Socio-economic statistics for Brighton, Brighton and Hove

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

How many residents own or rent their home in Brighton and Brighton and Hove

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Brighton either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 58.65 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 41.35 of Brighton residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Preston Park	58.65%	41.35%
Brighton and Hove	51.41%	48.59%
South East	65.66%	34.34%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Brighton compared to other wards in Brighton and Hove

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Hove Park	79.74%	20.26%
2	Patcham	76.48%	23.52%
3	Woodingdean	70.69%	29.31%
4	Withdean	70.34%	29.66%
5	Rottingdean Coastal	67.86%	32.14%
6	North Portslade	67.01%	32.99%
7	South Portslade	64.04%	35.96%
8	Wish	63.13%	36.87%
9	Hangleton and Knoll	61.64%	38.36%
10	Preston Park	58.65%	41.35%
11	Westbourne (Brighton and Hove)	56.29%	43.71%
12	Hanover and Elm Grove	48.17%	51.83%
13	Hollingdean and Stanmer	46.58%	53.42%
14	Goldsmid	46.39%	53.61%
15	Central Hove	38.43%	61.57%
16	Moulsecoomb and Bevendean	35.75%	64.25%
17	St. Peter's and North Laine	35.03%	64.97%
18	Brunswick and Adelaide	34.87%	65.13%
19	Queen's Park (Brighton and Hove)	32.53%	67.47%
20	East Brighton	32.31%	67.69%
21	Regency	31.3%	68.7%

Brighton is ranked 10 out of 21 wards in Brighton and Hove for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Brighton Health Statistics

Preston Park has significantly more residents (>5%) describing their health as very good than the national average for England.

Area	VG	G	F	B	VB
Preston Park	56.33%	32.12%	8.57%	2.33%	0.65%
Brighton and Hove	50.19%	33.16%	11.59%	3.88%	1.18%
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 Brighton and Hove changed since 2011?

Brighton and Hove residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.45% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	49.26%	33.64%	11.81%	4.08%	1.2%
2021	50.19%	33.16%	11.59%	3.88%	1.18%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Brighton Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

Brighton & Brighton and Hove 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 Brighton in the Brighton and Hove local area district.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Preston Park	81.94%	18.06%
Brighton and Hove	80.39%	19.61%
South East	84.24%	15.76%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Brighton compared to other wards in Brighton and Hove

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Regency	68.17%	31.83%
2	Brunswick and Adelaide	71.17%	28.83%
3	Central Hove	72.77%	27.23%
4	St. Peter's and North Laine	73.44%	26.56%
5	Goldsmid	73.64%	26.36%
6	Queen's Park	74.34%	25.66%
7	East Brighton	78.57%	21.43%
8	Westbourne	80.02%	19.98%
9	Hollingdean and Stanmer	80.8%	19.2%
10	Rottingdean Coastal	81.74%	18.26%
11	Wish	81.74%	18.26%
12	Preston Park	81.94%	18.06%
13	Withdean	82.08%	17.92%
14	Hove Park	82.73%	17.27%
15	Hanover and Elm Grove	83.07%	16.93%
16	Hangleton and Knoll	83.52%	16.48%
17	Moulsecoomb and Bevendean	83.7%	16.3%
18	South Portslade	86.8%	13.2%
19	Patcham	89.04%	10.96%
20	Woodingdean	89.34%	10.66%
21	North Portslade	90.38%	9.62%

';Brighton is ranked 12 out of 21 wards in Brighton and Hove for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Brighton Education Statistics

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

Level	Preston Park	England
No Qualifications	6.51%	18.08%
Level 1	4.55%	9.69%
Level 2	9.35%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	2.1%	5.32%
Level 3	17.54%	16.92%
Level 4	58.69%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Brighton 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 Brighton and Hove.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Brighton and Hove	4%	-0.6%
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 Brighton 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 Brighton.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	64.72%
In Part-Time Work	28.55%
Unemployed	4.39%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

71.45% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Brighton

What are the occupations of the residents of Brighton?

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

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	32.99%
Associate Professional & Technical	19.53%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	16.03%
Administrative & Secretarial	6.4%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	6.04%
Skilled Trades	5.96%
Elementary Occupations	5.62%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	2%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

What is the population of Brighton and Brighton and Hove?

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

Ward	Population
Brunswick and Adelaide	11367
Central Hove	9974
East Brighton	14145
Goldsmid	16617
Hangleton and Knoll	14798
Hanover and Elm Grove	17723
Hollingdean and Stanmer	18432
Hove Park	11058
Moulsecoomb and Bevendean	18578
North Portslade	9849
Patcham	14535
Preston Park	15215
Queen's Park	16642
Regency	12288
Rottingdean Coastal	14430
South Portslade	9790
St. Peter's and North Laine	20999
Westbourne	10364
Wish	10062
Withdean	15177
Woodingdean	9695
Brighton and Hove Total	291738

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Top 20 most depressing towns in Britain 2024