Socio-economic statistics for Sowerby Bridge, Calderdale

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

Sowerby Bridge Health Statistics

Sowerby Bridge 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
Sowerby Bridge	44.67%	35.58%	14.14%	4.43%	1.17%
Calderdale	46.61%	34.19%	13.51%	4.38%	1.3%
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 Calderdale changed since 2011?

Calderdale residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.11% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	46.34%	34.35%	13.78%	4.38%	1.15%
2021	46.61%	34.19%	13.51%	4.38%	1.3%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Sowerby Bridge Education Statistics

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

Level	Sowerby Bridge	England
No Qualifications	18.1%	18.08%
Level 1	9.76%	9.69%
Level 2	14.06%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	7.45%	5.32%
Level 3	18.92%	16.92%
Level 4	29.84%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Sowerby Bridge Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

Sowerby Bridge 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 Calderdale.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Calderdale	4.2%	-0.3%
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 Sowerby Bridge 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 Sowerby Bridge.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	58.87%
In Part-Time Work	26.28%
Unemployed	4.97%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

73.72% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Sowerby Bridge

Sowerby Bridge & Calderdale 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 Sowerby Bridge in the Calderdale local area district.

Sowerby Bridge has a lower rate of immigrants than Calderdale, the Yorkshire and The Humber region and England as a whole.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Sowerby Bridge	95.56%	4.44%
Calderdale	91.49%	8.51%
Yorkshire and The Humber	88.65%	11.35%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Sowerby Bridge compared to other wards in Calderdale

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Park	65.6%	34.4%
2	Warley	84.4%	15.6%
3	Skircoat	86.32%	13.68%
4	Town	89.57%	10.43%
5	Ovenden	91.95%	8.05%
6	Elland	94.13%	5.87%
7	Calder	94.2%	5.8%
8	Todmorden	94.7%	5.3%
9	Rastrick	95.08%	4.92%
10	Sowerby Bridge	95.56%	4.44%
11	Brighouse	96.03%	3.97%
12	Illingworth and Mixenden	96.05%	3.95%
13	Hipperholme and Lightcliffe	96.18%	3.82%
14	Luddendenfoot	96.34%	3.66%
15	Northowram and Shelf	96.47%	3.53%
16	Ryburn	97.04%	2.96%
17	Greetland and Stainland	97.39%	2.61%

';Sowerby Bridge is ranked 10 out of 17 wards in Calderdale for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What are the occupations of the residents of Sowerby Bridge?

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

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	19.23%
Associate Professional & Technical	14.49%
Skilled Trades	11.37%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	11.03%
Administrative & Secretarial	10.05%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	10.03%
Elementary Occupations	8.81%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	7.57%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

How many residents own or rent their home in Sowerby Bridge and Calderdale

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Sowerby Bridge either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 61.53 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 38.47 of Sowerby Bridge residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Sowerby Bridge	61.53%	38.47%
Calderdale	64.59%	35.41%
Yorkshire and The Humber	62.58%	37.42%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Sowerby Bridge compared to other wards in Calderdale

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Northowram and Shelf	77.97%	22.03%
2	Hipperholme and Lightcliffe	75.06%	24.94%
3	Greetland and Stainland	72.94%	27.06%
4	Ryburn	71.77%	28.23%
5	Calder (Calderdale)	71.26%	28.74%
6	Luddendenfoot	71.17%	28.83%
7	Skircoat	68.31%	31.69%
8	Rastrick	67.67%	32.33%
9	Brighouse	65.34%	34.66%
10	Warley (Calderdale)	64.98%	35.02%
11	Todmorden	62.58%	37.42%
12	Sowerby Bridge	61.53%	38.47%
13	Illingworth and Mixenden	61.27%	38.73%
14	Elland	61.03%	38.97%
15	Ovenden	51.22%	48.78%
16	Park (Calderdale)	50.92%	49.08%
17	Town (Calderdale)	48.09%	51.91%

Sowerby Bridge is ranked 12 out of 17 wards in Calderdale for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What is the population of Sowerby Bridge and Calderdale?

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

Ward	Population
Brighouse	11199
Calder	12067
Elland	12218
Greetland and Stainland	11318
Hipperholme and Lightcliffe	12245
Illingworth and Mixenden	12805
Luddendenfoot	10713
Northowram and Shelf	11735
Ovenden	12729
Park	16371
Rastrick	11212
Ryburn	11546
Skircoat	13571
Sowerby Bridge	12111
Todmorden	12414
Town	13106
Warley	14079
Calderdale Total	211439

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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