Socio-economic statistics for Wateringbury, Kent

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

Wateringbury Education Statistics

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

Level	Wateringbury	England
No Qualifications	13.72%	18.08%
Level 1	9.24%	9.69%
Level 2	15.83%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	4.71%	5.32%
Level 3	19.64%	16.92%
Level 4	34.86%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Wateringbury Age Distribution Statistics

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

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)

Wateringbury 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 Tonbridge and Malling.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Tonbridge and Malling	2.1%	-0.1%
South East	2.9%	-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 Wateringbury 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 Wateringbury.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	55.66%
In Part-Time Work	28.12%
Unemployed	3.04%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

71.88% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Wateringbury

What are the occupations of the residents of Wateringbury?

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

Sector	Proportion
Professional Occupations	23.02%
Managers, Directors & Senior Officials	19.11%
Associate Professional & Technical	16.37%
Administrative & Secretarial	9.93%
Skilled Trades	9.29%
Elementary Occupations	6.65%
Caring, leisure & Other Services	6.12%
Process Plant & Machine Operatives	3.7%

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Wateringbury Health Statistics

Wateringbury 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
Wateringbury	51.42%	34.01%	10.58%	3.19%	0.81%
Tonbridge and Malling	51.36%	33.32%	11.32%	3.15%	0.85%
South East	49.98%	34.01%	11.77%	3.31%	0.93%
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 Tonbridge and Malling changed since 2011?

Tonbridge and Malling residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.43% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	49.92%	34.33%	11.81%	3.09%	0.86%
2021	51.36%	33.32%	11.32%	3.15%	0.85%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Wateringbury & Tonbridge and Malling 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 Wateringbury in the Tonbridge and Malling local area district.

Wateringbury has a lower rate of immigrants than Tonbridge and Malling, the South East region and England as a whole.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Wateringbury	93.02%	6.98%
Tonbridge and Malling	91.04%	8.96%
South East	84.24%	15.76%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Wateringbury compared to other wards in Tonbridge and Malling

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Medway	83.92%	16.08%
2	Judd	84.89%	15.11%
3	Vauxhall	85%	15%
4	Castle	85.29%	14.71%
5	Kings Hill	88%	12%
6	Hildenborough	89.84%	10.16%
7	Borough Green and Long Mill	90.73%	9.27%
8	Wrotham, Ightham and Stansted	90.79%	9.21%
9	Trench	92.06%	7.94%
10	Snodland West and Holborough Lakes	92.24%	7.76%
11	Higham	92.27%	7.73%
12	Aylesford South	92.34%	7.66%
13	Larkfield North	92.82%	7.18%
14	Cage Green	92.85%	7.15%
15	Wateringbury	93.02%	6.98%
16	Larkfield South	93.3%	6.7%
17	Downs and Mereworth	93.32%	6.68%
18	Ditton	93.44%	6.56%
19	Aylesford North and Walderslade	93.47%	6.53%
20	Burham and Wouldham	93.63%	6.37%
21	West Malling and Leybourne	93.75%	6.25%
22	East Malling	93.93%	6.07%
23	Snodland East and Ham Hill	94.69%	5.31%
24	Hadlow and East Peckham	94.72%	5.28%

';Wateringbury is ranked 15 out of 24 wards in Tonbridge and Malling for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

How many residents own or rent their home in Wateringbury and Tonbridge and Malling

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Wateringbury either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 76.6 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 23.4 of Wateringbury residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Wateringbury	76.6%	23.4%
Tonbridge and Malling	70.01%	29.99%
South East	65.66%	34.34%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

Wateringbury compared to other wards in Tonbridge and Malling

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Hildenborough	85.37%	14.63%
2	Aylesford North and Walderslade	83.23%	16.77%
3	Ditton	78.77%	21.23%
4	Wrotham, Ightham and Stansted	78.75%	21.25%
5	Downs and Mereworth	77.98%	22.02%
6	Kings Hill	76.95%	23.05%
7	Wateringbury	76.6%	23.4%
8	Borough Green and Long Mill	75.65%	24.35%
9	Higham (Tonbridge and Malling)	75.52%	24.48%
10	West Malling and Leybourne	74.99%	25.01%
11	Burham and Wouldham	74.45%	25.55%
12	Cage Green	73.63%	26.37%
13	Larkfield South	72.72%	27.28%
14	Larkfield North	72.13%	27.87%
15	Snodland West and Holborough Lakes	71.2%	28.8%
16	Hadlow and East Peckham	70.33%	29.67%
17	Castle (Tonbridge and Malling)	69.92%	30.08%
18	Aylesford South	62.99%	37.01%
19	Vauxhall (Tonbridge and Malling)	61.66%	38.34%
20	Judd	59.38%	40.62%
21	East Malling	55.76%	44.24%
22	Medway	54.72%	45.28%
23	Snodland East and Ham Hill	53.89%	46.11%
24	Trench	49.71%	50.29%

Wateringbury is ranked 7 out of 24 wards in Tonbridge and Malling for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

What is the population of Wateringbury and Tonbridge and Malling?

The table below contains the populations figures for each ward in Tonbridge and Malling including Wateringbury. These population ONS figures are estimated are dated Mid 2020.

Ward	Population
Aylesford North and Walderslade	6269
Aylesford South	5127
Borough Green and Long Mill	7852
Burham and Wouldham	3427
Cage Green	4589
Castle	5047
Ditton	5276
Downs and Mereworth	4812
East Malling	5581
Hadlow and East Peckham	7238
Higham	4783
Hildenborough	5146
Judd	5578
Kings Hill	9697
Larkfield North	5038
Larkfield South	4081
Medway	7354
Snodland East and Ham Hill	5308
Snodland West and Holborough Lakes	6518
Trench	4884
Vauxhall	5368
Wateringbury	2035
West Malling and Leybourne	6916
Wrotham, Ightham and Stansted	4647
Tonbridge and Malling Total	132571

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

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

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