Socio-economic statistics for St Leonards, East Sussex

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

St Leonards Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

St Leonards Education Statistics

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

Level	West St Leonards	England
No Qualifications	20.44%	18.08%
Level 1	10.76%	9.69%
Level 2	17.24%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	5.55%	5.32%
Level 3	18.61%	16.92%
Level 4	24.59%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

How many residents own or rent their home in St Leonards and Hastings

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in St Leonards either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 68.92 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 31.08 of St Leonards residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
West St Leonards	68.92%	31.08%
Hastings	56.58%	43.42%
South East	65.66%	34.34%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

St Leonards has a higher level of home ownership than than the national average.

St Leonards compared to other wards in Hastings

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	St Helens (Hastings)	78.15%	21.85%
2	Conquest	77.76%	22.24%
3	Ashdown	75.91%	24.09%
4	West St Leonards	68.92%	31.08%
5	Silverhill	67.52%	32.48%
6	Old Hastings	67.32%	32.68%
7	Maze Hill	66.04%	33.96%
8	Braybrooke	61.52%	38.48%
9	Ore	60.05%	39.95%
10	Baird	55.29%	44.71%
11	Wishing Tree	49.26%	50.74%
12	Tressell	48.28%	51.72%
13	Hollington	45.73%	54.27%
14	Gensing	45.4%	54.6%
15	Castle (Hastings)	39.91%	60.09%
16	Central St Leonards	32.79%	67.21%

St Leonards is ranked 4 out of 16 wards in Hastings for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What are the occupations of the residents of St Leonards?

The largest employment sector in St Leonards is Skilled Trades. The smallest employment sector is Process Plant & Machine Operatives.

Sector	Proportion
Skilled Trades	14.92%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	14.75%
Professional Occupations	13.94%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	11.89%
Associate Professional & Technical	11.24%
Administrative & Secretarial	9.66%
Elementary Occupations	8.08%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	6.84%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

St Leonards Health Statistics

West St Leonards 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
West St Leonards	43.24%	35.53%	15.33%	4.52%	1.38%
Hastings	42.2%	35.02%	15.52%	5.52%	1.75%
South East	49.98%	34.01%	11.77%	3.31%	0.93%
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 Hastings changed since 2011?

Hastings residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.48% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	40.5%	36.24%	15.82%	5.72%	1.72%
2021	42.2%	35.02%	15.52%	5.52%	1.75%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

St Leonards & Hastings 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 St Leonards in the Hastings local area district.

St Leonards has a lower rate of immigrants than Hastings, the South East region and England as a whole.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
West St Leonards	91.14%	8.86%
Hastings	88.64%	11.36%
South East	84.24%	15.76%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

St Leonards compared to other wards in Hastings

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Central St Leonards	74.59%	25.41%
2	Castle	80.34%	19.66%
3	Gensing	81.85%	18.15%
4	Braybrooke	87.92%	12.08%
5	Maze Hill	88.63%	11.37%
6	Conquest	90.26%	9.74%
7	Silverhill	90.98%	9.02%
8	West St Leonards	91.14%	8.86%
9	Tressell	91.81%	8.19%
10	Wishing Tree	91.97%	8.03%
11	Old Hastings	92.22%	7.78%
12	Hollington	92.67%	7.33%
13	Ashdown	92.7%	7.3%
14	St Helens	92.71%	7.29%
15	Baird	92.72%	7.28%
16	Ore	93.36%	6.64%

';St Leonards is ranked 8 out of 16 wards in Hastings for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

St Leonards 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 Hastings.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Hastings	5.7%	-0.9%
South East	2.9%	-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 St Leonards 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 St Leonards.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	57.79%
In Part-Time Work	30.64%
Unemployed	4.71%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

69.36% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in St Leonards

What is the population of St Leonards and Hastings?

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

Ward	Population
Ashdown	5879
Baird	5575
Braybrooke	5627
Castle	7143
Central St Leonards	7706
Conquest	4928
Gensing	6780
Hollington	5732
Maze Hill	5550
Old Hastings	5147
Ore	5697
Silverhill	5716
St Helens	4543
Tressell	5833
West St Leonards	4748
Wishing Tree	5950
Hastings Total	92554

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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