Socio-economic statistics for Four Ashes, Suffolk

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

Four Ashes Age Distribution Statistics

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 Census and the calculated the proportion of age groups in Walsham-le-Willows.

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)

Four Ashes Education Statistics

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

Level	Walsham-le-Willows	England
No Qualifications	18.79%	18.08%
Level 1	10.85%	9.69%
Level 2	13.65%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	5.94%	5.32%
Level 3	17.5%	16.92%
Level 4	31.12%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

How many residents own or rent their home in Four Ashes and Mid Suffolk

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Four Ashes either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 72.55 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 27.45 of Four Ashes residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Walsham-le-Willows	72.55%	27.45%
Mid Suffolk	73.87%	26.13%
East	65.23%	34.77%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Four Ashes compared to other wards in Mid Suffolk

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Bacton (Mid Suffolk)	83.11%	16.89%
2	Onehouse	80.28%	19.72%
3	Palgrave	80.08%	19.92%
4	Blakenham	79.97%	20.03%
5	Gislingham	79.97%	20.03%
6	Thurston	79.35%	20.65%
7	Claydon & Barham	78.93%	21.07%
8	Rattlesden	78.39%	21.61%
9	Stonham	78.39%	21.61%
10	Mendlesham	77.6%	22.4%
11	Hoxne & Worlingworth	77.22%	22.78%
12	Fressingfield	76.67%	23.33%
13	Bramford	76.12%	23.88%
14	Rickinghall	75.6%	24.4%
15	Elmswell & Woolpit	74.12%	25.88%
16	Debenham	73.6%	26.4%
17	Stradbroke & Laxfield	72.92%	27.08%
18	Walsham-le-Willows	72.55%	27.45%
19	Needham Market	71.4%	28.6%
20	Haughley, Stowupland & Wetherden	71.11%	28.89%
21	Battisford & Ringshall	70.21%	29.79%
22	Stow Thorney	70.02%	29.98%
23	Eye	68.44%	31.56%
24	Combs Ford	67.82%	32.18%
25	Chilton (Mid Suffolk)	67.16%	32.84%
26	St Peter's (Mid Suffolk)	58.08%	41.92%

Four Ashes is ranked 18 out of 26 wards in Mid Suffolk for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Four Ashes 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 Mid Suffolk.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Mid Suffolk	1.9%	-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 Four Ashes 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 Four Ashes.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	56.16%
In Part-Time Work	30.08%
Unemployed	3.44%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

69.92% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Four Ashes

Four Ashes Health Statistics

Walsham-le-Willows 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
Walsham-le-Willows	47.77%	35.85%	12.43%	2.85%	1.09%
Mid Suffolk	46.94%	35.99%	12.86%	3.36%	0.85%
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 Mid Suffolk changed since 2011?

Mid Suffolk residents who describe their health as either good or very good has decreased by 0.26% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	47.88%	35.31%	12.85%	3.12%	0.83%
2021	46.94%	35.99%	12.86%	3.36%	0.85%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What are the occupations of the residents of Four Ashes?

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

Sector	Proportion
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	16.86%
Professional Occupations	15.79%
Skilled Trades	14.26%
Associate Professional & Technical	12.66%
Elementary Occupations	10.06%
Administrative & Secretarial	9.86%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	7.59%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	7.06%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Four Ashes & Mid 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 Four Ashes in the Mid Suffolk local area district.

Four Ashes has a lower rate of immigrants than Mid Suffolk, the East of England region and England as a whole.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Walsham-le-Willows	96.03%	3.97%
Mid Suffolk	94.37%	5.63%
East	85.09%	14.91%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Four Ashes compared to other wards in Mid Suffolk

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Battisford & Ringshall	82.41%	17.59%
2	St Peter's	91.31%	8.69%
3	Stow Thorney	91.95%	8.05%
4	Chilton	93.39%	6.62%
5	Eye	93.94%	6.06%
6	Thurston	94.16%	5.84%
7	Rattlesden	94.19%	5.81%
8	Rickinghall	94.42%	5.58%
9	Elmswell & Woolpit	94.43%	5.57%
10	Combs Ford	94.65%	5.35%
11	Debenham	95%	5%
12	Needham Market	95.05%	4.95%
13	Onehouse	95.17%	4.83%
14	Stradbroke & Laxfield	95.22%	4.78%
15	Hoxne & Worlingworth	95.41%	4.59%
16	Gislingham	95.41%	4.59%
17	Blakenham	95.44%	4.56%
18	Haughley, Stowupland & Wetherden	95.61%	4.39%
19	Stonham	95.64%	4.36%
20	Bramford	95.69%	4.31%
21	Palgrave	95.81%	4.19%
22	Walsham-le-Willows	96.03%	3.97%
23	Mendlesham	96.16%	3.84%
24	Fressingfield	96.41%	3.59%
25	Claydon & Barham	96.44%	3.56%
26	Bacton	96.62%	3.38%

';Four Ashes is ranked 22 out of 26 wards in Mid Suffolk for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What is the population of Four Ashes and Mid Suffolk?

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

Ward	Population
Bacton	3000
Battisford & Ringshall	3976
Blakenham	3299
Bramford	2540
Chilton	6676
Claydon & Barham	6031
Combs Ford	6210
Debenham	3309
Elmswell & Woolpit	6531
Eye	3067
Fressingfield	2884
Gislingham	3217
Haughley, Stowupland & Wetherden	5781
Hoxne & Worlingworth	2748
Mendlesham	3011
Needham Market	6133
Onehouse	2947
Palgrave	2879
Rattlesden	3186
Rickinghall	2956
St Peter's	2480
Stonham	2985
Stow Thorney	6748
Stradbroke & Laxfield	3150
Thurston	5926
Walsham-le-Willows	3187
Mid Suffolk Total	104857

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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