Socio-economic statistics for Atherton, Wigan

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

Atherton Age Distribution Statistics

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

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 Atherton?

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

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	13.3%
Elementary Occupations	13.17%
Associate Professional & Technical	12.95%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	11.89%
Skilled Trades	11.79%
Administrative & Secretarial	10.15%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	9.3%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	8.71%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Atherton Education Statistics

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

Level	Atherton	England
No Qualifications	25.12%	18.08%
Level 1	11.87%	9.69%
Level 2	15.35%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	7.05%	5.32%
Level 3	16.68%	16.92%
Level 4	21.32%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

How many residents own or rent their home in Atherton and Wigan

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Atherton either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 57.19 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 42.81 of Atherton residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Atherton	57.19%	42.81%
Wigan	66.37%	33.63%
North West	62.33%	37.67%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Atherton compared to other wards in Wigan

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Winstanley (Wigan)	92.37%	7.63%
2	Shevington with Lower Ground	84.21%	15.79%
3	Hindley Green	81.77%	18.23%
4	Orrell	81.69%	18.31%
5	Standish with Langtree	80.84%	19.16%
6	Lowton East	80.73%	19.27%
7	Astley Mosley Common	78.93%	21.07%
8	Ashton (Wigan)	78.78%	21.22%
9	Aspull New Springs Whelley	74.24%	25.76%
10	Bryn (Wigan)	68.4%	31.6%
11	Worsley Mesnes	66.18%	33.82%
12	Tyldesley (Wigan)	65.8%	34.21%
13	Leigh South	64.5%	35.5%
14	Golborne and Lowton West	64.34%	35.66%
15	Atherleigh	63.62%	36.38%
16	Leigh East	61.28%	38.72%
17	Wigan West	61.18%	38.82%
18	Abram	59.92%	40.08%
19	Hindley	59.33%	40.67%
20	Wigan Central	58.57%	41.43%
21	Atherton	57.19%	42.81%
22	Leigh West	53.35%	46.65%
23	Douglas	50.64%	49.36%
24	Pemberton	49.37%	50.63%
25	Ince	42.37%	57.63%

Atherton is ranked 21 out of 25 wards in Wigan for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Atherton Health Statistics

Atherton 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
Atherton	43.6%	33.41%	15.6%	5.69%	1.7%
Wigan	46.27%	33.46%	14.03%	4.88%	1.36%
North West	47.73%	32.71%	13.36%	4.77%	1.43%
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 Wigan changed since 2011?

Wigan 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	45.39%	32.7%	14.72%	5.7%	1.49%
2021	46.27%	33.46%	14.03%	4.88%	1.36%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Atherton & Wigan 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 Atherton in the Wigan local area district.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Atherton	93.05%	6.95%
Wigan	93.78%	6.22%
North West	88.33%	11.67%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Atherton compared to other wards in Wigan

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Ince	87.87%	12.13%
2	Leigh West	89.05%	10.95%
3	Wigan Central	89.72%	10.28%
4	Douglas	90.39%	9.61%
5	Leigh East	90.43%	9.57%
6	Wigan West	91.93%	8.07%
7	Atherleigh	92.63%	7.37%
8	Pemberton	92.71%	7.29%
9	Abram	92.79%	7.21%
10	Atherton	93.05%	6.95%
11	Tyldesley	93.67%	6.33%
12	Astley Mosley Common	94.02%	5.98%
13	Leigh South	94.19%	5.81%
14	Worsley Mesnes	95.04%	4.96%
15	Golborne and Lowton West	95.42%	4.58%
16	Aspull New Springs Whelley	95.71%	4.29%
17	Standish with Langtree	95.72%	4.28%
18	Hindley	96%	4%
19	Lowton East	96.26%	3.74%
20	Hindley Green	96.3%	3.7%
21	Ashton	96.48%	3.52%
22	Bryn	96.88%	3.12%
23	Shevington with Lower Ground	97.03%	2.97%
24	Winstanley	97.27%	2.73%
25	Orrell	97.44%	2.56%

';Atherton is ranked 10 out of 25 wards in Wigan for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Atherton 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 Wigan.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Wigan	3.9%	-0.4%
North West	4.3%	-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 Atherton 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 Atherton.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	53.64%
In Part-Time Work	25.58%
Unemployed	6.67%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

74.42% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Atherton

What is the population of Atherton and Wigan?

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

Ward	Population
Abram	15909
Ashton	12018
Aspull New Springs Whelley	13065
Astley Mosley Common	11893
Atherleigh	12411
Atherton	15786
Bryn	11694
Douglas	13819
Golborne and Lowton West	12050
Hindley	13703
Hindley Green	11348
Ince	14547
Leigh East	12811
Leigh South	14388
Leigh West	15758
Lowton East	13338
Orrell	12244
Pemberton	14893
Shevington with Lower Ground	11513
Standish with Langtree	12832
Tyldesley	14920
Wigan Central	12317
Wigan West	13457
Winstanley	11776
Worsley Mesnes	12222
Wigan Total	330712

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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