The 2011 Census – What It Says About Wrexham
In 2011 Wrexham had 134,844 residents according to the census taken that year – we take a look at the data they provided and invite you to debate what this tells us about Wrexham.
The 2011 Census statistics provide a rich source of information about the number, distribution and characteristics of the population in England and Wales. The statistics are used to understand similarities and differences in the population locally, regionally and nationally. This information underpins the allocation of billions of pounds of public money to provide services like education, transport and health. Decisions are taken every day using census statistics so it is a pretty key dataset and can point to future changes!
The first dataset we cover is the information on when people arrived in the UK, or were born here. 93.7% of Wrexhamites said they were born in the UK. There is no comparison data as this question was not asked in 2001.
| 2011 | |
| Born in the UK (%) | 93.7 |
| Arrived before 1941 (%) | 0 |
| Arrived 1941-1950 (%) | 0.1 |
| Arrived 1951-1960 (%) | 0.2 |
| Arrived 1961-1970 (%) | 0.3 |
| Arrived 1971-1980 (%) | 0.3 |
| Arrived 1981-1990 (%) | 0.3 |
| Arrived 1991-2000 (%) | 0.5 |
| Arrived 2001-2003 (%) | 0.7 |
| Arrived 2004-2006 (%) | 1.7 |
| Arrived 2007-2009 (%) | 1.5 |
| Arrived 2010-2011 (%) | 0.5 |
The next set of data we look at is the ‘dwelling type’, or what type of houses make up the Wrexham area:
| 2001 | 2011 | |
| Detached (%) | 31.1 | 30.8 |
| Semi-detached (%) | 36.8 | 36.9 |
| Terraced (including end-terrace) (%) | 21.6 | 20.6 |
| Purpose-built block of flats or tenement (%) | 8.7 | 9.8 |
| Part of a converted or shared house (including bed-sits) (%) | 0.9 | 1 |
| Flat or Maisonette: In commercial building (%) | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| Caravan or other mobile or temporary structure (%) | 0.3 | 0.3 |
Another new question in 2011 was regarding peoples health with 79% saying they were in good health!
| 2011 | |
| Very good health (%) | 47.2 |
| Good health (%) | 32.5 |
| Fair health (%) | 14.1 |
| Bad health (%) | 4.8 |
| Very bad health (%) | 1.4 |
Economic activity outlines the makeup of work in Wrexham. Despite having a University the student levels are low, as its likely the students there would be responding to a census in their home towns or cities.
| 2001 | 2011 | |
| Economically active (%) | 64.8 | 69.3 |
| Employee (%) | 52.2 | 54.3 |
| Employee: Part time (%) | 12.2 | 14.8 |
| Employee: Full time (%) | 40 | 39.5 |
| Self employed (%) | 6.9 | 7.6 |
| Unemployed (%) | 3.3 | 4.2 |
| Students (%) | 2.4 | 3.2 |
| Economically inactive (%) | 35.2 | 30.7 |
| Student (%) | 4.2 | 4.5 |
| Retired (%) | 13.7 | 15.2 |
| Looking after home or family (%) | 6 | 3.8 |
| Long term sick or disabled (%) | 8 | 5.3 |
| Other (%) | 3.2 | 1.8 |
Religious affiliations have changed in the area with a 14% drop in respondents saying they are ‘Christian’ – the national drop being 13%. 13% was also the figure of the increase of those stating ‘no religion’.
| 2001 | 2011 | |
| Christian (%) | 77.3 | 63.5 |
| Buddhist (%) | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Hindu (%) | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| Jewish (%) | 0 | 0 |
| Muslim (%) | 0.3 | 0.6 |
| Sikh (%) | 0 | 0.1 |
| Any other religion (%) | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| No religion (%) | 14.5 | 27.4 |
| Religion not stated (%) | 7.5 | 7.5 |
Wrexham is 97% ‘white’ as defined by the Ethnicity section of the census, again there was no data collected in 2001 so comparisons cannot be made.
| 2011 | |
| White (%) | 97 |
| Mixed / Multiple Ethnic Groups (%) | 0.7 |
| Asian / Asian British (%) | 1.7 |
| Black /African / Caribbean/ Black British (%) | 0 |
| Other Ethnic Group (%) | 0 |
Car ownership data shows an overall increase in those owning one or more cars in Wrexham:
| 2001 | 2011 | |
| No cars or vans in household (%) | 24.7 | 22.2 |
| 1 car or van in household (%) | 44.7 | 41.9 |
| 2 cars or vans in household (%) | 24.5 | 27.7 |
| 3 cars or vans in household (%) | 4.7 | 6.2 |
| 4 or more cars or vans in household (%) | 1.5 | 2 |
Qualifications are another new question, and are set into different levels eg Bachelor’s degree is Level 4. However 27% of the population of Wrexham said they had no qualifications.
| 2011 | |
| No qualifications (%) | 27.6 |
| Level 1 qualifications (%) | 13.9 |
| Level 2 qualifications (%) | 16.1 |
| Apprenticeship (%) | 3.9 |
| Level 3 qualifications (%) | 11.5 |
| Level 4 qualifications and above (%) | 22.8 |
| Other qualifications (%) | 5 |
Tenure data gives information on who rents or owns their own homes in Wrexham. The largest increase was in private landlords.
| 2001 | 2011 | |
| Owns outright (%) | 28.7 | 30.4 |
| Owns with a mortgage or loan (%) | 36.4 | 33.2 |
| Shared ownership (part owned and part rented) (%) | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Social rented: Rented from council (Local Authority) (%) | 23.5 | 19.2 |
| Social rented: Other (%) | 2.7 | 3.3 |
| Private rented: Private landlord or letting agency (%) | 6 | 10.6 |
| Private rented: Other (%) | 1 | 1.3 |
| Living rent free (%) | 1.3 | 1.7 |
We have published this article with the various snippets of Wrexham specific data, and have opened this thread in our forums for you debate it with fellow wrexhamites – click here to view the forum thread.
What stands out to you from it?
Does it clear up any myths about the make up of the area?
Does it hold any surprises for you?
Click here to view the forum thread, and if you have not registered for the Wrexham.com forums it takes seconds and then you can join in the debate…!
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