Greater Manchester · commuter town data · September 2026
Living in Bolton: Manchester commute, house prices & costs
Bolton is a commuter town in Greater Manchester, around 20 minutes from Manchester by direct train from Bolton (well below average for the towns we track), with below-average prices at £195,000. It ranks #2 of 29 on Rightroute's balanced commuter score (September 2026 data).
83
Rightroute score
Top quarter · #2 of 29
Scored on 5 of 7 measures. No figure for safety or season ticket.
Bolton at a glance
Commute and cost
20 min
Train to Manchester
From Bolton, 29% faster than the 29-town median.
£195k
Average house price
£195,000, 14% below the 25-town median.
Living there
No figure
Safety
Greater Manchester Police does not publish to data.police.uk.
1005Mb
Broadband
Average available download speed, 3% above the 29-town median.
7.5
Life satisfaction
ONS Personal Well-being mean score, 0–10 (higher is better).
What’s nearby
24
Historic landmarks
Nationally protected buildings, monuments and gardens within 3 miles, 20% more than the 29-town median.
671
Hectares of parks and fields
Public parks and playing fields within 3 miles, 91% more than the 29-town median.
484
Places to eat and drink
Restaurants, cafes and pubs within 3 miles, 120% more than the 29-town median.
The commute from Bolton
Direct trains from Bolton take around 20 minutes into Manchester Victoria, running on Northern and TransPennine Express. That makes it #5 out of 29 towns for speed into Manchester.
How Bolton compares to the other 28 towns
| Metric | Bolton | Median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Train to Manchester | 20 min | 28 min | #5 |
| Average house price | £195,000 | £226,000 of 25 | #6 |
| Price to local earnings | 5.9x | 6.5x | #8 |
| Crime index (lower is safer) | Not available | 45 of 17 | – |
| Broadband speed | 1005 Mb | 976 Mb | #12 |
| Life satisfaction (0–10) | 7.5 | 7.5 | #14 |
Overall, Bolton ranks #2 of 29 on the balanced Rightroute commuter score. Different priorities give different answers, so you can weight the criteria yourself in the comparison page.
Bolton commuter FAQs
How long is the commute from Bolton to Manchester?
Direct trains from Bolton take around 20 minutes to Manchester Victoria. Bolton is served by Northern and TransPennine Express.
What is the average house price in Bolton?
The average sold price in Bolton is £195,000 (HM Land Registry), which is 14% below the median across the 25 Manchester commuter towns we hold a price for.
Is Bolton a good commuter town for Manchester?
Bolton ranks #2 of 29 Manchester commuter towns on Rightroute's balanced score, which weighs commute time, house prices, season ticket cost, safety and broadband. If your priorities are different, the Rightroute compare view lets you weight the criteria yourself.
Towns near Bolton
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House prices are the median of that town's own sales from HM Land Registry Price Paid, August 2025 to July 2026, refreshed monthly; the crime score is the mean monthly count from police.uk over August 2025 to July 2026, placed on a 0 to 100 scale where lower is safer, also refreshed monthly. Train times are typical off-peak direct rail to the destination city (National Rail). Broadband is the average available download speed from Ofcom Connected Nations; life satisfaction is the ONS Personal Well-being mean for the local authority. Those are reviewed periodically rather than monthly. Heritage sites, green space and places to eat are counted within three miles from Historic England, OS Open Greenspace and the Food Standards Agency, built September 2026, and refreshed annually. Figures are for comparison between townsrather than exact values.