Socio-economic statistics for California, Suffolk

Is California in Ipswich 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 California older than the national average or younger? What is the population of California and Ipswich? What is the claimant count in California and how many residents are unemployed? This page should provide you with the answers.

What are the occupations of the residents of California?

The largest employment sector in California is Professional Occupations. The smallest employment sector is Process Plant & Machine Operatives.

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	20.49%
Associate Professional & Technical	12.6%
Elementary Occupations	11.92%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	9.94%
Administrative & Secretarial	9.68%
Skilled Trades	9.19%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	8.79%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	8.08%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

California Health Statistics

Holywells has a lower proportion of residents (very_good_pc-$ward_health->very_good_pc, 2)%) describing their health as very good than the national average for England.

Area	VG	G	F	B	VB
Holywells	46.94%	37.64%	11.72%	2.84%	0.85%
Ipswich	45.64%	35.78%	13.54%	3.98%	1.07%
East	48.28%	34.64%	12.5%	3.58%	1%
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 Ipswich changed since 2011?

Ipswich residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.02% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	45.56%	35.84%	13.53%	3.92%	1.14%
2021	45.64%	35.78%	13.54%	3.98%	1.07%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

California Education Statistics

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census to found of the level of education California 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 California to the national average for England.

Level	Holywells	England
No Qualifications	16.65%	18.08%
Level 1	10.28%	9.69%
Level 2	13.43%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	5.66%	5.32%
Level 3	20.6%	16.92%
Level 4	30.36%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

How many residents own or rent their home in California and Ipswich

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in California either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 56.1 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 43.9 of California residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Holywells	56.1%	43.9%
Ipswich	55.44%	44.56%
East	65.23%	34.77%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

California compared to other wards in Ipswich

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Castle Hill	83.5%	16.5%
2	Bixley	79.94%	20.06%
3	Rushmere	69.17%	30.83%
4	St Margaret's (Ipswich)	65.22%	34.78%
5	St John's (Ipswich)	62.18%	37.82%
6	Whitton (Ipswich)	60.63%	39.37%
7	Sprites	58.63%	41.37%
8	Gainsborough	56.64%	43.36%
9	Holywells	56.1%	43.9%
10	Whitehouse	55.07%	44.93%
11	Priory Heath	53.88%	46.12%
12	Stoke Park	51.92%	48.08%
13	Bridge (Ipswich)	40.83%	59.17%
14	Gipping	40.27%	59.73%
15	Westgate (Ipswich)	38.67%	61.33%
16	Alexandra (Ipswich)	38.28%	61.72%

California is ranked 9 out of 16 wards in Ipswich for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

California 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 Ipswich.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Ipswich	4.7%	-0.4%
East of England	3%	-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 California 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 California.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	60.04%
In Part-Time Work	26.43%
Unemployed	4.1%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

73.57% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in California

California & Ipswich 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 California in the Ipswich local area district.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Holywells	78.49%	21.51%
Ipswich	82.26%	17.74%
East	85.09%	14.91%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

California compared to other wards in Ipswich

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Westgate	66.25%	33.75%
2	Alexandra	70.75%	29.25%
3	Bridge	75.45%	24.55%
4	Gipping	75.52%	24.48%
5	Holywells	78.49%	21.51%
6	St John's	82.41%	17.59%
7	Priory Heath	83.26%	16.74%
8	St Margaret's	83.81%	16.19%
9	Whitehouse	84.97%	15.03%
10	Gainsborough	87.45%	12.55%
11	Stoke Park	88.12%	11.88%
12	Rushmere	88.54%	11.46%
13	Bixley	89.38%	10.62%
14	Whitton	89.87%	10.13%
15	Sprites	91.8%	8.2%
16	Castle Hill	92.33%	7.67%

';California is ranked 5 out of 16 wards in Ipswich for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

California Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

What is the population of California and Ipswich?

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

Ward	Population
Alexandra	10959
Bixley	6834
Bridge	9679
Castle Hill	6920
Gainsborough	8663
Gipping	9422
Holywells	8170
Priory Heath	8924
Rushmere	8114
Sprites	6436
St John's	9335
St Margaret's	8130
Stoke Park	6997
Westgate	10871
Whitehouse	8808
Whitton	7717
Ipswich Total	135979

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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