Socio-economic statistics for Stour, Dudley

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

How many residents own or rent their home in Stour and Dudley

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Stour either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 47.22 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 52.78 of Stour residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Brierley Hill	47.22%	52.78%
Dudley	66.43%	33.57%
West Midlands	62.8%	37.2%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Stour compared to other wards in Dudley

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Kingswinford North and Wall Heath	85.09%	14.91%
2	Halesowen South	82.32%	17.68%
3	Kingswinford South	82.21%	17.79%
4	Norton (Dudley)	81.25%	18.75%
5	Wordsley	78.79%	21.21%
6	Amblecote	77.97%	22.03%
7	Hayley Green and Cradley South	76.42%	23.58%
8	Sedgley (Dudley)	76.39%	23.61%
9	Pedmore and Stourbridge East	75.7%	24.3%
10	Halesowen North	71.26%	28.74%
11	Gornal	69.86%	30.14%
12	Wollaston and Stourbridge Town	67.72%	32.28%
13	Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood	64.74%	35.26%
14	Cradley and Wollescote	64.17%	35.83%
15	Upper Gornal and Woodsetton	64.01%	35.99%
16	Belle Vale (Dudley)	62.93%	37.07%
17	Lye and Stourbridge North	60.2%	39.8%
18	Coseley East	59.59%	40.41%
19	Castle and Priory	56.97%	43.03%
20	Brockmoor and Pensnett	56.06%	43.94%
21	Netherton, Woodside and St Andrews	55.05%	44.95%
22	St James's (Dudley)	49.43%	50.57%
23	St Thomas's (Dudley)	47.46%	52.54%
24	Brierley Hill	47.22%	52.78%

Stour is ranked 24 out of 24 wards in Dudley for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What are the occupations of the residents of Stour?

The largest employment sector in Stour is Elementary Occupations. The smallest employment sector is Managers, Directors & Senior Officials.

Sector	Proportion
Elementary Occupations	13.52%
Skilled Trades	13.41%
Professional Occupations	13.23%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	11.8%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	10.95%
Associate Professional & Technical	9.82%
Administrative & Secretarial	9.25%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	7.76%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Stour Health Statistics

Brierley Hill has a significantly lower proportion of residents (>5%) describing their health as very good than the national average for England.

Area	VG	G	F	B	VB
Brierley Hill	42.13%	35.7%	15.31%	5.52%	1.35%
Dudley	43.85%	35.43%	14.65%	4.73%	1.34%
West Midlands	46.4%	34.38%	13.54%	4.37%	1.31%
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 Dudley changed since 2011?

Dudley residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 1.07% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	42.45%	35.76%	15.28%	5.09%	1.42%
2021	43.85%	35.43%	14.65%	4.73%	1.34%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Stour & Dudley 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 Stour in the Dudley local area district.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Brierley Hill	91.65%	8.35%
Dudley	92.1%	7.9%
West Midlands	84.84%	15.17%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Stour compared to other wards in Dudley

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	St Thomas's	75.99%	24.01%
2	St James's	84.64%	15.36%
3	Netherton, Woodside and St Andrews	87.24%	12.76%
4	Castle and Priory	87.53%	12.47%
5	Lye and Stourbridge North	88.08%	11.92%
6	Halesowen North	88.57%	11.43%
7	Cradley and Wollescote	90.1%	9.9%
8	Brierley Hill	91.65%	8.35%
9	Belle Vale	91.95%	8.05%
10	Brockmoor and Pensnett	92.78%	7.22%
11	Pedmore and Stourbridge East	93.4%	6.6%
12	Coseley East	93.42%	6.58%
13	Halesowen South	94.25%	5.75%
14	Hayley Green and Cradley South	94.31%	5.69%
15	Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood	94.9%	5.1%
16	Upper Gornal and Woodsetton	95.14%	4.86%
17	Wollaston and Stourbridge Town	95.73%	4.27%
18	Amblecote	96.15%	3.85%
19	Norton	96.44%	3.56%
20	Sedgley	96.93%	3.07%
21	Kingswinford North and Wall Heath	97.06%	2.94%
22	Gornal	97.14%	2.86%
23	Wordsley	97.69%	2.31%
24	Kingswinford South	97.73%	2.27%

';Stour is ranked 8 out of 24 wards in Dudley for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Stour 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 Dudley.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Dudley	4.8%	-0.4%
West Midlands	5%	-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 Stour 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 Stour.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	55.06%
In Part-Time Work	24.89%
Unemployed	8.63%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

75.11% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Stour

Stour Education Statistics

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

Level	Brierley Hill	England
No Qualifications	24.27%	18.08%
Level 1	12.27%	9.69%
Level 2	16.59%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	5.99%	5.32%
Level 3	17.89%	16.92%
Level 4	20.28%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Stour Age Distribution Statistics

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

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 Stour and Dudley?

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

Ward	Population
Amblecote	13056
Belle Vale	14254
Brierley Hill	15199
Brockmoor and Pensnett	13546
Castle and Priory	15289
Coseley East	12704
Cradley and Wollescote	13534
Gornal	13291
Halesowen North	12742
Halesowen South	12370
Hayley Green and Cradley South	12161
Kingswinford North and Wall Heath	12023
Kingswinford South	12290
Lye and Stourbridge North	12687
Netherton, Woodside and St Andrews	15605
Norton	11993
Pedmore and Stourbridge East	12400
Quarry Bank and Dudley Wood	13897
Sedgley	11981
St James's	15764
St Thomas's	15931
Upper Gornal and Woodsetton	13870
Wollaston and Stourbridge Town	13046
Wordsley	12730
Dudley Total	322363

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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