Socio-economic statistics for Sowood, Calderdale

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

Sowood Education Statistics

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

Level	Greetland and Stainland	England
No Qualifications	14.04%	18.08%
Level 1	9.35%	9.69%
Level 2	14.14%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	6.9%	5.32%
Level 3	19.9%	16.92%
Level 4	33.57%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

How many residents own or rent their home in Sowood and Calderdale

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Sowood either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 72.94 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 27.06 of Sowood residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Greetland and Stainland	72.94%	27.06%
Calderdale	64.59%	35.41%
Yorkshire and The Humber	62.58%	37.42%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Sowood 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%

Sowood is ranked 3 out of 17 wards in Calderdale for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Sowood Health Statistics

Greetland and Stainland 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
Greetland and Stainland	50.79%	33.38%	11.54%	3.16%	1.13%
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)

Sowood Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

Sowood & 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 Sowood in the Calderdale local area district.

Sowood 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
Greetland and Stainland	97.39%	2.61%
Calderdale	91.49%	8.51%
Yorkshire and The Humber	88.65%	11.35%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Sowood 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%

';Sowood is ranked 17 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 Sowood?

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

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	21.19%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	15.46%
Associate Professional & Technical	15.2%
Skilled Trades	11.38%
Administrative & Secretarial	10.4%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	8%
Elementary Occupations	6.59%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	6.08%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Sowood 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 Sowood 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 Sowood.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	59.76%
In Part-Time Work	26.13%
Unemployed	3.13%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

73.87% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Sowood

What is the population of Sowood and Calderdale?

The table below contains the populations figures for each ward in Calderdale including Sowood. 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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