Socio-economic statistics for Downham, Northumberland

Is Downham in Northumberland 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 Northumberland? What is the claimant count in Downham and how many residents are unemployed? This page should provide you with the answers.

Downham & Northumberland 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 Northumberland local area district.

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

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Wooler	96.85%	3.15%
Northumberland	96.49%	3.51%
North East	93.23%	6.77%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Downham compared to other wards in Northumberland

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Ponteland West	92.76%	7.24%
2	Berwick North	92.98%	7.02%
3	Berwick East	93.57%	6.43%
4	Ponteland North	93.98%	6.02%
5	Croft	94.04%	5.96%
6	Ponteland South with Heddon	94.07%	5.93%
7	Hirst	94.08%	5.92%
8	Morpeth North	95.07%	4.93%
9	Hexham West	95.11%	4.89%
10	Hexham East	95.25%	4.75%
11	Bywell	95.62%	4.38%
12	Longhorsley	95.78%	4.22%
13	Alnwick	95.81%	4.19%
14	Hexham Central with Acomb	95.9%	4.1%
15	Prudhoe South	95.91%	4.09%
16	Morpeth Stobhill	95.95%	4.05%
17	Rothbury	96.01%	3.99%
18	Berwick West with Ord	96.06%	3.94%
19	Longhoughton	96.07%	3.93%
20	Wensleydale	96.16%	3.84%
21	Ponteland East and Stannington	96.18%	3.82%
22	Morpeth Kirkhill	96.2%	3.8%
23	Cramlington East	96.29%	3.71%
24	Druridge Bay	96.37%	3.63%
25	Humshaugh	96.45%	3.55%
26	Kitty Brewster	96.49%	3.51%
27	Corbridge	96.59%	3.41%
28	Sleekburn	96.62%	3.38%
29	Ashington Central	96.64%	3.36%
30	Bellingham	96.65%	3.35%
31	Stocksfield and Broomhaugh	96.67%	3.33%
32	Isabella	96.73%	3.27%
33	Bedlington East	96.76%	3.24%
34	South Tynedale	96.76%	3.24%
35	Wooler	96.85%	3.15%
36	Cramlington Village	96.87%	3.13%
37	Cramlington Eastfield	96.92%	3.08%
38	College	96.99%	3.01%
39	Norham and Islandshires	97.02%	2.98%
40	Seaton with Newbiggin West	97.04%	2.96%
41	Prudhoe North	97.04%	2.96%
42	Shilbottle	97.16%	2.84%
43	Newbiggin Central and East	97.18%	2.82%
44	Amble West with Warkworth	97.21%	2.79%
45	Cowpen	97.24%	2.76%
46	Bedlington Central	97.36%	2.64%
47	Hartley	97.37%	2.63%
48	Cramlington West	97.38%	2.62%
49	Bedlington West	97.4%	2.6%
50	Haydon and Hadrian	97.46%	2.55%
51	Holywell	97.51%	2.49%
52	Haydon	97.7%	2.3%
53	Choppington	97.72%	2.28%
54	Cramlington South East	97.76%	2.24%
55	Bamburgh	97.83%	2.17%
56	Lynemouth	97.86%	2.14%
57	Amble	97.89%	2.11%
58	Stakeford	97.93%	2.07%
59	Plessey	97.96%	2.04%
60	Cramlington North	98.04%	1.96%
61	South Blyth	98.17%	1.83%
62	Haltwhistle	98.17%	1.83%

';Downham is ranked 35 out of 62 wards in Northumberland for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Downham Health Statistics

Wooler 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
Wooler	42.63%	34.78%	16.08%	5.11%	1.4%
Northumberland	43.76%	34.59%	15.42%	4.88%	1.34%
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 many residents own or rent their home in Downham and Northumberland

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. 53.22 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 46.78 of Downham residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Wooler	53.22%	46.78%
Northumberland	65.2%	34.8%
North East	60.27%	39.73%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Downham compared to other wards in Northumberland

