Houghton-le-Spring, Sunderland - iLiveHere: Best & Worst UK Towns Reviewed

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

What are the occupations of the residents of Houghton-le-Spring?

The largest employment sector in Houghton-le-Spring is Professional Occupations. The smallest employment sector is Managers, Directors & Senior Officials.

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	14.39%
Skilled Trades	12.25%
Elementary Occupations	11.63%
Associate Professional & Technical	11.17%
Administrative & Secretarial	10.81%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	10.75%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	9.83%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	8.85%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

How many residents own or rent their home in Houghton-le-Spring and Sunderland

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Houghton-le-Spring either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 58.47 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 41.53 of Houghton-le-Spring residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Hetton	58.47%	41.53%
Sunderland	58.11%	41.89%
North East	60.27%	39.73%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Houghton-le-Spring has a lower level of home ownership than than the national average.

Houghton-le-Spring compared to other wards in Sunderland

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Fulwell	87.97%	12.03%
2	Barnes (Sunderland)	72.16%	27.84%
3	Washington South	69.58%	30.42%
4	Doxford	68.64%	31.36%
5	Houghton	67%	33%
6	Washington West	66.01%	33.99%
7	Shiney Row	65.98%	34.02%
8	St Michael's (Sunderland)	65.75%	34.25%
9	Washington East	65.74%	34.26%
10	St Peter's (Sunderland)	64.62%	35.38%
11	Copt Hill	63.94%	36.06%
12	Washington Central	60.91%	39.09%
13	Ryhope	60.71%	39.29%
14	Silksworth	60.12%	39.88%
15	Hetton	58.47%	41.53%
16	St Chad's	56.12%	43.88%
17	St Anne's	51.69%	48.31%
18	Millfield (Sunderland)	51.26%	48.74%
19	Pallion	48.27%	51.73%
20	Castle (Sunderland)	47.76%	52.24%
21	Washington North	46.1%	53.9%
22	Sandhill	44.37%	55.63%
23	Southwick (Sunderland)	41.44%	58.56%
24	Redhill (Sunderland)	40.39%	59.61%
25	Hendon (Sunderland)	31.01%	68.99%

Houghton-le-Spring is ranked 15 out of 25 wards in Sunderland for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Houghton-le-Spring Health Statistics

Hetton 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
Hetton	42.64%	31.56%	17.24%	6.62%	1.94%
Sunderland	43.13%	33%	15.87%	6.14%	1.86%
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 has the health of residents in Sunderland changed since 2011?

Sunderland residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.66% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	42.6%	32.87%	15.95%	6.59%	1.99%
2021	43.13%	33%	15.87%	6.14%	1.86%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Houghton-le-Spring Education Statistics

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census to found of the level of education Houghton-le-Spring 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 Houghton-le-Spring to the national average for England.

Level	Hetton	England
No Qualifications	24.49%	18.08%
Level 1	10.62%	9.69%
Level 2	15.27%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	7.55%	5.32%
Level 3	17.33%	16.92%
Level 4	22.52%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Houghton-le-Spring 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 Sunderland.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Sunderland	4.7%	-0.7%
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 Houghton-le-Spring 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 Houghton-le-Spring.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	49.9%
In Part-Time Work	25.19%
Unemployed	5.74%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

74.81% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Houghton-le-Spring

Houghton-le-Spring & Sunderland 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 Houghton-le-Spring in the Sunderland local area district.

Houghton-le-Spring has a lower rate of immigrants than Sunderland, the North East region and England as a whole.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Hetton	97.41%	2.59%
Sunderland	94.9%	5.1%
North East	93.23%	6.77%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Houghton-le-Spring compared to other wards in Sunderland

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Millfield	75.52%	24.48%
2	Hendon	84.44%	15.56%
3	Barnes	90.81%	9.19%
4	St Michael's	91.02%	8.98%
5	Pallion	91.51%	8.49%
6	St Peter's	94.05%	5.95%
7	Washington North	95.7%	4.3%
8	Southwick	95.74%	4.26%
9	St Anne's	96.33%	3.67%
10	Washington East	96.5%	3.5%
11	Washington South	96.5%	3.5%
12	Copt Hill	96.89%	3.11%
13	Ryhope	96.95%	3.05%
14	Washington West	97.08%	2.92%
15	Washington Central	97.3%	2.7%
16	Castle	97.33%	2.67%
17	Sandhill	97.39%	2.61%
18	Shiney Row	97.4%	2.6%
19	Hetton	97.41%	2.59%
20	Doxford	97.58%	2.42%
21	St Chad's	97.59%	2.41%
22	Houghton	97.62%	2.38%
23	Silksworth	97.63%	2.37%
24	Redhill	97.7%	2.3%
25	Fulwell	97.73%	2.27%

';Houghton-le-Spring is ranked 19 out of 25 wards in Sunderland for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Houghton-le-Spring Age Distribution Statistics

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

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 Houghton-le-Spring and Sunderland?

The table below contains the populations figures for each ward in Sunderland including Houghton-le-Spring. These population ONS figures are estimated are dated Mid 2020.

Ward	Population
Barnes	10595
Castle	10838
Copt Hill	11853
Doxford	9847
Fulwell	10850
Hendon	12987
Hetton	11831
Houghton	11740
Millfield	13038
Pallion	10827
Redhill	11112
Ryhope	11363
Sandhill	10786
Shiney Row	13170
Silksworth	10194
Southwick	10749
St Anne's	10981
St Chad's	9169
St Michael's	10682
St Peter's	10851
Washington Central	10818
Washington East	11326
Washington North	10847
Washington South	10005
Washington West	11387
Sunderland Total	277846

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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