in Bolton?
The open schools at the postcodes in Bolton (the first 8 primaries by distance from its middle). A school for ages 4 to 18 is listed under both. Distances are straight lines from the middle of its postcodes. Distance is not a catchment: each council sets its own admission rules. Special schools and alternative provision, which children join by referral, are not listed.
Primary
- St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton250 m 424 pupils, 420 places
- Gaskell Community Primary School450 m 472 pupils, 420 places
- Brownlow Fold Primary School650 m 232 pupils, 266 places
- The Olive School, Bolton650 m 422 pupils, 420 places
- The Valley Community Primary School750 m 538 pupils, 420 places
- St Thomas C of E Primary School, Halliwell1.0 km 366 pupils, 367 places
- Al-Huda Primary School1.0 km 181 pupils, 138 places
- Oxford Grove Primary School1.1 km 449 pupils, 446 places
An orange bar: the school has as many pupils as places, or more (Department for Education's figures).
Find and compare schools in England, on GOV.UKSource: Get Information about Schools, read 17 October 2026. Each school opens its own record there.
How far is the station from Bolton?
The nearest railway station to the centre point of the postcodes in Bolton is Bolton Rail Station, 1.3 km away in a straight line.
- Bolton Rail Station Railway station 1.3 kmCycle
- Hall i' th' Wood Rail Station Railway station 1.9 kmCycle
- Bromley Cross Rail Station Railway station 3.5 kmCycle
Straight-line distances from the centre point, not routes. Walk: under 1.2 km. Cycle: 1.2 to 5 km. Drive: further.
Straight-line distances from the middle of the postcodes, not routes. Each postcode page lists its own nearest stations and bus stops. The Department for Transport's register does not say how often services run.
Source: NaPTAN, read 17 October 2026.
Which GP surgeries are in Bolton?
The GP practices at the postcodes in Bolton, the first 5 by distance from its middle. Each practice sets the area it takes patients from, so check with it before registering.
- Dr Rizwan and Dr Awan Care Quality Commission rating: Good CQC report May 2018, over 3 years old · Phone 01204 523642 400 mWalk
- Halliwell Surgery 2 Care Quality Commission rating: Good CQC report June 2016, over 3 years old · Phone 01204 523813 400 mWalk
- Halliwell Surgery 3 Care Quality Commission rating: Good CQC report August 2023, over 3 years old · Phone 01204 523716 400 mWalk
- Bolton Community Practice Care Quality Commission rating: Good CQC report December 2016, over 3 years old · Phone 01204 463444 700 mWalk
- Burnside Surgery Care Quality Commission rating: Good CQC report November 2018, over 3 years old · Phone 01204 462930 700 mWalk
Sources: NHS GP practices, read 17 October 2026; Care Quality Commission, ratings of 1 October 2026.
Is Bolton safe? Crime recorded around it
Greater Manchester's police force has published no crime figures to Police.uk for any month from September 2024 to August 2026, so we have none to show for Bolton. A count from Police.uk here would take in only the few crimes that neighbouring forces record nearby, so we show none rather than a figure that looks like a quiet area.
Crime around one postcodeSource: police.uk, from its download of 30 September 2026.
Who runs Bolton?
- Parliamentary constituencies
- Bolton North East (2,561), Bolton West (938), Bolton South and Walkden (887) and 1 other
- Police force area
- Greater Manchester
- Region
- North West
- Country
- England
Where the place crosses a boundary, a row lists each side with its number of postcodes. Check a postcode for its own. What council am I in?
Source: ONS Postcode Directory, August 2026, loaded 20 October 2026.
Moving to Bolton
Who to tell and what to sort out in your first week. Most of Bolton is in Bolton; near its edge, check which council a postcode is in.
- Tell Bolton about council tax Council tax, on bolton.gov.uk
- Register to vote at the new address Register to vote on GOV.UK
- Register with a GP practice The GP practices in Bolton
- Take meter readings on the day you move in
- Power cut? Call 105. It is free. About 105, the power cut number
- Find out your bin day Check your bin day on BinDayBuddy, which reads the council's own collection system
Bolton postcodes
4,397 postcodes in use in Bolton, by district:
Those districts are all in the BL postcode area.
Check a Bolton postcode
Enter a full postcode to see its ward, its flood risk, house prices in its sector and its nearest schools.
Do not know the postcode? What is my postcode?
Places near Bolton
With the typical price of a home in each, to set beside Bolton's £205,000. Distances are straight lines between the middles of each place's postcodes.
Quick answers about Bolton
- What is the postcode for Bolton?
- Postcode districts BL1, BL2, BL3, BL5, BL6, BL7 and 3 more, with 4,397 postcodes in use. Source: ONS.
- How much are houses in Bolton?
- A typical £205,000 in the 12 months to September 2026, from 1,499 sales, up 5% on the 12 months before. Source: HM Land Registry.
- What schools are in Bolton?
- Primary schools at its postcodes include St Matthew's CofE Primary School, Bolton, Gaskell Community Primary School and Brownlow Fold Primary School; secondary schools at its postcodes include Eden Boys' School, Bolton, Madrasatul Imam Muhammad Zakariya and University Collegiate School. Source: Department for Education.
- Does Bolton have a railway station?
- Yes: Bolton station, 1.3 km from the middle of its postcodes in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport.
- What broadband can you get in Bolton?
- Ofcom reports on 4,264 of the 4,397 postcodes in Bolton. At 3,570 of them every home and business can get gigabit broadband. Source: Ofcom.
- Is Bolton at risk of flooding?
- 188 of the 4,397 postcodes in Bolton have a home or business in an area at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, the Environment Agency says. At those, it puts 840 homes and businesses in an area at high or medium risk. River and sea risk for the land, not surface water. Source: Environment Agency.
- Are new homes being built in Bolton?
- 111 of the 4,397 postcodes now in use in Bolton came into use in January 2020 or later, ONS says. In the 12 months to September 2025, 25 of the 1,912 homes sold in Bolton were newly built (1%), HM Land Registry's records show; across the BL1 district, 2%. Source: ONS and HM Land Registry.
Where the facts on this page come from
- Office for National Statistics: ONS Postcode Directory
- HM Land Registry Price Paid Data
- Ofcom Connected Nations
- Environment Agency flood risk
- Department for Education: Get Information about Schools
- Department for Transport: NaPTAN
- NHS England: NHS GP practices
- Care Quality Commission
- data.police.uk: police.uk
Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2021. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This uses Care Quality Commission information.
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0.
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