Socio-economic statistics for Alston, Devon

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

How many residents own or rent their home in Alston and East Devon

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Alston either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 81.41 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 18.59 of Alston residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Yarty	81.41%	18.59%
East Devon	72.16%	27.84%
South West	65.88%	34.12%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Alston compared to other wards in East Devon

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	West Hill & Aylesbeare	87.04%	12.96%
2	Clyst Valley	82.6%	17.4%
3	Sidmouth Rural	81.84%	18.16%
4	Trinity (East Devon)	81.74%	18.26%
5	Yarty	81.41%	18.59%
6	Exmouth Halsdon	79.84%	20.16%
7	Newton Poppleford & Harpford	78.63%	21.37%
8	Dunkeswell & Otterhead	77.96%	22.04%
9	Whimple & Rockbeare	77.84%	22.16%
10	Newbridges	77.72%	22.28%
11	Feniton	77.18%	22.82%
12	Tale Vale	76.71%	23.29%
13	Coly Valley	76.12%	23.88%
14	Budleigh & Raleigh	75.72%	24.28%
15	Exmouth Brixington	75.6%	24.4%
16	Sidmouth Town	75.45%	24.55%
17	Exe Valley	74.34%	25.66%
18	Sidmouth Sidford	72.65%	27.35%
19	Seaton (East Devon)	72.6%	27.4%
20	Woodbury & Lympstone	72.56%	27.44%
21	Ottery St Mary	72.46%	27.54%
22	Exmouth Littleham	71.88%	28.12%
23	Beer & Branscombe	69.42%	30.58%
24	Honiton St Michael's	68.63%	31.37%
25	Broadclyst	67.2%	32.8%
26	Honiton St Paul's	66.24%	33.76%
27	Axminster	65.12%	34.88%
28	Exmouth Withycombe Raleigh	64.74%	35.26%
29	Cranbrook (East Devon)	61.07%	38.93%
30	Exmouth Town	54.28%	45.72%

Alston is ranked 5 out of 30 wards in East Devon for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Alston Age Distribution Statistics

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

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 are the occupations of the residents of Alston?

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

Sector	Proportion
Skilled Trades	20.59%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	16.46%
Professional Occupations	16.1%
Associate Professional & Technical	10.43%
Administrative & Secretarial	9.44%
Elementary Occupations	8.81%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	8.18%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	5.13%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Alston 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 East Devon.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
East Devon	1.9%	-0.2%
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 Alston 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 Alston.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	50.53%
In Part-Time Work	33.74%
Unemployed	3.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

66.26% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Alston

Alston & East Devon 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 Alston in the East Devon local area district.

Alston has a lower rate of immigrants than East Devon, the South West region and England as a whole.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Yarty	95.53%	4.47%
East Devon	93.84%	6.16%
South West	89.8%	10.2%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Alston compared to other wards in East Devon

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Exmouth Town	90.1%	9.9%
2	Sidmouth Town	90.3%	9.7%
3	Cranbrook	91.27%	8.73%
4	Woodbury & Lympstone	92.69%	7.31%
5	Sidmouth Rural	93%	7%
6	Seaton	93.15%	6.85%
7	Clyst Valley	93.19%	6.81%
8	Axminster	93.29%	6.71%
9	Honiton St Paul's	93.61%	6.39%
10	West Hill & Aylesbeare	93.64%	6.36%
11	Exmouth Littleham	93.69%	6.31%
12	Dunkeswell & Otterhead	93.72%	6.28%
13	Broadclyst	93.77%	6.23%
14	Sidmouth Sidford	93.79%	6.21%
15	Ottery St Mary	94.01%	5.99%
16	Budleigh & Raleigh	94.62%	5.38%
17	Beer & Branscombe	94.64%	5.36%
18	Newbridges	94.67%	5.33%
19	Trinity	94.74%	5.26%
20	Honiton St Michael's	94.95%	5.05%
21	Coly Valley	94.95%	5.05%
22	Exe Valley	94.97%	5.03%
23	Whimple & Rockbeare	95.02%	4.98%
24	Exmouth Brixington	95.27%	4.73%
25	Tale Vale	95.35%	4.65%
26	Yarty	95.53%	4.47%
27	Exmouth Halsdon	95.55%	4.45%
28	Feniton	95.7%	4.3%
29	Exmouth Withycombe Raleigh	95.77%	4.23%
30	Newton Poppleford & Harpford	95.83%	4.17%

';Alston is ranked 26 out of 30 wards in East Devon for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Alston Education Statistics

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

Level	Yarty	England
No Qualifications	13.39%	18.08%
Level 1	9.52%	9.69%
Level 2	15.27%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	6.9%	5.32%
Level 3	16.7%	16.92%
Level 4	35.92%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Alston Health Statistics

Yarty 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
Yarty	47.49%	37.11%	12.24%	2.85%	0.32%
East Devon	46.39%	35.06%	13.69%	3.84%	1.01%
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 East Devon changed since 2011?

East Devon residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 1.64% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	43.79%	36.02%	15.07%	3.99%	1.13%
2021	46.39%	35.06%	13.69%	3.84%	1.01%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What is the population of Alston and East Devon?

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

Ward	Population
Axminster	7830
Beer & Branscombe	2402
Broadclyst	5938
Budleigh & Raleigh	7822
Clyst Valley	2336
Coly Valley	4628
Cranbrook	4501
Dunkeswell & Otterhead	5553
Exe Valley	2508
Exmouth Brixington	8028
Exmouth Halsdon	7525
Exmouth Littleham	7911
Exmouth Town	7706
Exmouth Withycombe Raleigh	4655
Feniton	2613
Honiton St Michael's	6764
Honiton St Paul's	4735
Newbridges	2494
Newton Poppleford & Harpford	2227
Ottery St Mary	7631
Seaton	6987
Sidmouth Rural	2206
Sidmouth Sidford	7792
Sidmouth Town	4328
Tale Vale	2761
Trinity	2679
West Hill & Aylesbeare	2695
Whimple & Rockbeare	3728
Woodbury & Lympstone	6601
Yarty	2496
East Devon Total	148080

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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