Socio-economic statistics for Sheffield, South Yorkshire

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

Sheffield 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 Sheffield.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Sheffield	4.4%	-0.4%
Yorkshire and The Humber	4.2%	-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 Sheffield 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 Sheffield.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	30.36%
In Part-Time Work	15.64%
Unemployed	6.06%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

84.36% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Sheffield

Sheffield & Sheffield 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 Sheffield in the Sheffield local area district.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
City (Sheffield)	58.71%	41.29%
Sheffield	85.05%	14.95%
Yorkshire and The Humber	88.65%	11.35%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Sheffield compared to other wards in Sheffield

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	City	58.71%	41.29%
2	Burngreave	59.08%	40.92%
3	Darnall	65.14%	34.86%
4	Walkley	74.45%	25.55%
5	Nether Edge and Sharrow	75.68%	24.32%
6	Manor Castle	78.44%	21.56%
7	Firth Park	80.01%	19.99%
8	Broomhill and Sharrow Vale	81.73%	18.27%
9	Park and Arbourthorne	83.43%	16.57%
10	Shiregreen and Brightside	84.47%	15.53%
11	Gleadless Valley	86.05%	13.95%
12	Fulwood	87.27%	12.73%
13	Crookes and Crosspool	88.64%	11.36%
14	Beauchief and Greenhill	89.95%	10.05%
15	Ecclesall	90.32%	9.68%
16	Southey	91.49%	8.51%
17	Hillsborough	91.53%	8.47%
18	Dore and Totley	92.8%	7.2%
19	Graves Park	93%	7%
20	Woodhouse	93.18%	6.82%
21	Richmond	93.46%	6.54%
22	Mosborough	95.54%	4.46%
23	Stannington	95.59%	4.41%
24	Beighton	96.2%	3.8%
25	East Ecclesfield	96.34%	3.66%
26	Birley	96.4%	3.6%
27	West Ecclesfield	96.42%	3.58%
28	Stocksbridge and Upper Don	97.23%	2.77%

';Sheffield is ranked 1 out of 28 wards in Sheffield for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What are the occupations of the residents of Sheffield?

The largest employment sector in Sheffield is Professional Occupations. The smallest employment sector is Process Plant & Machine Operatives.

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	30.22%
Associate Professional & Technical	15.07%
Elementary Occupations	13.77%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	7.91%
Administrative & Secretarial	7.07%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	6.48%
Skilled Trades	3.85%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	2.11%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Sheffield Education Statistics

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

Level	City	England
No Qualifications	5.19%	18.08%
Level 1	2.39%	9.69%
Level 2	4.78%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	1.42%	5.32%
Level 3	36.92%	16.92%
Level 4	47.25%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Sheffield Health Statistics

City has significantly more residents (>5%) describing their health as very good than the national average for England.

Area	VG	G	F	B	VB
City (Sheffield)	54.46%	35.51%	7.93%	1.77%	0.33%
Sheffield	46.66%	33.74%	13.57%	4.67%	1.36%
Yorkshire and The Humber	46.18%	34.31%	13.7%	4.49%	1.32%
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 Sheffield changed since 2011?

Sheffield residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.32% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	46.73%	33.35%	13.7%	4.83%	1.39%
2021	46.66%	33.74%	13.57%	4.67%	1.36%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Sheffield Age Distribution Statistics

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

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 Sheffield and Sheffield

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Sheffield either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 16.5 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 83.5 of Sheffield residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
City (Sheffield)	16.5%	83.5%
Sheffield	58.28%	41.72%
Yorkshire and The Humber	62.58%	37.42%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Sheffield compared to other wards in Sheffield

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Ecclesall	87.66%	12.34%
2	Dore and Totley	84.37%	15.63%
3	Fulwood	80.4%	19.6%
4	Graves Park	75.83%	24.17%
5	Stocksbridge and Upper Don	75.36%	24.64%
6	Stannington	75.2%	24.8%
7	East Ecclesfield	75.11%	24.89%
8	West Ecclesfield	74.96%	25.04%
9	Beighton	73.79%	26.21%
10	Mosborough	69.84%	30.16%
11	Crookes and Crosspool	66.48%	33.52%
12	Birley	65.8%	34.2%
13	Richmond (Sheffield)	63.75%	36.25%
14	Hillsborough	63.22%	36.79%
15	Woodhouse (Sheffield)	61.12%	38.88%
16	Beauchief and Greenhill	55.57%	44.43%
17	Darnall	51.31%	48.69%
18	Shiregreen and Brightside	51.07%	48.93%
19	Gleadless Valley	50.58%	49.42%
20	Southey	48.31%	51.69%
21	Nether Edge and Sharrow	47.5%	52.5%
22	Park and Arbourthorne	46.58%	53.42%
23	Walkley	43.68%	56.32%
24	Firth Park	40.27%	59.73%
25	Burngreave	39.65%	60.35%
26	Broomhill and Sharrow Vale	34.92%	65.08%
27	Manor Castle	33.38%	66.62%
28	City (Sheffield)	16.5%	83.5%

Sheffield is ranked 28 out of 28 wards in Sheffield for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What is the population of Sheffield and Sheffield?

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

Ward	Population
Beauchief and Greenhill	19732
Beighton	17896
Birley	16997
Broomhill and Sharrow Vale	23742
Burngreave	30668
City	34077
Crookes and Crosspool	18089
Darnall	23323
Dore and Totley	18667
East Ecclesfield	17715
Ecclesall	20398
Firth Park	22347
Fulwood	19808
Gleadless Valley	21226
Graves Park	16840
Hillsborough	19926
Manor Castle	23915
Mosborough	17136
Nether Edge and Sharrow	23920
Park and Arbourthorne	19817
Richmond	19073
Shiregreen and Brightside	21688
Southey	19861
Stannington	18590
Stocksbridge and Upper Don	18496
Walkley	30256
West Ecclesfield	17288
Woodhouse	17723
Sheffield Total	589214

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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