Socio-economic statistics for Downham, Essex

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

Downham Education Statistics

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

Level	South Hanningfield, Stock and Margaretting	England
No Qualifications	16.65%	18.08%
Level 1	10.91%	9.69%
Level 2	17.13%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	5.16%	5.32%
Level 3	17.11%	16.92%
Level 4	29.86%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Downham Health Statistics

South Hanningfield, Stock and Margaretting 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
South Hanningfield, Stock and Margaretting	52.11%	33.92%	10.12%	3.07%	0.78%
Chelmsford	51.57%	33.82%	11.01%	2.8%	0.79%
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 Chelmsford changed since 2011?

Chelmsford residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.48% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	50.19%	34.72%	11.44%	2.84%	0.81%
2021	51.57%	33.82%	11.01%	2.8%	0.79%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Downham 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 Chelmsford.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Chelmsford	2.3%	-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 Downham 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 Downham.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	54.06%
In Part-Time Work	31.15%
Unemployed	2.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

68.85% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Downham

How many residents own or rent their home in Downham and Chelmsford

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Downham either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 80.54 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 19.46 of Downham residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
South Hanningfield, Stock and Margaretting	80.54%	19.46%
Chelmsford	69.96%	30.04%
East	65.23%	34.77%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Downham compared to other wards in Chelmsford

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Moulsham Lodge	85.58%	14.42%
2	The Lawns	84.73%	15.27%
3	Goat Hall	83.74%	16.26%
4	Rettendon and Runwell	83.48%	16.52%
5	Little Baddow, Danbury and Sandon	82.8%	17.2%
6	Bicknacre and East and West Hanningfield	82.71%	17.29%
7	South Woodham-Elmwood and Woodville	80.7%	19.3%
8	South Hanningfield, Stock and Margaretting	80.54%	19.46%
9	Chelmsford Rural West	76.86%	23.14%
10	South Woodham-Chetwood and Collingwood	76.19%	23.81%
11	Writtle	72.6%	27.4%
12	Springfield North	72.59%	27.41%
13	Galleywood	71.83%	28.17%
14	Chelmer Village and Beaulieu Park	71.62%	28.38%
15	Boreham and The Leighs	71.61%	28.39%
16	Great Baddow East	71.31%	28.69%
17	Broomfield and The Walthams	69.16%	30.84%
18	Trinity (Chelmsford)	65.55%	34.45%
19	Patching Hall	64.89%	35.11%
20	Great Baddow West	63.5%	36.5%
21	St Andrews (Chelmsford)	59.81%	40.19%
22	Waterhouse Farm	59.17%	40.83%
23	Moulsham and Central	50.99%	49.02%
24	Marconi	43.66%	56.34%

Downham is ranked 8 out of 24 wards in Chelmsford for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Downham & Chelmsford 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 Downham in the Chelmsford local area district.

Downham has a lower rate of immigrants than Chelmsford, the East of England region and England as a whole.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
South Hanningfield, Stock and Margaretting	95.12%	4.88%
Chelmsford	88.1%	11.9%
East	85.09%	14.91%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Downham compared to other wards in Chelmsford

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Marconi	76.2%	23.8%
2	Moulsham and Central	78.27%	21.73%
3	Waterhouse Farm	80.76%	19.24%
4	Patching Hall	83.36%	16.64%
5	Trinity	85.24%	14.76%
6	Springfield North	85.26%	14.74%
7	St Andrews	85.49%	14.51%
8	Broomfield and The Walthams	86.21%	13.79%
9	Chelmer Village and Beaulieu Park	87.62%	12.38%
10	The Lawns	87.66%	12.34%
11	Goat Hall	89.83%	10.17%
12	Moulsham Lodge	90.15%	9.85%
13	Great Baddow East	90.19%	9.81%
14	Great Baddow West	90.3%	9.7%
15	Galleywood	92.46%	7.54%
16	Writtle	92.81%	7.19%
17	Bicknacre and East and West Hanningfield	92.82%	7.18%
18	Boreham and The Leighs	93.54%	6.46%
19	Chelmsford Rural West	93.78%	6.22%
20	Little Baddow, Danbury and Sandon	94.2%	5.8%
21	South Woodham-Chetwood and Collingwood	94.57%	5.43%
22	Rettendon and Runwell	94.89%	5.11%
23	South Hanningfield, Stock and Margaretting	95.12%	4.88%
24	South Woodham-Elmwood and Woodville	95.17%	4.83%

';Downham is ranked 23 out of 24 wards in Chelmsford for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What are the occupations of the residents of Downham?

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

Sector	Proportion
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	25.38%
Professional Occupations	17.97%
Associate Professional & Technical	14.56%
Administrative & Secretarial	11.42%
Skilled Trades	9.76%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	6.35%
Elementary Occupations	5.18%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	4.01%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Downham Age Distribution Statistics

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 Census and the calculated the proportion of age groups in South Hanningfield, Stock and Margaretting.

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)

What is the population of Downham and Chelmsford?

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

Ward	Population
Bicknacre and East and West Hanningfield	5426
Boreham and The Leighs	6582
Broomfield and The Walthams	10330
Chelmer Village and Beaulieu Park	11104
Chelmsford Rural West	3155
Galleywood	5603
Goat Hall	5944
Great Baddow East	8411
Great Baddow West	6446
Little Baddow, Danbury and Sandon	8320
Marconi	8906
Moulsham and Central	12745
Moulsham Lodge	5544
Patching Hall	9170
Rettendon and Runwell	6075
South Hanningfield, Stock and Margaretting	5814
South Woodham-Chetwood and Collingwood	7887
South Woodham-Elmwood and Woodville	7953
Springfield North	10144
St Andrews	9597
The Lawns	5399
Trinity	6848
Waterhouse Farm	6744
Writtle	5402
Chelmsford Total	179549

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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