Socio-economic statistics for Bedford, Bedfordshire

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

How many residents own or rent their home in Bedford and Bedford

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Bedford either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 41.95 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 58.05 of Bedford residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Cauldwell	41.95%	58.05%
Bedford	62.66%	37.34%
East	65.23%	34.77%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bedford has a significantly lower level of home ownership than the national average. This is indicative or an economically deprived area.

Bedford compared to other wards in Bedford

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Bromham and Biddenham	83.76%	16.25%
2	Oakley (Bedford)	81.55%	18.45%
3	Putnoe	81.45%	18.55%
4	Wyboston	78.87%	21.13%
5	Sharnbrook	78.19%	21.81%
6	Kempston South	77.81%	22.19%
7	Riseley	76.73%	23.27%
8	Great Barford	76.08%	23.92%
9	Wilshamstead	75.15%	24.85%
10	Clapham	75.13%	24.87%
11	Brickhill	74.94%	25.06%
12	Wootton (Bedford)	74.42%	25.58%
13	Harrold	71.62%	28.38%
14	Kempston Rural	70.87%	29.13%
15	Newnham (Bedford)	70.4%	29.6%
16	Elstow and Stewartby	67.67%	32.33%
17	Eastcotts	66.99%	33.01%
18	Kempston Central and East	61.24%	38.76%
19	Kempston West	59.25%	40.75%
20	De Parys	57.9%	42.1%
21	Kempston North	55.11%	44.89%
22	Goldington	51.56%	48.44%
23	Queens Park (Bedford)	50.95%	49.05%
24	Kingsbrook	46.77%	53.23%
25	Cauldwell	41.95%	58.05%
26	Harpur	38.31%	61.69%
27	Castle (Bedford)	29.51%	70.49%

Bedford is ranked 25 out of 27 wards in Bedford for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bedford & Bedford 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 Bedford in the Bedford local area district.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Cauldwell	56.9%	43.1%
Bedford	78.6%	21.4%
East	85.09%	14.91%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bedford compared to other wards in Bedford

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Cauldwell	56.9%	43.1%
2	Queens Park	57.1%	42.9%
3	Castle	62.03%	37.97%
4	Kingsbrook	68.23%	31.77%
5	Harpur	68.41%	31.59%
6	Kempston Central and East	72.88%	27.12%
7	Kempston South	76.05%	23.95%
8	De Parys	77.62%	22.38%
9	Goldington	78.9%	21.1%
10	Kempston North	79.59%	20.41%
11	Kempston West	80.38%	19.62%
12	Eastcotts	80.83%	19.17%
13	Newnham	81.68%	18.32%
14	Brickhill	83.08%	16.92%
15	Kempston Rural	83.85%	16.15%
16	Putnoe	84.1%	15.9%
17	Elstow and Stewartby	85.07%	14.93%
18	Bromham and Biddenham	87.54%	12.46%
19	Wilshamstead	88.31%	11.69%
20	Clapham	88.45%	11.55%
21	Great Barford	89.57%	10.43%
22	Wootton	89.88%	10.12%
23	Sharnbrook	91.94%	8.06%
24	Oakley	92.57%	7.43%
25	Harrold	93%	7%
26	Wyboston	93.76%	6.24%
27	Riseley	94.51%	5.49%

';Bedford is ranked 1 out of 27 wards in Bedford for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What are the occupations of the residents of Bedford?

The largest employment sector in Bedford is Elementary Occupations. The smallest employment sector is Managers, Directors & Senior Officials.

Sector	Proportion
Elementary Occupations	23.15%
Professional Occupations	15.91%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	10.88%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	10.49%
Skilled Trades	8.99%
Associate Professional & Technical	8.77%
Administrative & Secretarial	6.9%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	6.2%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Bedford Education Statistics

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

Level	Cauldwell	England
No Qualifications	24.31%	18.08%
Level 1	12.13%	9.69%
Level 2	12.29%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	4.86%	5.32%
Level 3	13.05%	16.92%
Level 4	29.31%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bedford Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

Bedford Health Statistics

Cauldwell 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
Cauldwell	47.03%	35.15%	12.31%	4.29%	1.22%
Bedford	48.82%	34.97%	11.85%	3.43%	0.94%
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 Bedford changed since 2011?

Bedford residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.91% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	46.9%	35.98%	12.58%	3.55%	0.98%
2021	48.82%	34.97%	11.85%	3.43%	0.94%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bedford 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 Bedford.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Bedford	3.9%	-0.3%
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 Bedford 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 Bedford.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	60.7%
In Part-Time Work	23.14%
Unemployed	6.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

76.86% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Bedford

What is the population of Bedford and Bedford?

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

Ward	Population
Brickhill	7969
Bromham and Biddenham	6963
Castle	8526
Cauldwell	11189
Clapham	4555
De Parys	6817
Eastcotts	4663
Elstow and Stewartby	4885
Goldington	9687
Great Barford	8283
Harpur	8718
Harrold	4158
Kempston Central and East	6981
Kempston North	3609
Kempston Rural	6763
Kempston South	3900
Kempston West	6485
Kingsbrook	9764
Newnham	7769
Oakley	3709
Putnoe	6923
Queens Park	9502
Riseley	3358
Sharnbrook	3809
Wilshamstead	5842
Wootton	6270
Wyboston	3590
Bedford Total	174687

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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