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Cramlington North	93.66%	6.34%
2	Ponteland South with Heddon	90.39%	9.61%
3	South Blyth	89.48%	10.52%
4	Hexham West	85.81%	14.19%
5	Stocksfield and Broomhaugh	82.14%	17.86%
6	Ponteland East and Stannington	81.02%	18.98%
7	Amble West with Warkworth	79.16%	20.84%
8	Ponteland North	76.87%	23.13%
9	Ponteland West	76.75%	23.25%
10	Shilbottle	76.75%	23.25%
11	Bedlington West	76.6%	23.4%
12	Stakeford	76.51%	23.49%
13	Hartley	75.65%	24.35%
14	Cramlington South East	75.16%	24.84%
15	Morpeth North	75.1%	24.9%
16	Prudhoe North	75.06%	24.94%
17	Haydon	74.47%	25.53%
18	Morpeth Kirkhill	74.46%	25.54%
19	Morpeth Stobhill	73.36%	26.64%
20	Cramlington Eastfield	73.2%	26.8%
21	Bywell	72.95%	27.05%
22	Longhorsley	72.49%	27.51%
23	South Tynedale	72.22%	27.78%
24	Plessey	71.96%	28.04%
25	Corbridge	70.84%	29.16%
26	Berwick West with Ord	70.54%	29.46%
27	Cramlington Village	70.43%	29.57%
28	Lynemouth	69.88%	30.12%
29	Haydon and Hadrian	67.75%	32.25%
30	Rothbury	66.78%	33.22%
31	Seaton with Newbiggin West	66.55%	33.45%
32	Holywell (Northumberland)	66.01%	33.99%
33	Bedlington Central	65.4%	34.6%
34	Bamburgh	63.94%	36.06%
35	Bellingham (Northumberland)	63.27%	36.73%
36	Haltwhistle	62.66%	37.34%
37	Kitty Brewster	62.03%	37.97%
38	Humshaugh	61.91%	38.09%
39	Wensleydale	61.72%	38.28%
40	Druridge Bay	61.65%	38.35%
41	Hexham East	61.59%	38.41%
42	Cramlington West	61.02%	38.98%
43	Longhoughton	60.55%	39.45%
44	Amble	60.31%	39.69%
45	Alnwick	59.35%	40.65%
46	Berwick North	59.29%	40.71%
47	Norham and Islandshires	59.07%	40.93%
48	Prudhoe South	57.19%	42.81%
49	Newbiggin Central and East	56.91%	43.09%
50	Hexham Central with Acomb	56.82%	43.18%
51	Choppington	54.99%	45.01%
52	Wooler	53.22%	46.78%
53	Berwick East	52.95%	47.05%
54	Bedlington East	52.1%	47.9%
55	Sleekburn	52.03%	47.97%
56	Cramlington East	49.3%	50.7%
57	College (Northumberland)	48.36%	51.64%
58	Ashington Central	48.28%	51.72%
59	Cowpen	47.66%	52.34%
60	Croft (Northumberland)	42.22%	57.78%
61	Isabella	40.09%	59.91%
62	Hirst	38.64%	61.36%

Downham is ranked 52 out of 62 wards in Northumberland for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 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 Northumberland.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Northumberland	3.4%	-0.4%
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 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	49.17%
In Part-Time Work	34.66%
Unemployed	4.05%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

65.34% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Downham

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	Wooler	England
No Qualifications	18.7%	18.08%
Level 1	9.77%	9.69%
Level 2	14.37%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	7.93%	5.32%
Level 3	15.08%	16.92%
Level 4	30.92%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Downham Age Distribution Statistics

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

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 are the occupations of the residents of Downham?

The largest employment sector in Downham is Skilled Trades. The smallest employment sector is Process Plant & Machine Operatives.

Sector	Proportion
Skilled Trades	18.08%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	14.85%
Professional Occupations	13.27%
Elementary Occupations	12.16%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	10.84%
Administrative & Secretarial	9.09%
Associate Professional & Technical	7.93%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	7.82%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

What is the population of Downham and Northumberland?

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

Ward	Population
Northumberland 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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