It is 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Warrington town centre and has a population of 31,600 according to the 2021 census.

RAF Burtonwood was built on the outskirts in 1939, and the land is now transformed into Chapelford Urban Village and the Omega Development Site.

[4] Great Sankey forms part of Warrington South constituency of the United Kingdom Parliament.

On the Index of Multiple Deprivation, Great Sankey was described as one of the most affluent areas of Warrington.

Its key position near the M62 motorway links, and being in between the cities of Liverpool and Manchester, make it a popular place to live.

Relatively unaffected by the 2008 financial bank crisis, unlike other parts of Warrington, the area has continued to see the development of Chapelford Urban Village, with new restaurants and shopping facilities nearby.

26.44% of residents are economically inactive (due to retirement, disability or acting as a full-time carer).

[15] Sankey railway station is on the Liverpool to Manchester line and had an hourly service of stopping trains run by Northern.

[16][17] That was reduced to four services a day from the opening of Warrington West railway station (in Chapelford) on 16 December 2019, where Northern Rail provide two trains per hour, supplemented by peak hour TransPennine Express services between Liverpool and Cleethorpes.