In 2006 the Motor Insurers' Bureau named West Gorton as the worst place in the UK for uninsured cars, with over six times the national average of drivers living there having no cover. However the MIB press release of 24 September 2009 stated that Barkerend in Bradford was then the worst place for uninsured drivers with Manchester the second worst city. The MIB do not reveal checkable details of the methods used to calculate the figures.
More recently some parts of Gorton have suffered from serious deprivation, which has resulted in high crime levels and burglary. The first four series of popular television series Shameless, which is shown on Channel 4 was mainly filmed in West Gorton. The parade of shops used for filming in the initial series was built on the site of St. Mark's Church, Clowes Street – the birthplace of Manchester City F.C.
The teenager Jordan Brennan died after being attacked outside a grocer's store in Gorton on 10 March 2014.