Socio-economic statistics for Long Melford, Suffolk

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

Long Melford Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

Long Melford Education Statistics

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

Level	Long Melford	England
No Qualifications	19.25%	18.08%
Level 1	11.81%	9.69%
Level 2	15.04%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	7.01%	5.32%
Level 3	17.03%	16.92%
Level 4	27.14%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Long Melford & 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 Long Melford in the Babergh local area district.

Long Melford 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
Long Melford	95.32%	4.68%
Babergh	94.27%	5.73%
East	85.09%	14.91%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Long Melford 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%

';Long Melford is ranked 19 out of 24 wards in Babergh for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What are the occupations of the residents of Long Melford?

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

Sector	Proportion
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	15.13%
Professional Occupations	14.62%
Skilled Trades	14.55%
Associate Professional & Technical	13.56%
Administrative & Secretarial	9.54%
Elementary Occupations	9.28%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	9.17%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	7.2%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

How many residents own or rent their home in Long Melford and Babergh

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Long Melford either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 71.96 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 28.04 of Long Melford residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Long Melford	71.96%	28.04%
Babergh	71.04%	28.96%
East	65.23%	34.77%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Long Melford 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%

Long Melford is ranked 12 out of 24 wards in Babergh for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Long Melford Health Statistics

Long Melford 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
Long Melford	42.41%	38.71%	14.22%	3.58%	1.08%
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)

Long Melford 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 Long Melford 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 Long Melford.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	51.84%
In Part-Time Work	31.97%
Unemployed	3.1%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

68.03% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Long Melford

What is the population of Long Melford and Babergh?

The table below contains the populations figures for each ward in Babergh including Long Melford. 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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