Manchester commuter townsPreston
Lancashire · commuter town data · September 2026Living in Preston: Manchester commute, house prices & costs
Preston is a commuter town in Lancashire, around 47 minutes from Manchester by direct train from Preston (longer than average for the towns we track), with below-average prices at £203,000. It ranks #20 of 29 on Rightroute's balanced commuter score (September 2026 data).
66
Rightroute score
Lower half · #20 of 29
Scored on 6 of 7 measures. No figure for season ticket.
Preston at a glance
Commute and cost
47 min
Train to Manchester
From Preston, 68% slower than the 29-town median.
£203k
Average house price
£203,000, 10% below the 25-town median.
Living there
Low
Safety
Crime index 79 on a 0–100 scale (lower is safer).
938Mb
Broadband
Average available download speed, 4% below the 29-town median.
7.4
Life satisfaction
ONS Personal Well-being mean score, 0–10 (higher is better).
What’s nearby
30
Historic landmarks
Nationally protected buildings, monuments and gardens within 3 miles, 50% more than the 29-town median.
430
Hectares of parks and fields
Public parks and playing fields within 3 miles, 22% more than the 29-town median.
479
Places to eat and drink
Restaurants, cafes and pubs within 3 miles, 118% more than the 29-town median.
The commute from Preston
Direct trains from Preston take around 47 minutes into Manchester Piccadilly, running on Northern and TransPennine Express. That makes it #25 out of 29 towns for speed into Manchester.
How Preston compares to the other 28 towns
| Metric | Preston | Median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Train to Manchester | 47 min | 28 min | #25 |
| Average house price | £203,000 | £226,000 of 25 | #9 |
| Price to local earnings | 5.3x | 6.5x | #3 |
| Crime index (lower is safer) | 79 | 45 of 17 | #17 |
| Broadband speed | 938 Mb | 976 Mb | #17 |
| Life satisfaction (0–10) | 7.4 | 7.5 | #22 |
Overall, Preston ranks #20 of 29 on the balanced Rightroute commuter score. Different priorities give different answers, so you can weight the criteria yourself in the comparison page.
Preston commuter FAQs
How long is the commute from Preston to Manchester?
Direct trains from Preston take around 47 minutes to Manchester Piccadilly. Preston is served by Northern and TransPennine Express.
What is the average house price in Preston?
The average sold price in Preston is £203,000 (HM Land Registry), which is 10% below the median across the 25 Manchester commuter towns we hold a price for.
Is Preston a safe place to live?
Preston scores 79 on a 0–100 crime index (lower is safer), which is a lower level of safety relative to other Manchester commuter towns.
Is Preston a good commuter town for Manchester?
Preston ranks #20 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 Preston
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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.