Socio-economic statistics for Byker, Newcastle Upon Tyne

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

Byker & Newcastle upon Tyne 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 Byker in the Newcastle upon Tyne local area district.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Byker	77.86%	22.14%
Newcastle upon Tyne	82.56%	17.44%
North East	93.23%	6.77%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Byker compared to other wards in Newcastle upon Tyne

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Elswick	56.54%	43.46%
2	Monument	60.63%	39.37%
3	Arthur's Hill	60.89%	39.11%
4	Wingrove	67.63%	32.37%
5	Byker	77.86%	22.14%
6	Ouseburn	78.18%	21.82%
7	Blakelaw	81.98%	18.02%
8	Benwell & Scotswood	83.29%	16.71%
9	West Fenham	84.11%	15.89%
10	Heaton	84.23%	15.77%
11	Dene & South Gosforth	84.99%	15.01%
12	Manor Park	85.67%	14.33%
13	Kenton	85.7%	14.3%
14	South Jesmond	85.93%	14.07%
15	Fawdon & West Gosforth	87.21%	12.79%
16	Parklands	87.47%	12.53%
17	Gosforth	87.69%	12.31%
18	Walker	87.74%	12.26%
19	Castle	89.23%	10.77%
20	North Jesmond	89.57%	10.43%
21	Kingston Park South & Newbiggin Hall	91.35%	8.65%
22	Walkergate	92.02%	7.98%
23	Denton & Westerhope	93.63%	6.37%
24	Callerton & Throckley	94.27%	5.73%
25	Lemington	95.9%	4.11%
26	Chapel	97.31%	2.69%

';Byker is ranked 5 out of 26 wards in Newcastle upon Tyne for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Byker Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

Byker Education Statistics

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

Level	Byker	England
No Qualifications	27.13%	18.08%
Level 1	10.49%	9.69%
Level 2	11.96%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	6.26%	5.32%
Level 3	13.56%	16.92%
Level 4	27.92%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Byker Health Statistics

Byker has a significantly lower proportion of residents (>5%) describing their health as very good than the national average for England.

Area	VG	G	F	B	VB
Byker	41.96%	30.66%	17.19%	7.79%	2.39%
Newcastle upon Tyne	48.39%	32.19%	13.1%	4.84%	1.49%
North East	44.58%	33.46%	14.95%	5.41%	1.61%
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 Newcastle upon Tyne changed since 2011?

Newcastle upon Tyne residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.98% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	47.8%	31.8%	13.57%	5.28%	1.55%
2021	48.39%	32.19%	13.1%	4.84%	1.49%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

How many residents own or rent their home in Byker and Newcastle upon Tyne

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Byker either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 21.95 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 78.05 of Byker residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Byker	21.95%	78.05%
Newcastle upon Tyne	49.25%	50.75%
North East	60.27%	39.73%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Byker compared to other wards in Newcastle upon Tyne

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Chapel	88.94%	11.06%
2	Gosforth (Newcastle upon Tyne)	77.01%	22.99%
3	Castle (Newcastle upon Tyne)	74.55%	25.45%
4	Parklands	74.53%	25.47%
5	Dene & South Gosforth	74.36%	25.64%
6	Manor Park (Newcastle upon Tyne)	70.98%	29.02%
7	Lemington	61.76%	38.24%
8	Callerton & Throckley	59.84%	40.16%
9	Fawdon & West Gosforth	57.69%	42.31%
10	Walkergate	55.96%	44.04%
11	Denton & Westerhope	55.61%	44.39%
12	West Fenham	54.68%	45.32%
13	Wingrove	50.23%	49.77%
14	Benwell & Scotswood	50.12%	49.88%
15	Kingston Park South & Newbiggin Hall	49.7%	50.3%
16	Kenton (Newcastle upon Tyne)	47.07%	52.93%
17	Heaton (Newcastle upon Tyne)	45.21%	54.79%
18	Blakelaw	38.95%	61.05%
19	North Jesmond	37.1%	62.9%
20	South Jesmond	31.12%	68.88%
21	Walker	25.31%	74.69%
22	Ouseburn (Newcastle upon Tyne)	24.63%	75.37%
23	Byker	21.95%	78.05%
24	Elswick	18.33%	81.67%
25	Monument	17.53%	82.47%
26	Arthur's Hill	15.59%	84.41%

Byker is ranked 23 out of 26 wards in Newcastle upon Tyne for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Byker 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 Newcastle upon Tyne.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Newcastle upon Tyne	4.7%	-0.5%
North East	4.3%	-0.5%
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 Byker 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 Byker.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	45.33%
In Part-Time Work	29.44%
Unemployed	10.13%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

70.56% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Byker

What are the occupations of the residents of Byker?

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

Sector	Proportion
Elementary Occupations	19.57%
Professional Occupations	16.72%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	11.46%
Associate Professional & Technical	10.79%
Skilled Trades	8.69%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	8.05%
Administrative & Secretarial	7.84%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	6.34%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

What is the population of Byker and Newcastle upon Tyne?

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

Ward	Population
Arthur's Hill	15639
Benwell & Scotswood	12503
Blakelaw	10809
Byker	11767
Callerton & Throckley	9976
Castle	12441
Chapel	8877
Dene & South Gosforth	9879
Denton & Westerhope	12574
Elswick	16252
Fawdon & West Gosforth	10167
Gosforth	10665
Heaton	11415
Kenton	10878
Kingston Park South & Newbiggin Hall	10640
Lemington	9965
Manor Park	9344
Monument	18192
North Jesmond	10448
Ouseburn	13964
Parklands	11259
South Jesmond	11175
Walker	11866
Walkergate	11699
West Fenham	11013
Wingrove	13417
Newcastle upon Tyne Total	306824

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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