What it's like to live in Ashton-in-Makerfield

Schools are one of Ashton's strong points. St Oswalds Catholic Primary School sits right in the centre, with St Thomas' CE Primary School and R.L. Hughes Primary School both around a third of a mile away.

For older children there is real choice within walking distance: St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic High School and Cansfield High School are both about 0.4 miles out, Byrchall High School 0.5 miles, with Hope Academy and Golborne High School around two miles away. Always check current admissions and Ofsted reports before you commit.

Outside school, King George V Field and Jubilee Park are on the doorstep, Skitters Wood is a short walk, and Ashton Leisure Centre is half a mile from the centre. Across the Wigan borough, 18.3% of residents are under 16, close to the England average.

Buses are the backbone here. The Gerard Centre has stops D and E in the middle of town, with another stop at Heath Road Day Centre, so you can reach the surrounding towns without a car.

For trains, Bryn station is about 0.9 miles away and Garswood about 1.4 miles, with Garswood Interchange bus stops next to the station if you want to link the two. Earlestown and Newton-le-Willows stations are both around 2.6 miles off, which widens your options for longer journeys.

On foot, the town centre is compact and flat enough for most errands. Drivers get quick access to the wider motorway network, and Marus Bridge Retail Park is a couple of miles up the road for bigger shops.

For a town this size there is a decent amount going on. Ashton Leisure Centre covers the basics, and there are smaller independents like PWR Strength & Conditioning and a Taekwondo club for children.

Green space is close at hand. King George V Field and Jubilee Park are both within a couple of hundred metres of the centre, Skitters Wood gives you something more wooded, and Square pond is under a mile away.

The pub scene is busy for a town centre: 1910 Bar, the Robin Hood, Brian Boru Irish Club, Plantation Bar and Grill and The Vinyard Cocktail Bar are all within a short walk, plus Queens Nightclub if you want a late one. Ashton Community Centre and the Diamond Community Support Centre run local activities, and there are libraries in Haydock, Golborne and Newton-le-Willows too.

Across the Wigan council area, 57.5% of adults are in work, just above the England figure of 57.4%, and unemployment sits at 3.1% against 3.5% nationally. Benefit claims tied to unemployment were 3.6% of 16 to 64 year olds in August 2026, below the England rate of 4%.

Those numbers suggest a steady local jobs picture rather than a boom. In practice, plenty of people here commute. Bryn and Garswood stations, the bus links from The Gerard Centre and the nearby motorway corridor put Wigan, St Helens, Warrington and Manchester within reach.

In the town itself, the shops, supermarkets, schools, surgeries and care settings are the visible employers. If you work shifts, check the evening and Sunday bus times before you rely on them.

Ashton is mostly a town of owner-occupiers. Across the Wigan council area, 66.4% of homes are owned outright or with a mortgage, 17% are social rented and 15.9% private rented. That social rented share is almost exactly the England average, so there is a real stock of council and housing association homes here, just spread among ordinary streets.

Wigan Council is by far the biggest social landlord in the borough with 21,311 homes, followed by Jigsaw Homes North, Your Housing Limited, Torus62 Limited and The Riverside Group Limited.

Average weekly social rents in the borough for 2024/25 were £81 for a one bed, £92 for two beds and £100 for three. The borough's age profile skews slightly older than England's, with 27.1% aged 45 to 64 and 19.3% over 65.