Nuggets 2026

Nugget of the week | morsel of the month

1st April - Morsel of the month - March

This month's morsel looks at internal migration - an annual dataset that looks at people moving house around the UK - who is moving and where to.

25th March

New updated deprivation explorer available!

  • Deprivation is "unmet needs caused by a lack of resources of all kinds". It's a really important concept for us in Bolton: there are substantial health inequalities between people from different deprivation groups, and 46% of our residents live in an area that is among the most deprived 10% in England. It is measured by the English Indices of Deprivation (IoD).
  • MHCLG has recently updated their local deprivation explorer to make it easier to use! You can now search by postcode; use interactive maps showing the overall Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) together with the specific topic-based domains that underlie it; and download a dataset that's either everything or just what you need.
  • Check out Our People → Deprivation to find out more
18th March

According to the Active Lives survey, 51% of Bolton adults have done gardening in the last year.

  • Access to green spaces (especially in urban environments such as Bolton) has been linked to enhanced mental wellbeing, increased physical activity, and associated health benefits. Natural England has recently released new guidance on how to evaluate the health impacts of outdoors activities. This gives practical suggestions on the kind of things you might want to measure, and where the health impacts would most likely be felt for an outdoors based project.
  • It's accompanied by a brief infographic showing where the main health benefits occur and links to further sources.
  • If this sounds like it might be of use, there's a webinar on 15th April launching the resources where you can find out more.
  • Also check out Our Place → Built and natural environment → Natural environment for links to this resource and more.
11th March

12% of Bolton adults smoke, down from 24% in 2011

  • This week we're looking at smoking, to coincide with no smoking day. Smoking is the most important cause of preventable ill health and premature mortality in the UK.
  • Smoking is a major risk factor for many diseases, such as lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart disease. It is also one of the main causes of health inequalities in England, with the harm concentrated in more disadvantaged communities and groups.
  • In England as a whole, 49% of people attempting to quit use nothing as support, and 33% use vapes as support. Future health concerns is the most common trigger to quit (57%) followed by the cost of smoking (36%).
  • Check out Our place → Lifestyles and behaviours → Smoking to find out more
  • Check out Let's keep Bolton Moving for support on stopping smoking in Bolton
4th March

Thinking ahead to what you might be doing over the weekend... Across GM, 79% of residents are confident using the internet to shop online; 78% to get in touch with someone or use social media; 76% to find information for their leisure time such as cinema, live music, theatre, museums; 77% to watch tv or other video online.

  • Confidence levels are a little lower but still high for some other activities: 71% are confident in looking online for information on government sites, 71% to apply for government or council services; 64% to apply for benefits.
  • These figures are from the GM residents survey, which covers a varying range of topics and goes out to residents across Greater Manchester (including Bolton) quarterly.
  • Go to Explore more → Useful websites → GM residents survey to find out more. Members of Bolton Research And Intelligence Network (BRAIN) get access to the login only portal to examine the data in more depth.
25th February - morsel of the month - February

Welcome to the latest Bolton JSNA morsel of the month! As a reminder, these are longer than the usual nuggets but still compact to fit into your busy lives. This one builds on the 'Bolton in Brief' page with an overview of some key figures for the borough

  • The morsel is structured under the main JSNA themes of Our people; Our place; & Our Health and wellbeing.
  • The morsel is provided as a document and a usual morsel style infographic.
  • Check out Bolton in brief to find out more
18th February

Is your street or neighbourhood one that supports you to be healthy? How would you know?

  • There’s no definitive list, but a healthy street will incorporate features such as: feeling safe and welcoming, pleasant to walk and cycle along and to cross, things to see and do like nature or art, shade and shelter to protect from the weather, place to stop and rest, not too noisy.
  • Healthy streets build into healthy neighbourhoods: with good quality affordable housing, connection to nature, easy access to local businesses and jobs, a sense of identity to the place and opportunities for play and wonder.
  • Check out Our Place → Built and natural environment → Neighbourhood design → How healthy is my street? Where there's a collection of tools for seeing how healthy your street is, many are designed for community members to use. Why not try one out on a street or neighbourhood near you?
11th February

Bolton's overall poorest air quality is in LSOA (a small administrative area) Bolton 034D in Kearsley & Stoneclough (near to M61 J2), while the best is in Bolton 020E, in Lostock & Ladybridge.

  • These figures come from the Indices of Deprivation 2025 underlying indicators. Air quality forms part of the Living environment outdoor subdomain.
  • The underlying indicators tell us about estimated levels of 4 air pollutants and how they compare with World Health Organization safe levels. For us in Greater Manchester, Nitrogen dioxide and small particulates are highest.
  • In Bolton 034D, Nitrogen dioxide levels are nearly twice the WHO limit (1.91x) and small particulate matter (PM2.5) is nearly 1.5 times the WHO limit (1.49x).
  • Check out the following pages to find out more: Our place → Climate emergency → Air quality (and see a map); Our people → Deprivation
4th February

23% of Bolton parents experience material deprivation (22% at GM); 30% of working age adults (31% at GM); and 15% of pensioners (19% at GM).

  • You may have recently seen the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report on UK poverty 2026 in the news, which has found a deepening of poverty. Tackling poverty is a key priority for us. We only have nationally produced Bolton estimates for where low income and poverty affects children.
  • However the GM residents survey covers the related topic of 'material deprivaiton' - a poverty measure focused on everyday experience, looking at whether residents are enjoying a minimum acceptable standard of living. The figures above are from the GM residents survey.
  • Check out Our people → Deprivation → Poverty to find out more about poverty.
  • Check out Explore more → Useful websites → GM residents survey to find out more about the GM residents survey. Remember members of BRAIN (Bolton Research And Intelligence Network) get access to the GM residents survey data portal for custom crosstabs and data download!
28th January - morsel of the month - January

As a reminder - this is like the JSNA nugget of the week, but at the end of the month, and a bit more in-depth on a particular topic (but still brief).

21st January

The average house price for buyers in Bolton is £200,000 and the average monthly private rent in Bolton is £872. Both are lower than the North West average, making Bolton a relatively affordable place to live.

14th January

Bolton life expectancy at birth continues recovery following covid dip - but still lower than England

  • This week's nugget looks at life expectancy - this is an important indicator of overall population health, and inequalities in health.
  • Bolton's life expectancy at birth (2022-24) is 76.9 for males, and 81.4 for females.
  • The Covid-19 pandemic caused a sharp fall in life expectancy "the magnitude of which has not been seen since World War II", this was seen both in Bolton and England as a whole.
  • Since then we've seen some recovery which is positive, but there's still more to be done as our life expectancy remains around 2 years lower than for England as a whole and with inequalities across the borough.
  • Check out Bolton JSNA → Our health and wellbeing → Life expectancy to find out more
7th January

72% of Bolton adults report high happiness, and 76% high life satisfaction Wellbeing is about feeling good and functioning well. Our mental health influences our physical health, as well as our capability to lead a healthy lifestyle and to manage and recover from physical health conditions.

  • Evidence suggests there are 5 steps you can take to improve your mental health and wellbeing. Trying these things could help you feel more positive and able to get the most out of life: Connect with other people; Be physically active; Learn new skills; Give to others; Pay attention to the present moment.
  • These figures are from OHID's Adult mental health and wellbeing profile. Find this and more on mental health and wellbeing on the JSNA website: Our health and wellbeing → Mental health and wellbeing