Socio-economic statistics for Sparham, Norfolk

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

How many residents own or rent their home in Sparham and Breckland

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Sparham either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 75.41 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 24.59 of Sparham residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Upper Wensum	75.41%	24.59%
Breckland	67.04%	32.97%
East	65.23%	34.77%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Sparham compared to other wards in Breckland

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Mattishall	78.51%	21.49%
2	Necton	77.42%	22.58%
3	All Saints & Wayland	77.41%	22.59%
4	Guiltcross	76.55%	23.45%
5	Lincoln	75.85%	24.15%
6	Upper Wensum	75.41%	24.59%
7	Dereham Toftwood	73.53%	26.47%
8	Harling & Heathlands	72.86%	27.14%
9	Bedingfeld	72.74%	27.26%
10	Shipdham-with-Scarning	72.66%	27.34%
11	Hermitage (Breckland)	72.46%	27.54%
12	The Buckenhams & Banham	71.2%	28.8%
13	Forest (Breckland)	71.02%	28.98%
14	Nar Valley	70.31%	29.69%
15	Attleborough Burgh & Haverscroft	69.45%	30.55%
16	Watton	69.31%	30.69%
17	Ashill	69.3%	30.7%
18	Attleborough Queens & Besthorpe	69.15%	30.85%
19	Thetford Boudica	68%	32%
20	Launditch	65.93%	34.07%
21	Dereham Neatherd	65.75%	34.25%
22	Saham Toney	64.3%	35.7%
23	Swaffham	63.96%	36.04%
24	Thetford Castle	57.28%	42.72%
25	Dereham Withburga	50.83%	49.17%
26	Thetford Burrell	46.54%	53.46%
27	Thetford Priory	40.81%	59.19%

Sparham is ranked 6 out of 27 wards in Breckland for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Sparham Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

Sparham Health Statistics

Upper Wensum 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
Upper Wensum	44.43%	36.62%	14.26%	3.83%	0.87%
Breckland	42.56%	37.05%	14.94%	4.32%	1.14%
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 Breckland changed since 2011?

Breckland residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.1% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	42.22%	37.29%	14.99%	4.31%	1.18%
2021	42.56%	37.05%	14.94%	4.32%	1.14%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Sparham Education Statistics

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

Level	Upper Wensum	England
No Qualifications	18.05%	18.08%
Level 1	11.29%	9.69%
Level 2	15.59%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	5.87%	5.32%
Level 3	18.36%	16.92%
Level 4	28.47%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Sparham 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 Breckland.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Breckland	2.2%	-0.4%
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 Sparham 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 Sparham.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	54.88%
In Part-Time Work	32.3%
Unemployed	3.09%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

67.7% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Sparham

What are the occupations of the residents of Sparham?

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

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	15.67%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	15.47%
Skilled Trades	15.14%
Associate Professional & Technical	12.37%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	10.02%
Elementary Occupations	9.07%
Administrative & Secretarial	8.78%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	6.14%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Sparham & Breckland 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 Sparham in the Breckland local area district.

Sparham has a lower rate of immigrants than Breckland, the East of England region and England as a whole.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Upper Wensum	96.16%	3.84%
Breckland	89.18%	10.82%
East	85.09%	14.91%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Sparham compared to other wards in Breckland

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Thetford Priory	71.78%	28.22%
2	Thetford Castle	72.48%	27.52%
3	Thetford Burrell	75.35%	24.65%
4	Thetford Boudica	78.74%	21.26%
5	Watton	82.55%	17.45%
6	Forest	89.08%	10.92%
7	Attleborough Burgh & Haverscroft	89.7%	10.3%
8	Saham Toney	90%	10%
9	Attleborough Queens & Besthorpe	91.48%	8.52%
10	Swaffham	91.85%	8.15%
11	Dereham Neatherd	92.13%	7.87%
12	All Saints & Wayland	92.64%	7.36%
13	Dereham Withburga	92.82%	7.18%
14	Bedingfeld	93.3%	6.7%
15	Lincoln	93.36%	6.64%
16	Dereham Toftwood	93.63%	6.37%
17	Shipdham-with-Scarning	94.41%	5.59%
18	Harling & Heathlands	94.52%	5.48%
19	Ashill	94.73%	5.27%
20	Nar Valley	94.92%	5.08%
21	Guiltcross	95.05%	4.95%
22	Launditch	95.24%	4.76%
23	Hermitage	95.41%	4.59%
24	The Buckenhams & Banham	95.62%	4.38%
25	Upper Wensum	96.16%	3.84%
26	Necton	96.33%	3.67%
27	Mattishall	96.42%	3.58%

';Sparham is ranked 25 out of 27 wards in Breckland for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What is the population of Sparham and Breckland?

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

Ward	Population
All Saints & Wayland	7223
Ashill	2631
Attleborough Burgh & Haverscroft	5716
Attleborough Queens & Besthorpe	6857
Bedingfeld	3337
Dereham Neatherd	7440
Dereham Toftwood	6042
Dereham Withburga	5978
Forest	3194
Guiltcross	3371
Harling & Heathlands	3101
Hermitage	2825
Launditch	2586
Lincoln	5365
Mattishall	5462
Nar Valley	2814
Necton	2667
Saham Toney	5439
Shipdham-with-Scarning	5564
Swaffham	8333
The Buckenhams & Banham	3184
Thetford Boudica	5193
Thetford Burrell	6444
Thetford Castle	6680
Thetford Priory	8693
Upper Wensum	6524
Watton	8592
Breckland Total	141255

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Top 20 most depressing towns in Britain 2024