Socio-economic statistics for Walkford, Dorset

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

Walkford Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

Walkford Education Statistics

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

Level	Highcliffe & Walkford	England
No Qualifications	17.39%	18.08%
Level 1	9.39%	9.69%
Level 2	14.8%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	7.66%	5.32%
Level 3	15.13%	16.92%
Level 4	31.9%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

How many residents own or rent their home in Walkford and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Walkford either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 82.27 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 17.73 of Walkford residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Highcliffe & Walkford	82.27%	17.73%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	62.83%	37.17%
South West	65.88%	34.12%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Walkford compared to other wards in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Broadstone	90.81%	9.19%
2	Highcliffe & Walkford	82.27%	17.73%
3	Mudeford, Stanpit & West Highcliffe	81.54%	18.46%
4	Bearwood & Merley	81.17%	18.83%
5	Canford Cliffs	79.79%	20.21%
6	Littledown & Iford	78.8%	21.2%
7	Oakdale	77.99%	22.01%
8	Redhill & Northbourne	77.57%	22.43%
9	Commons	77.2%	22.8%
10	East Southbourne & Tuckton	76.03%	23.97%
11	Moordown	72.95%	27.05%
12	Creekmoor	72.94%	27.06%
13	Penn Hill	71.8%	28.2%
14	Canford Heath	68.52%	31.48%
15	Alderney & Bourne Valley	67.45%	32.56%
16	Parkstone	64.86%	35.14%
17	Muscliff & Strouden Park	64.52%	35.48%
18	Newtown & Heatherlands	64.27%	35.73%
19	West Southbourne	61.83%	38.17%
20	Wallisdown & Winton West	60.61%	39.39%
21	Hamworthy	60.03%	39.97%
22	Christchurch Town	60.03%	39.97%
23	Queen's Park (Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole)	59.72%	40.28%
24	Burton & Grange	59.54%	40.46%
25	Talbot & Branksome Woods	56.98%	43.02%
26	Kinson	56.76%	43.24%
27	Boscombe East & Pokesdown	53.85%	46.15%
28	Poole Town	47.09%	52.91%
29	Winton East	46.78%	53.22%
30	Westbourne & West Cliff	46.15%	53.85%
31	East Cliff & Springbourne	38.2%	61.8%
32	Bournemouth Central	32.32%	67.68%
33	Boscombe West	29.38%	70.62%

Walkford is ranked 2 out of 33 wards in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Walkford 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 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	3.3%	-0.4%
South West	2.5%	-0.4%
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 Walkford 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 Walkford.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	38.83%
In Part-Time Work	32.16%
Unemployed	3.41%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

67.84% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Walkford

Walkford & Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 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 Walkford in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole local area district.

Walkford has a lower rate of immigrants than Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, the South West region and England as a whole.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Highcliffe & Walkford	92.56%	7.44%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	84.52%	15.48%
South West	89.8%	10.2%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Walkford compared to other wards in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Bournemouth Central	61.02%	38.98%
2	Boscombe West	62.63%	37.37%
3	East Cliff & Springbourne	65.46%	34.54%
4	Westbourne & West Cliff	70.58%	29.42%
5	Queen's Park	75.14%	24.86%
6	Talbot & Branksome Woods	77.87%	22.13%
7	Boscombe East & Pokesdown	78.93%	21.07%
8	Winton East	80.21%	19.79%
9	Poole Town	81.24%	18.76%
10	Muscliff & Strouden Park	84.47%	15.53%
11	Littledown & Ilford	85.76%	14.24%
12	Newtown & Heatherlands	86.07%	13.93%
13	Moordown	86.24%	13.76%
14	Canford Cliffs	86.71%	13.29%
15	Alderney & Bourne Valley	86.83%	13.17%
16	Penn Hill	87.01%	12.99%
17	Wallisdown & Winton West	87.43%	12.57%
18	West Southbourne	87.96%	12.04%
19	Parkstone	88.48%	11.52%
20	East Southbourne & Tuckton	89.94%	10.06%
21	Kinson	90.5%	9.5%
22	Redhill & Northbourne	90.53%	9.47%
23	Oakdale	90.79%	9.21%
24	Hamworthy	91.32%	8.68%
25	Canford Heath	91.38%	8.62%
26	Christchurch Town	92.01%	7.99%
27	Bearwood & Merley	92.36%	7.64%
28	Highcliffe & Walkford	92.56%	7.44%
29	Creekmoor	92.96%	7.04%
30	Broadstone	93.14%	6.86%
31	Mudeford, Stanpit & West Highcliffe	93.21%	6.79%
32	Commons	93.45%	6.55%
33	Burton & Grange	93.73%	6.27%

';Walkford is ranked 28 out of 33 wards in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Walkford Health Statistics

Highcliffe & Walkford 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
Highcliffe & Walkford	40.94%	37.29%	16.09%	4.44%	1.24%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	47.54%	34.11%	13.11%	4.06%	1.18%
South West	47.6%	34.21%	13.12%	3.95%	1.12%
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)

What are the occupations of the residents of Walkford?

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

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	21.03%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	15.34%
Associate Professional & Technical	13.88%
Skilled Trades	10.78%
Administrative & Secretarial	10.28%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	9.97%
Elementary Occupations	7.21%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	3.94%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

What is the population of Walkford and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole?

The table below contains the populations figures for each ward in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole including Walkford. These population ONS figures are estimated are dated Mid 2020.

Ward	Population
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Total	0

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