North West, England

Cost of living in Wigan

Data last updated: 8 October 2026
Page last reviewed: 8 October 2026
£1,173 estimated monthly cost
Rent £542
Council tax £135
Groceries £220
Transport £80
Energy £144
Water £52

Single: 1-bed home. Couple: 2-bed home. Family: 3-bed home with one child. Estimates use average local rent, Band D council tax, and standard figures for groceries, transport and childcare.

£746/mo
Average rent
£31,615/yr
Average earnings
£198,250
Average house price
£2,153/yr
Council tax (Band D)
£196/mo
Est. energy & water

Rent in Wigan

The average monthly rent in Wigan is £746.

1 Bed
£542
2 Bed
£700
3 Bed
£838
4+ Bed
£1,143

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR)

Earnings in Wigan

The average annual salary for residents of Wigan is £31,615.

Average salary
£31,615
per year
Mean salary (pulled up by top earners)
£34,930
per year

The average salary is the middle value: half of residents earn more and half earn less. The mean salary adds up everyone's pay and divides it by the number of people, so a few very high earners pull it up. We use the middle value as the average throughout this site.

Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)

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Average house prices in Wigan

The average house price in Wigan was £198,250.

Detached
£327,500
Semi-detached
£210,000
Terraced
£147,000
Flat
£110,000

How house prices have changed in Wigan

Average house prices over time, based on quarterly rolling-year averages from Land Registry data.

£0£50k£100k£150k£200k£250k19952000200520102015202020252026

Source: ONS / HM Land Registry. Historical trend based on quarterly rolling-year average prices.

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Climate and weather in Wigan

Summer daytime highs in Wigan typically reach 20.5°C in July, dropping to around 7.3°C in January. Wigan is drier than average for the UK, with rain falling on about 3.1 days a week. It gets around 13% less rainfall than the UK average. The area gets a typical amount of sunshine for the UK, averaging around 5.6 hours per day in summer. Expect frost on around 84 days per year, mostly between November and April.

Month Daytime high Rainfall Rain days Sunshine Frost days
Jan 7.3°C 89mm 15 49h 15
Feb 7.9°C 76mm 13 71h 14
Mar 10.3°C 65mm 12 111h 13
Apr 13.2°C 61mm 12 158h 9
May 16.3°C 66mm 11 193h 4
Jun 18.8°C 78mm 12 175h 0
Jul 20.5°C 82mm 13 182h 0
Aug 20.2°C 90mm 14 162h 0
Sep 17.7°C 89mm 13 130h 1
Oct 14.0°C 106mm 15 91h 4
Nov 10.2°C 101mm 17 60h 9
Dec 7.7°C 109mm 16 45h 15

Swipe sideways to see every column

How this is calculated

Climate data is based on Met Office 30-year averages (1991-2020), calculated from 7 observation grid points covering the Wigan local authority area.

Source: Met Office HadUK-Grid , 1991-2020 averages. Crown copyright. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Council tax in Wigan

Band D council tax in Wigan is £2,153 per year.

Band A
£1,435
Band B
£1,674
Band C
£1,913
Band D Benchmark
£2,153
Band E
£2,631
Band F
£3,109
Band G
£3,588
Band H
£4,305

Source: MHCLG / Scottish Government / Welsh Government

Energy costs in Wigan

A typical household in Wigan pays approximately £1,723/year (£144/month) for gas and electricity.

Annual
£1,723
per year
Monthly
£144
per month

Energy region: North West

This estimate is based on the Ofgem price cap for a typical dual-fuel household using 2,700 kWh of electricity and 11,500 kWh of gas per year, paying by Direct Debit. Your actual costs will depend on your usage, tariff, and whether you're on a fixed deal.

Source: Ofgem Energy Price Cap, Q4 2026

Water costs in Wigan

The average annual water and sewerage bill for United Utilities customers is £627/year (£52/month).

Annual
£627
per year
Monthly
£52
per month

Water company: United Utilities

Water bills vary based on whether you have a meter and your household's water usage. This figure is the company average for unmetered customers.

Source: Water UK / Discover Water, 2026-27

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Broadband in Wigan

Wigan has 85.1% full fibre coverage and 96.7% gigabit-capable coverage across residential premises.

Gigabit-capable
96.7%
of premises
Full fibre (FTTP)
85.1%
of premises
Superfast (30+ Mbit/s)
99.5%
of premises
No decent broadband
0%
of premises

Full fibre take-up: 33% of premises with full fibre available have taken it up.

"Gigabit-capable" means a connection of 1 Gbit/s or faster is available at the premises (full fibre or upgraded cable). "Full fibre" is fibre-to-the-premises specifically. "No decent broadband" counts premises below the 10 Mbit/s down / 1 Mbit/s up Universal Service Obligation.

See all UK areas ranked by broadband coverage →

Source: Ofcom Connected Nations 2025, July 2025

Schools in Wigan

Wigan has 127 schools, with 96.2% rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted.

Outstanding
9
schools (17.0%)
Good
42
schools (79.2%)
Requires Improvement
2
schools (3.8%)
Inadequate
0
schools (0.0%)

99 primary schools, 19 secondary schools, 9 special / nursery / alternative provision. Approximately 48,595 pupils across all schools.

2 schools have been inspected under Ofsted's renewed framework (November 2025 onwards) and are not included in the percentage above.

Ofsted grades reflect the school's most recent inspection: Outstanding means the school is exceptional across the evaluation areas, Good means it is effective, Requires Improvement means it is not yet good enough, and Inadequate means serious concerns were found.

See all areas ranked by school ratings →

Source: Ofsted, most recent inspections as at March 2026. England only; Scotland (Education Scotland) and Wales (Estyn) use separate frameworks.

Crime in Wigan

There were 904 recorded crimes per 10,000 people in Wigan, which is above the England and Wales average of 837. Wigan ranks #221 out of 303 areas for lowest crime rate.

Violence & sexual offences
431 /10k
(14,956 offences)
Burglary
33 /10k
(1,137 offences)
Theft
173 /10k
(6,008 offences)
Criminal damage
89 /10k
(3,095 offences)
Drug offences
37 /10k
(1,275 offences)
Public order
93 /10k
(3,229 offences)
Other
48 /10k
(1,676 offences)

Recorded crime statistics reflect crimes reported to and recorded by police. They may not capture the full picture of crime in an area, and recording practices vary between forces.

Source: Home Office police recorded crime, Year ending March 2026

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