Socio-economic statistics for Grays, Kent

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

Grays Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

How many residents own or rent their home in Grays and Thurrock

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Grays either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 44.54 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 55.46 of Grays residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Grays Riverside	44.54%	55.46%
Thurrock	63.31%	36.69%
East	65.23%	34.77%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Grays compared to other wards in Thurrock

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	The Homesteads	87.97%	12.03%
2	Corringham and Fobbing	85.34%	14.66%
3	Orsett	81.15%	18.85%
4	Little Thurrock Blackshots	80.1%	19.9%
5	Chafford and North Stifford	76.95%	23.05%
6	Little Thurrock Rectory	74.81%	25.19%
7	East Tilbury	71.91%	28.09%
8	Stifford Clays	69.97%	30.03%
9	Stanford-le-Hope West	67.16%	32.84%
10	South Chafford	66.42%	33.58%
11	Aveley and Uplands	66.21%	33.79%
12	Stanford East and Corringham Town	65.53%	34.47%
13	Ockendon	61.21%	38.79%
14	Grays Thurrock	57.81%	42.19%
15	Chadwell St Mary	55.82%	44.18%
16	Belhus	55.38%	44.62%
17	West Thurrock and South Stifford	50.34%	49.66%
18	Grays Riverside	44.54%	55.46%
19	Tilbury St Chads	44.41%	55.59%
20	Tilbury Riverside and Thurrock Park	40.58%	59.42%

Grays is ranked 18 out of 20 wards in Thurrock for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Grays Education Statistics

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

Level	Grays Riverside	England
No Qualifications	19.69%	18.08%
Level 1	11.23%	9.69%
Level 2	12.75%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	4.46%	5.32%
Level 3	14.52%	16.92%
Level 4	32.99%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Grays Health Statistics

Grays Riverside 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
Grays Riverside	52.36%	34.26%	9.74%	2.81%	0.84%
Thurrock	50.77%	33.35%	11.55%	3.35%	0.99%
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 Thurrock changed since 2011?

Thurrock residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 1.18% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	48.2%	34.74%	12.29%	3.73%	1.03%
2021	50.77%	33.35%	11.55%	3.35%	0.99%

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 Grays?

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

Sector	Proportion
Elementary Occupations	20.45%
Professional Occupations	12.69%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	11.2%
Administrative & Secretarial	10.1%
Associate Professional & Technical	10.07%
Skilled Trades	9.68%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	8.59%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	8.3%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Grays & Thurrock 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 Grays in the Thurrock local area district.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Grays Riverside	59.73%	40.27%
Thurrock	79.01%	20.99%
East	85.09%	14.91%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Grays compared to other wards in Thurrock

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Grays Riverside	59.73%	40.27%
2	West Thurrock and South Stifford	62.47%	37.53%
3	South Chafford	65.84%	34.17%
4	Grays Thurrock	70.08%	29.92%
5	Tilbury Riverside and Thurrock Park	73.55%	26.45%
6	Chafford and North Stifford	75.91%	24.09%
7	Tilbury St Chads	76.26%	23.74%
8	Little Thurrock Rectory	78.31%	21.69%
9	Ockendon	79.01%	20.99%
10	Belhus	79.3%	20.7%
11	Aveley and Uplands	80.1%	19.9%
12	Little Thurrock Blackshots	84.44%	15.57%
13	Chadwell St Mary	84.86%	15.14%
14	East Tilbury	85.97%	14.03%
15	Stifford Clays	88.13%	11.87%
16	Stanford-le-Hope West	91.75%	8.25%
17	Orsett	92.47%	7.53%
18	Stanford East and Corringham Town	93.24%	6.76%
19	The Homesteads	94.38%	5.62%
20	Corringham and Fobbing	96.27%	3.73%

';Grays is ranked 1 out of 20 wards in Thurrock for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Grays 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 Thurrock.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Thurrock	3.9%	-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 Grays 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 Grays.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	66.04%
In Part-Time Work	22.19%
Unemployed	6.15%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

77.81% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Grays

What is the population of Grays and Thurrock?

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

Ward	Population
Aveley and Uplands	10639
Belhus	10679
Chadwell St Mary	10489
Chafford and North Stifford	8324
Corringham and Fobbing	5425
East Tilbury	7309
Grays Riverside	14210
Grays Thurrock	10019
Little Thurrock Blackshots	6695
Little Thurrock Rectory	6186
Ockendon	11790
Orsett	5944
South Chafford	8160
Stanford East and Corringham Town	8288
Stanford-le-Hope West	7115
Stifford Clays	6760
The Homesteads	8282
Tilbury Riverside and Thurrock Park	8181
Tilbury St Chads	6813
West Thurrock and South Stifford	14223
Thurrock Total	175531

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