Socio-economic statistics for Lower Stone, South Gloucestershire

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

How many residents own or rent their home in Lower Stone and Stroud

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Lower Stone either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 72.03 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 27.97 of Lower Stone residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Berkeley Vale	72.03%	27.97%
Stroud	72.7%	27.3%
South West	65.88%	34.12%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Lower Stone has a significantly higher level of home ownership than the national average. This is indicative or an economically wealthy area.

Lower Stone compared to other wards in Stroud

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe	85.71%	14.29%
2	Coaley and Uley	78.34%	21.66%
3	Painswick and Upton	77.54%	22.46%
4	Cam East	76.93%	23.07%
5	The Stanleys	75.77%	24.23%
6	Berkeley Vale	72.03%	27.97%
7	Cam West	70.88%	29.12%
8	Stroud Uplands	68.87%	31.13%
9	Dursley	66.38%	33.62%
10	Stroud Farmhill and Paganhill	65.24%	34.76%
11	Stroud Valley	64.65%	35.35%
12	Stroud Slade	57.05%	42.95%
13	Stroud Central	55.29%	44.71%

Lower Stone is ranked 6 out of 13 wards in Stroud for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Lower Stone Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

Lower Stone Health Statistics

Berkeley Vale has more residents (very_good_pc-$country_health->very_good_pc, 2)%) describing their health as very good than the national average for England.

Area	VG	G	F	B	VB
Berkeley Vale	48.67%	33.75%	13.32%	3.36%	0.89%
Stroud	48.63%	34.73%	12.49%	3.31%	0.84%
South West	47.6%	34.21%	13.12%	3.95%	1.12%
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 Stroud changed since 2011?

Stroud residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.46% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	47.69%	35.21%	12.8%	3.35%	0.94%
2021	48.63%	34.73%	12.49%	3.31%	0.84%

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 Lower Stone?

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

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	18.07%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	16.54%
Skilled Trades	12.9%
Associate Professional & Technical	12.4%
Elementary Occupations	9.83%
Administrative & Secretarial	9.75%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	8.54%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	6.38%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Lower Stone Education Statistics

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

Level	Berkeley Vale	England
No Qualifications	15.68%	18.08%
Level 1	10.01%	9.69%
Level 2	15.05%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	6.2%	5.32%
Level 3	18.52%	16.92%
Level 4	31.88%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Lower Stone 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 Stroud.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Stroud	1.6%	-0.3%
South West	2.5%	-0.4%
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 Lower Stone 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 Lower Stone.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	59.23%
In Part-Time Work	27.62%
Unemployed	3.04%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

72.38% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Lower Stone

Lower Stone & Stroud 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 Lower Stone in the Stroud local area district.

Lower Stone has a lower rate of immigrants than Stroud, the South West region and England as a whole.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Berkeley Vale	95.73%	4.27%
Stroud	93.44%	6.56%
South West	89.8%	10.2%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Lower Stone compared to other wards in Stroud

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Stroud Central	85.86%	14.14%
2	Stroud Valley	89.92%	10.08%
3	Painswick and Upton	91.27%	8.73%
4	Stroud Slade	92.23%	7.77%
5	Stroud Farmhill and Paganhill	92.38%	7.62%
6	Dursley	92.9%	7.1%
7	Coaley and Uley	93.1%	6.9%
8	Stroud Uplands	93.29%	6.71%
9	Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe	93.65%	6.35%
10	Cam West	95.02%	4.98%
11	The Stanleys	95.53%	4.47%
12	Berkeley Vale	95.73%	4.27%
13	Cam East	96.16%	3.84%

';Lower Stone is ranked 12 out of 13 wards in Stroud for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What is the population of Lower Stone and Stroud?

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

Ward	Population
Amberley and Woodchester	2149
Berkeley Vale	7320
Bisley	2348
Cainscross	8389
Cam East	4596
Cam West	4077
Chalford	6248
Coaley and Uley	2427
Dursley	7647
Hardwicke	7822
Kingswood	2152
Minchinhampton	4541
Nailsworth	6601
Painswick and Upton	7353
Randwick, Whiteshill and Ruscombe	1979
Rodborough	4458
Severn	5411
Stonehouse	7350
Stroud Central	2181
Stroud Farmhill and Paganhill	2477
Stroud Slade	2501
Stroud Trinity	2162
Stroud Uplands	2106
Stroud Valley	2333
The Stanleys	4634
Thrupp	2359
Wotton-under-Edge	7282
Stroud Total	120903

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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