Socio-economic statistics for Chorley, Cheshire

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

Chorley 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 Cheshire East.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Cheshire East	2.4%	-0.1%
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 Chorley 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 Chorley.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	57.77%
In Part-Time Work	28.37%
Unemployed	2.76%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

71.63% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Chorley

What are the occupations of the residents of Chorley?

The largest employment sector in Chorley is Managers, Directors & Senior Officials. The smallest employment sector is Process Plant & Machine Operatives.

Sector	Proportion
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	23.52%
Professional Occupations	20.73%
Associate Professional & Technical	12.46%
Skilled Trades	12.09%
Administrative & Secretarial	8.56%
Elementary Occupations	7.46%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	6.47%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	4.45%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Chorley Health Statistics

Wrenbury has more residents (very_good_pc-$country_health->very_good_pc, 2)%) describing their health as very good than the national average for England.

Area	VG	G	F	B	VB
Wrenbury	52.21%	32.85%	11.33%	2.81%	0.81%
Cheshire East	49.84%	33.31%	12.15%	3.64%	1.06%
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 Cheshire East changed since 2011?

Cheshire East residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.84% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	49.06%	33.25%	12.78%	3.85%	1.06%
2021	49.84%	33.31%	12.15%	3.64%	1.06%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Chorley Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

Chorley & Cheshire East 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 Chorley in the Cheshire East local area district.

Chorley has a lower rate of immigrants than Cheshire East, the North West region and England as a whole.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Wrenbury	95.79%	4.21%
Cheshire East	91.69%	8.31%
North West	88.33%	11.67%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Chorley compared to other wards in Cheshire East

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Crewe South	65.32%	34.68%
2	Crewe Central	69.09%	30.91%
3	Crewe St Barnabas	79.27%	20.73%
4	Crewe West	83.81%	16.19%
5	Wilmslow Dean Row	84.07%	15.93%
6	Wilmslow East	87.14%	12.86%
7	Handforth	87.34%	12.66%
8	Crewe East	87.64%	12.36%
9	Macclesfield Central	87.9%	12.1%
10	Crewe North	88.06%	11.94%
11	Alderley Edge	89.55%	10.45%
12	Wilmslow Lacey Green	89.88%	10.12%
13	Wilmslow West and Chorley	91.23%	8.77%
14	Macclesfield Hurdsfield	91.46%	8.54%
15	Broken Cross and Upton	91.51%	8.49%
16	Knutsford	92.38%	7.62%
17	Leighton	92.4%	7.6%
18	Prestbury	92.43%	7.57%
19	Macclesfield Tytherington	92.58%	7.42%
20	Macclesfield South	92.98%	7.02%
21	Nantwich South and Stapeley	93.17%	6.83%
22	Macclesfield East	93.35%	6.65%
23	Mobberley	93.74%	6.26%
24	Macclesfield West and Ivy	93.76%	6.24%
25	Nantwich North and West	93.77%	6.23%
26	Sandbach Elworth	94.1%	5.9%
27	Wistaston	94.11%	5.89%
28	High Legh	94.22%	5.78%
29	Wybunbury	94.51%	5.49%
30	Chelford	94.98%	5.02%
31	Disley	94.98%	5.02%
32	Middlewich	95.01%	4.99%
33	Poynton West and Adlington	95.17%	4.83%
34	Congleton West	95.22%	4.78%
35	Bollington	95.28%	4.72%
36	Sandbach Ettiley Heath and Wheelock	95.37%	4.63%
37	Shavington	95.46%	4.54%
38	Dane Valley	95.49%	4.51%
39	Sandbach Heath and East	95.58%	4.42%
40	Gawsworth	95.6%	4.4%
41	Sandbach Town	95.72%	4.28%
42	Alsager	95.76%	4.24%
43	Wrenbury	95.79%	4.21%
44	Brereton Rural	95.81%	4.19%
45	Bunbury	95.89%	4.11%
46	Willaston and Rope	95.99%	4.01%
47	Haslington	95.99%	4.01%
48	Poynton East and Pott Shrigley	96.09%	3.91%
49	Sutton	96.19%	3.81%
50	Congleton East	96.25%	3.75%
51	Audlem	96.63%	3.37%
52	Odd Rode	97.36%	2.64%

';Chorley is ranked 43 out of 52 wards in Cheshire East for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Chorley Education Statistics

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

Level	Wrenbury	England
No Qualifications	14.37%	18.08%
Level 1	8%	9.69%
Level 2	13.27%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	5.37%	5.32%
Level 3	15.31%	16.92%
Level 4	41.85%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

How many residents own or rent their home in Chorley and Cheshire East

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Chorley either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 73.5 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 26.5 of Chorley residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Wrenbury	73.5%	26.5%
Cheshire East	71.86%	28.14%
North West	62.33%	37.67%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Chorley has a significantly higher level of home ownership than the national average. This is indicative or an economically wealthy area.

