Socio-economic statistics for Bilston, Wolverhampton

Is Bilston in Wolverhampton a nice place to live or is it a bit rough? We have collated a series of socio-economic statistics and demographics from UK government sources such as the 2021 Census and the Index of Multiple Deprivation. They should give you a broad snapshot of the area and the surrounding locations. Are the residents of Bilston older than the national average or younger? What is the population of Bilston and Wolverhampton? What is the claimant count in Bilston and how many residents are unemployed? This page should provide you with the answers.

Bilston Age Distribution Statistics

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 Census and the calculated the proportion of age groups in Bilston North.

Age Band	Proportion
4 & under
5 - 9 years
10 - 15 years
16 - 19 years
20 - 24 years
25 - 34 years
35 - 49 years
50 - 64 years
65 - 74 years
75 - 84 years
85 years & over

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

How many residents own or rent their home in Bilston and Wolverhampton

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Bilston either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 59.93 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 40.07 of Bilston residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Bilston North	59.93%	40.07%
Wolverhampton	54.98%	45.02%
West Midlands	62.8%	37.2%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bilston has a lower level of home ownership than than the national average.

Bilston compared to other wards in Wolverhampton

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Penn	82.27%	17.73%
2	Tettenhall Regis	76.86%	23.14%
3	Tettenhall Wightwick	74.07%	25.93%
4	Merry Hill	66.6%	33.4%
5	Bushbury North	65.82%	34.18%
6	Wednesfield North	65.7%	34.3%
7	Spring Vale	63.2%	36.8%
8	Wednesfield South	62.13%	37.87%
9	Bilston North	59.93%	40.07%
10	Fallings Park	59.33%	40.67%
11	Oxley	57.13%	42.87%
12	Blakenhall	55.45%	44.55%
13	Park (Wolverhampton)	48.84%	51.16%
14	Ettingshall	46.27%	53.73%
15	Graiseley	45.65%	54.35%
16	East Park	45.11%	54.89%
17	Bilston East	42.35%	57.65%
18	Bushbury South and Low Hill	41.14%	58.86%
19	Heath Town	30.37%	69.63%
20	St Peter's (Wolverhampton)	28.84%	71.16%

Bilston is ranked 9 out of 20 wards in Wolverhampton for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bilston Unemployment Statistics

Since the introduction of Universal Credit, The Department for Work & Pensions have not issued any statistics (in our view) that can be used to ascertain the levels of unemployment or under employment in the UK, just meaningless geographic counts. However, the Office of National Statistics does publish claimant counts of people receiving out of work benefits, be that legacy Jobseeker’s Allowance or Universal Credit as a proportion of people over 16. These figures are usually updated once a month and are for Local Authority Districts and Unitary Authority Districts. So below are the figures of Wolverhampton.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Wolverhampton	7.8%	0%
West Midlands	5%	-0.3%
England	3.8%	-0.3%
UK	3.7%	-0.3%

Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS), Last Retrieved: March 2023

The 2021 census had data on people who were economically active (seeking work) yet unemployed on Census day (Sunday March 21st 2021). These statitics do cover Bilston on a ward level. However, it has to be noted that the Census day was during the height of the Covid19 pandemic and therefore are not reflective of normal levels of unemployment. For example, between March 2020 and June 2020 people claiming Universal Credit doubled in most areas of the United Kingdom and then steadily declined up to the day of the Census and beyond. This data also contains the proportion of people in part-time work (working between 1-35 hours per week), which maybe an indicator of under employment in Bilston.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	50.25%
In Part-Time Work	25.86%
Unemployed	7.43%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

74.14% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Bilston

Bilston Education Statistics

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census to found of the level of education Bilston residents have in terms of formal qualifications as a percentage. The UK government breaks qualifications down into 7 levels. A detailed explanation of these levels can be found here. However, the Census groups these into just 4 \'levels\'. Here are some examples of the qualifications each census level represents when not stated;

Level 1 - GCSE grades D, E, F, or G & below
Level 2 - GCSE A*, A, B, C or O Level grades A, B or C
Level 3 - A or AS qualification at any grade
Level 4 - HNC, Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree or Phd

In this first table we have compared Bilston to the national average for England.

