Socio-economic statistics for Bury St.Edmunds, Suffolk

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

Bury St.Edmunds & West Suffolk 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 Bury St.Edmunds in the West Suffolk local area district.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Abbeygate	76.48%	23.52%
West Suffolk	82.98%	17.02%
East	85.09%	14.91%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bury St.Edmunds compared to other wards in West Suffolk

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Lakenheath	55.79%	44.21%
2	The Rows	67.27%	32.73%
3	Mildenhall Queensway	71.87%	28.13%
4	Iceni	72.88%	27.12%
5	Newmarket North	73.77%	26.23%
6	Newmarket East	73.96%	26.04%
7	Newmarket West	75.58%	24.42%
8	Abbeygate	76.48%	23.52%
9	Eastgate	78.11%	21.89%
10	Mildenhall Kingsway & Market	79.88%	20.12%
11	Brandon Central	82.11%	17.89%
12	Mildenhall Great Heath	82.65%	17.35%
13	Brandon West	83.02%	16.98%
14	Southgate	83.39%	16.61%
15	Haverhill Central	83.52%	16.48%
16	Manor	83.72%	16.28%
17	Haverhill South	83.83%	16.17%
18	Brandon East	83.97%	16.03%
19	Tollgate	84.26%	15.74%
20	Haverhill East	84.36%	15.64%
21	Moreton Hall	84.61%	15.39%
22	St Olaves	86.77%	13.23%
23	Haverhill West	87.31%	12.69%
24	Exning	87.49%	12.51%
25	Westgate	87.93%	12.07%
26	Kentford & Moulton	87.99%	12.01%
27	Minden	88.4%	11.6%
28	Haverhill North	88.93%	11.07%
29	Withersfield	89.2%	10.8%
30	Risby	89.79%	10.21%
31	Haverhill South East	91.35%	8.65%
32	Pakenham & Troston	92.09%	7.91%
33	The Fornhams & Great Barton	92.41%	7.59%
34	Barrow	92.75%	7.25%
35	Clare, Hundon & Kedington	92.78%	7.22%
36	Chedburgh & Chevington	93%	7%
37	Horringer	93.39%	6.61%
38	Whepstead & Wickhambrook	94.12%	5.88%
39	Bardwell	94.18%	5.82%
40	Ixworth	94.21%	5.79%
41	Rougham	94.7%	5.3%
42	Barningham	95.07%	4.93%
43	Stanton	95.13%	4.87%

';Bury St.Edmunds is ranked 8 out of 43 wards in West Suffolk for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What are the occupations of the residents of Bury St.Edmunds?

The largest employment sector in Bury St.Edmunds is Professional Occupations. The smallest employment sector is Process Plant & Machine Operatives.

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	24.17%
Associate Professional & Technical	14.55%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	13.61%
Skilled Trades	9.67%
Elementary Occupations	9.5%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	8.44%
Administrative & Secretarial	7.93%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	4.83%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Bury St.Edmunds Health Statistics

Abbeygate 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
Abbeygate	45.32%	36.02%	13.57%	4.1%	0.98%
West Suffolk	47.7%	35.45%	12.49%	3.42%	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)

Bury St.Edmunds 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 West Suffolk.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
West Suffolk	2.2%	-0.2%
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 Bury St.Edmunds 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 Bury St.Edmunds.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	54.16%
In Part-Time Work	23.42%
Unemployed	4.61%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

76.58% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Bury St.Edmunds

Bury St.Edmunds Education Statistics

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

Level	Abbeygate	England
No Qualifications	17.79%	18.08%
Level 1	8.7%	9.69%
Level 2	11.7%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	4.48%	5.32%
Level 3	13.38%	16.92%
Level 4	40.34%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Bury St.Edmunds Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

How many residents own or rent their home in Bury St.Edmunds and West Suffolk

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Bury St.Edmunds either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 43.34 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 56.66 of Bury St.Edmunds residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Abbeygate	43.34%	56.66%
West Suffolk	60.18%	39.82%
East	65.23%	34.77%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Bury St.Edmunds compared to other wards in West Suffolk

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Haverhill South East	78.8%	21.2%
2	Horringer	78.5%	21.5%
3	Brandon East	78.34%	21.66%
4	Whepstead & Wickhambrook	78.25%	21.75%
5	Barningham	77.88%	22.12%
6	Westgate (West Suffolk)	75.89%	24.11%
7	The Fornhams & Great Barton	75.7%	24.3%
8	Chedburgh & Chevington	74.53%	25.47%
9	Clare, Hundon & Kedington	74.32%	25.68%
10	Haverhill North	73.02%	26.98%
11	Ixworth	72.48%	27.52%
12	Risby	72.31%	27.69%
13	Southgate (West Suffolk)	72.06%	27.94%
14	Stanton (West Suffolk)	71.94%	28.07%
15	Barrow	71.27%	28.73%
16	Manor (West Suffolk)	71.21%	28.79%
17	Rougham	70.57%	29.43%
18	Haverhill West	69.71%	30.29%
19	Bardwell	69.43%	30.57%
20	Withersfield	68.78%	31.22%
21	Kentford & Moulton	68.59%	31.41%
22	Moreton Hall	65.59%	34.41%
23	Minden	62.4%	37.6%
24	Exning	61.99%	38.01%
25	Brandon West	60.56%	39.44%
26	Mildenhall Kingsway & Market	57.48%	42.52%
27	Pakenham & Troston	53.87%	46.13%
28	Haverhill Central	53.47%	46.53%
29	Newmarket North	52.12%	47.88%
30	Newmarket West	52.07%	47.93%
31	Mildenhall Queensway	51.34%	48.66%
32	Haverhill East	51.15%	48.85%
33	Iceni	51.09%	48.91%
34	St Olaves	50.96%	49.04%
35	The Rows	50.46%	49.54%
36	Brandon Central	49.53%	50.47%
37	Lakenheath	48.76%	51.24%
38	Mildenhall Great Heath	48.44%	51.56%
39	Tollgate	46.85%	53.15%
40	Eastgate	45.43%	54.57%
41	Haverhill South	44.95%	55.05%
42	Abbeygate	43.34%	56.66%
43	Newmarket East	39.78%	60.22%

Bury St.Edmunds is ranked 42 out of 43 wards in West Suffolk for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What is the population of Bury St.Edmunds and West Suffolk?

The table below contains the populations figures for each ward in West Suffolk including Bury St.Edmunds. These population ONS figures are estimated are dated Mid 2020.

Ward	Population
West Suffolk Total	0

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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