Manchester commuter townsSt Helens
Merseyside · commuter town data · September 2026Living in St Helens: Manchester commute, house prices & costs
St Helens is a commuter town in Merseyside, around 35 minutes from Manchester by direct train from St Helens Junction (longer than average for the towns we track), with below-average prices at £165,000. It ranks #13 of 29 on Rightroute's balanced commuter score (September 2026 data).
73
Rightroute score
Upper half · #13 of 29
Scored on 6 of 7 measures. No figure for season ticket.
St Helens at a glance
Commute and cost
35 min
Train to Manchester
From St Helens Junction, 25% slower than the 29-town median.
£165k
Average house price
£165,000, 27% below the 25-town median.
Living there
Low
Safety
Crime index 68 on a 0–100 scale (lower is safer).
1038Mb
Broadband
Average available download speed, 6% above the 29-town median.
7.3
Life satisfaction
ONS Personal Well-being mean score, 0–10 (higher is better).
What’s nearby
19
Historic landmarks
Nationally protected buildings, monuments and gardens within 3 miles, 5% fewer than the 29-town median.
540
Hectares of parks and fields
Public parks and playing fields within 3 miles, 53% more than the 29-town median.
226
Places to eat and drink
Restaurants, cafes and pubs within 3 miles, 3% more than the 29-town median.
The commute from St Helens
Direct trains from St Helens Junction take around 35 minutes into Manchester Piccadilly, running on Northern. That makes it #20 out of 29 towns for speed into Manchester.
How St Helens compares to the other 28 towns
| Metric | St Helens | Median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Train to Manchester | 35 min | 28 min | #20 |
| Average house price | £165,000 | £226,000 of 25 | #2 |
| Price to local earnings | 4.9x | 6.5x | #2 |
| Crime index (lower is safer) | 68 | 45 of 17 | #15 |
| Broadband speed | 1038 Mb | 976 Mb | #6 |
| Life satisfaction (0–10) | 7.3 | 7.5 | #25 |
Overall, St Helens ranks #13 of 29 on the balanced Rightroute commuter score. Different priorities give different answers, so you can weight the criteria yourself in the comparison page.
St Helens commuter FAQs
How long is the commute from St Helens to Manchester?
Direct trains from St Helens Junction take around 35 minutes to Manchester Piccadilly. St Helens is served by Northern.
What is the average house price in St Helens?
The average sold price in St Helens is £165,000 (HM Land Registry), which is 27% below the median across the 25 Manchester commuter towns we hold a price for.
Is St Helens a safe place to live?
St Helens scores 68 on a 0–100 crime index (lower is safer), which is a lower level of safety relative to other Manchester commuter towns.
Is St Helens a good commuter town for Manchester?
St Helens ranks #13 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.
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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.