Level	Bilston North	England
No Qualifications	30.1%	18.08%
Level 1	11.94%	9.69%
Level 2	14.74%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	5.05%	5.32%
Level 3	14.65%	16.92%
Level 4	19.6%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bilston & Wolverhampton Immigration Statistics

We have analysed the Census 2021 raw data on country of birth and compiled immigration statistics as percentages of the population. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. Below are the figures for Bilston in the Wolverhampton local area district.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Bilston North	80.93%	19.07%
Wolverhampton	77.09%	22.91%
West Midlands	84.84%	15.17%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bilston compared to other wards in Wolverhampton

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Blakenhall	53.06%	46.94%
2	St Peter's	54.08%	45.92%
3	Ettingshall	62.44%	37.56%
4	Heath Town	63.83%	36.17%
5	Graiseley	66.51%	33.49%
6	Park	68.73%	31.27%
7	Bushbury South and Low Hill	74.63%	25.37%
8	East Park	78.88%	21.12%
9	Bilston East	80.21%	19.79%
10	Bilston North	80.93%	19.07%
11	Spring Vale	83.41%	16.59%
12	Oxley	84.75%	15.25%
13	Penn	84.84%	15.16%
14	Wednesfield South	85.89%	14.11%
15	Tettenhall Regis	86.93%	13.07%
16	Fallings Park	86.96%	13.04%
17	Tettenhall Wightwick	88.41%	11.59%
18	Merry Hill	88.87%	11.13%
19	Bushbury North	89.76%	10.24%
20	Wednesfield North	93.61%	6.39%

';Bilston is ranked 10 out of 20 wards in Wolverhampton for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bilston Health Statistics

Bilston North has a significantly lower proportion of residents (>5%) describing their health as very good than the national average for England.

Area	VG	G	F	B	VB
Bilston North	42.23%	35.34%	15.42%	5.39%	1.62%
Wolverhampton	44.84%	34.39%	14.43%	4.91%	1.43%
West Midlands	46.4%	34.38%	13.54%	4.37%	1.31%
England	48.49%	33.71%	12.65%	3.98%	1.17%

VG = Very Good, G = Good, F = Fair, B = Bad & VB = Very Bad

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

How has the health of residents in Wolverhampton changed since 2011?

Wolverhampton residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 2.1% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	41.79%	35.34%	15.67%	5.53%	1.66%
2021	44.84%	34.39%	14.43%	4.91%	1.43%

VG = Very Good, G = Good, F = Fair, B = Bad & VB = Very Bad

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What are the occupations of the residents of Bilston?

The largest employment sector in Bilston is Elementary Occupations. The smallest employment sector is Managers, Directors & Senior Officials.

Sector	Proportion
Elementary Occupations	16.38%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	13.43%
Skilled Trades	12.05%
Professional Occupations	11.86%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	10.32%
Administrative & Secretarial	9.35%
Associate Professional & Technical	9.12%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	7.57%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

What is the population of Bilston and Wolverhampton?

The table below contains the populations figures for each ward in Wolverhampton including Bilston. These population ONS figures are estimated are dated Mid 2020.

Ward	Population
Bilston East	14933
Bilston North	12469
Blakenhall	13320
Bushbury North	12130
Bushbury South and Low Hill	16938
East Park	13217
Ettingshall	16774
Fallings Park	12043
Graiseley	13434
Heath Town	16260
Merry Hill	11924
Oxley	12683
Park	13076
Penn	12263
Spring Vale	12328
St Peter's	15510
Tettenhall Regis	11853
Tettenhall Wightwick	10820
Wednesfield North	10749
Wednesfield South	11683
Wolverhampton Total	264407

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Last updated: 20/02/2024, Additional Sources: Office for National Statistics & Department for Work & Pensions.

Top 20 most depressing towns in Britain 2024