Socio-economic statistics for Hitcham, Suffolk

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

How many residents own or rent their home in Hitcham and Babergh

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Hitcham either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 70.74 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 29.26 of Hitcham residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
North West Cosford	70.74%	29.26%
Babergh	71.04%	28.96%
East	65.23%	34.77%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Hitcham has a higher level of home ownership than than the national average.

Hitcham compared to other wards in Babergh

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Capel St Mary	86.12%	13.88%
2	Assington	84.47%	15.53%
3	Brett Vale	80.36%	19.64%
4	South East Cosford	78.98%	21.02%
5	Copdock & Washbrook	78.78%	21.22%
6	Brantham	78.56%	21.44%
7	East Bergholt	78.55%	21.45%
8	Ganges	78.36%	21.64%
9	Orwell	75.8%	24.2%
10	Chadacre	75.64%	24.36%
11	Box Vale	75.41%	24.59%
12	Long Melford	71.96%	28.04%
13	Lavenham	71.85%	28.15%
14	Stour	70.95%	29.05%
15	North West Cosford	70.74%	29.26%
16	Bures St Mary & Nayland	70.67%	29.33%
17	Sproughton & Pinewood	70.35%	29.65%
18	Sudbury South West	67.21%	32.79%
19	Great Cornard	66.17%	33.83%
20	Hadleigh South	64.57%	35.43%
21	Hadleigh North	61.45%	38.55%
22	Sudbury North West	60.88%	39.12%
23	Sudbury South East	59.26%	40.74%
24	Sudbury North East	49.89%	50.11%

Hitcham is ranked 15 out of 24 wards in Babergh for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Hitcham Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

Hitcham Education Statistics

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

Level	North West Cosford	England
No Qualifications	15.52%	18.08%
Level 1	11.82%	9.69%
Level 2	14.64%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	5.91%	5.32%
Level 3	18.17%	16.92%
Level 4	31.79%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What are the occupations of the residents of Hitcham?

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

Sector	Proportion
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	17.55%
Professional Occupations	17.47%
Skilled Trades	15.34%
Associate Professional & Technical	11.86%
Elementary Occupations	9.8%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	8.85%
Administrative & Secretarial	8.38%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	5.22%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Hitcham 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 Babergh.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Babergh	2.2%	-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 Hitcham 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 Hitcham.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	55.09%
In Part-Time Work	34.42%
Unemployed	3.18%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

65.58% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Hitcham

Hitcham Health Statistics

North West Cosford 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
North West Cosford	47.6%	34.79%	13.63%	3.24%	0.74%
Babergh	46.32%	35.88%	13.38%	3.49%	0.92%
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 Babergh changed since 2011?

Babergh residents who describe their health as either good or very good has decreased by 0.22% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	46.59%	35.83%	13.25%	3.45%	0.89%
2021	46.32%	35.88%	13.38%	3.49%	0.92%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Hitcham & Babergh 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 Hitcham in the Babergh local area district.

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

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
North West Cosford	95.35%	4.65%
Babergh	94.27%	5.73%
East	85.09%	14.91%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Hitcham compared to other wards in Babergh

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Sudbury North East	89.83%	10.17%
2	Sproughton & Pinewood	91.44%	8.56%
3	Hadleigh North	92.45%	7.55%
4	Sudbury North West	92.79%	7.21%
5	Sudbury South West	92.99%	7.01%
6	Sudbury South East	93.05%	6.95%
7	Hadleigh South	93.78%	6.22%
8	Stour	93.95%	6.05%
9	East Bergholt	94.24%	5.76%
10	Brett Vale	94.45%	5.55%
11	Copdock & Washbrook	94.52%	5.48%
12	Bures St Mary & Nayland	94.67%	5.33%
13	Great Cornard	94.89%	5.11%
14	Orwell	94.91%	5.09%
15	Lavenham	94.94%	5.06%
16	Ganges	95.09%	4.91%
17	Box Vale	95.12%	4.88%
18	South East Cosford	95.15%	4.85%
19	Long Melford	95.32%	4.68%
20	North West Cosford	95.35%	4.65%
21	Assington	95.4%	4.6%
22	Capel St Mary	95.62%	4.38%
23	Chadacre	96.22%	3.78%
24	Brantham	96.43%	3.57%

';Hitcham is ranked 20 out of 24 wards in Babergh for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What is the population of Hitcham and Babergh?

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

Ward	Population
Assington	2616
Box Vale	2847
Brantham	2542
Brett Vale	3253
Bures St Mary & Nayland	2790
Capel St Mary	2976
Chadacre	6180
Copdock & Washbrook	3245
East Bergholt	2970
Ganges	2467
Great Cornard	9795
Hadleigh North	2904
Hadleigh South	6070
Lavenham	5227
Long Melford	5908
North West Cosford	2704
Orwell	2552
South East Cosford	2630
Sproughton & Pinewood	5916
Stour	3276
Sudbury North East	3274
Sudbury North West	5447
Sudbury South East	2324
Sudbury South West	2822
Babergh Total	92735

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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