Chorley compared to other wards in Cheshire East

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Poynton East and Pott Shrigley	87.81%	12.19%
2	Prestbury (Cheshire East)	87.34%	12.66%
3	Wistaston	87.05%	12.95%
4	Willaston and Rope	86.25%	13.75%
5	Leighton	85.83%	14.17%
6	Wybunbury	84.8%	15.2%
7	Dane Valley (Cheshire East)	82.61%	17.39%
8	Poynton West and Adlington	82.28%	17.72%
9	Audlem	81.99%	18.01%
10	Disley	81.98%	18.02%
11	Wilmslow West and Chorley	81.79%	18.21%
12	Haslington	81.25%	18.75%
13	Macclesfield Tytherington	80.96%	19.04%
14	Odd Rode	80.8%	19.2%
15	Wilmslow East	80.34%	19.66%
16	Mobberley	79.99%	20.01%
17	Shavington	79.8%	20.2%
18	Chelford	79.25%	20.75%
19	Bunbury	78.35%	21.65%
20	Gawsworth	78.33%	21.67%
21	Brereton Rural	78%	22%
22	Sutton (Cheshire East)	77.99%	22.01%
23	Alsager	77.83%	22.17%
24	Sandbach Elworth	77.53%	22.47%
25	Sandbach Ettiley Heath and Wheelock	76.95%	23.05%
26	Wilmslow Dean Row	75.94%	24.06%
27	Sandbach Town	75.78%	24.22%
28	Middlewich	74.29%	25.71%
29	Broken Cross and Upton	73.87%	26.13%
30	Congleton West	73.63%	26.37%
31	High Legh	73.6%	26.4%
32	Wrenbury	73.5%	26.5%
33	Nantwich South and Stapeley	73.39%	26.61%
34	Bollington	73.23%	26.77%
35	Congleton East	72.11%	27.89%
36	Alderley Edge	71.73%	28.27%
37	Knutsford	71.18%	28.82%
38	Sandbach Heath and East	70.34%	29.66%
39	Macclesfield East	68.76%	31.24%
40	Crewe North	67.37%	32.63%
41	Macclesfield West and Ivy	65.88%	34.12%
42	Crewe East	64.82%	35.18%
43	Wilmslow Lacey Green	64.64%	35.36%
44	Macclesfield South	62.48%	37.52%
45	Nantwich North and West	61.84%	38.16%
46	Crewe West	60.52%	39.48%
47	Handforth	58.07%	41.93%
48	Macclesfield Hurdsfield	54.27%	45.73%
49	Macclesfield Central	53.8%	46.2%
50	Crewe South	43.66%	56.34%
51	Crewe St Barnabas	42.47%	57.53%
52	Crewe Central	26.94%	73.06%

Chorley is ranked 32 out of 52 wards in Cheshire East for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What is the population of Chorley and Cheshire East?

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

Ward	Population
Alderley Edge	4997
Alsager	12458
Audlem	5830
Bollington	8695
Brereton Rural	6601
Broken Cross and Upton	8843
Bunbury	5850
Chelford	4130
Congleton East	13417
Congleton West	13406
Crewe Central	6872
Crewe East	15461
Crewe North	4604
Crewe South	12599
Crewe St Barnabas	5692
Crewe West	10806
Dane Valley	9778
Disley	4700
Gawsworth	4097
Handforth	9419
Haslington	8412
High Legh	4461
Knutsford	13018
Leighton	5028
Macclesfield Central	9187
Macclesfield East	4346
Macclesfield Hurdsfield	4325
Macclesfield South	8446
Macclesfield Tytherington	8675
Macclesfield West and Ivy	7957
Middlewich	14204
Mobberley	4747
Nantwich North and West	8611
Nantwich South and Stapeley	9609
Odd Rode	8221
Poynton East and Pott Shrigley	7523
Poynton West and Adlington	8294
Prestbury	4290
Sandbach Elworth	5675
Sandbach Ettiley Heath and Wheelock	5259
Sandbach Heath and East	4388
Sandbach Town	5763
Shavington	4817
Sutton	4127
Willaston and Rope	5099
Wilmslow Dean Row	4985
Wilmslow East	4527
Wilmslow Lacey Green	4806
Wilmslow West and Chorley	10257
Wistaston	8795
Wrenbury	4800
Wybunbury	5760
Cheshire East Total	386667

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