Socio-economic statistics for Shepway, Kent

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

How many residents own or rent their home in Shepway and Maidstone

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Shepway either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 71.07 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 28.93 of Shepway residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
South (Maidstone)	71.07%	28.93%
Maidstone	67.4%	32.6%
South East	65.66%	34.34%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Shepway compared to other wards in Maidstone

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Barming and Teston	90.14%	9.86%
2	Allington	86.62%	13.38%
3	Bearsted	86.02%	13.98%
4	Boxley	85.12%	14.88%
5	Detling and Thurnham	84.81%	15.19%
6	Loose	83.35%	16.65%
7	Leeds	80.16%	19.84%
8	Boughton Monchelsea and Chart Sutton	78.1%	21.9%
9	North Downs	76.49%	23.51%
10	Staplehurst	76.31%	23.69%
11	Coxheath and Hunton	76.09%	23.91%
12	Harrietsham and Lenham	75.06%	24.94%
13	Headcorn	74.37%	25.63%
14	Sutton Valence and Langley	73.2%	26.81%
15	Downswood and Otham	71.43%	28.57%
16	South (Maidstone)	71.07%	28.93%
17	Marden and Yalding	70.72%	29.28%
18	East (Maidstone)	64.67%	35.33%
19	Shepway North	64.54%	35.46%
20	Heath (Maidstone)	62.83%	37.17%
21	North (Maidstone)	57.82%	42.18%
22	Bridge (Maidstone)	54.17%	45.83%
23	Shepway South	52.05%	47.95%
24	Fant	51.79%	48.21%
25	Park Wood	48.04%	51.96%
26	High Street (Maidstone)	40.8%	59.2%

Shepway is ranked 16 out of 26 wards in Maidstone for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shepway & Maidstone 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 Shepway in the Maidstone local area district.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
South (Maidstone)	85.78%	14.22%
Maidstone	86.04%	13.96%
South East	84.24%	15.76%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shepway compared to other wards in Maidstone

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	High Street	70.94%	29.06%
2	North	74.19%	25.81%
3	Fant	77.13%	22.87%
4	Bridge	77.72%	22.28%
5	East	78.99%	21.01%
6	Heath	79.74%	20.26%
7	Park Wood	84.58%	15.42%
8	South	85.78%	14.22%
9	Shepway North	86.89%	13.11%
10	Downswood and Otham	88.85%	11.15%
11	Shepway South	89.4%	10.6%
12	Allington	90.55%	9.45%
13	Boughton Monchelsea and Chart Sutton	91.68%	8.32%
14	Boxley	92.25%	7.75%
15	Sutton Valence and Langley	92.26%	7.74%
16	Staplehurst	92.32%	7.68%
17	Loose	92.34%	7.66%
18	Marden and Yalding	92.34%	7.66%
19	Coxheath and Hunton	92.49%	7.51%
20	Barming and Teston	92.63%	7.37%
21	Detling and Thurnham	92.89%	7.11%
22	Bearsted	93.01%	6.99%
23	Headcorn	93.35%	6.65%
24	Leeds	93.93%	6.07%
25	North Downs	94.15%	5.85%
26	Harrietsham and Lenham	94.61%	5.39%

';Shepway is ranked 8 out of 26 wards in Maidstone for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shepway Health Statistics

South 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
South (Maidstone)	51.7%	33.35%	11.22%	2.88%	0.86%
Maidstone	49.77%	34.01%	11.96%	3.32%	0.94%
South East	49.98%	34.01%	11.77%	3.31%	0.93%
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 Maidstone changed since 2011?

Maidstone residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.62% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	48.11%	35.05%	12.43%	3.43%	0.97%
2021	49.77%	34.01%	11.96%	3.32%	0.94%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shepway 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 Maidstone.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Maidstone	2.9%	-0.4%
South East	2.9%	-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 Shepway 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 Shepway.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	60.44%
In Part-Time Work	25.83%
Unemployed	3.29%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

74.17% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Shepway

What are the occupations of the residents of Shepway?

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

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	18.61%
Associate Professional & Technical	14.54%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	13.17%
Administrative & Secretarial	10.86%
Skilled Trades	10.64%
Elementary Occupations	9.48%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	8.03%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	6.83%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Shepway Education Statistics

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

Level	South	England
No Qualifications	16.36%	18.08%
Level 1	10.97%	9.69%
Level 2	15.94%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	5.84%	5.32%
Level 3	18.42%	16.92%
Level 4	29.08%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Shepway Age Distribution Statistics

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

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 Shepway and Maidstone?

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

Ward	Population
Allington	7496
Barming and Teston	2299
Bearsted	8362
Boughton Monchelsea and Chart Sutton	2811
Boxley	8641
Bridge	6632
Coxheath and Hunton	7980
Detling and Thurnham	3099
Downswood and Otham	3072
East	8932
Fant	10866
Harrietsham and Lenham	6756
Headcorn	6040
Heath	7199
High Street	11852
Leeds	2416
Loose	2581
Marden and Yalding	8981
North	10055
North Downs	2431
Park Wood	9516
Shepway North	9225
Shepway South	5963
South	10110
Staplehurst	6350
Sutton Valence and Langley	3467
Maidstone Total	173132

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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