Socio-economic statistics for Isle of Sheppey, Kent

If you are thinking of moving to Isle of Sheppey or just want to know a what the area is like, the statistics on this page should give you a good introduction. They cover a range of socio-economic factors so you can compare Isle of Sheppey to figures for Kent and nationally. These statistics can tell you if Isle of Sheppey is an economically deprived area and how hard it might be to get a job.

Isle of Sheppey & Swale Immigration Statistics

We have analysed the Census 2021 raw data on country of birth and compiled immigration statistics as percentages of the population. All percentage firgures have been rounded to two decimal places. Below are the figures for Isle of Sheppey in the Swale local area district. Isle of Sheppey has a lower rate of immigrants than Swale, the South East region and England as a whole.

Area	Born in UK	Born outside UK
Sheppey Central	94.94%	5.06%
Swale	91.99%	8.01%
South East	84.24%	15.76%
England	82.65%	17.35%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Isle of Sheppey compared to other wards in Swale

#	Ward	Born in UK	Born outside UK
1	Chalkwell	83.89%	16.11%
2	Murston	85.01%	14.99%
3	Kemsley	87.1%	12.9%
4	Roman	87.12%	12.88%
5	The Meads	89.79%	10.21%
6	Milton Regis	90.37%	9.63%
7	Teynham and Lynsted	91.1%	8.9%
8	Abbey	91.37%	8.63%
9	Sheerness	91.84%	8.16%
10	Homewood	92.01%	7.99%
11	Sheppey East	92.44%	7.56%
12	Boughton and Courtenay	92.83%	7.17%
13	St Ann's	93.31%	6.69%
14	Watling	93.47%	6.53%
15	Borden and Grove Park	93.51%	6.49%
16	Woodstock	93.89%	6.11%
17	Bobbing, Iwade and Lower Halstow	93.93%	6.07%
18	East Downs	93.99%	6.01%
19	West Downs	94.43%	5.57%
20	Queenborough and Halfway	94.55%	5.45%
21	Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch	94.68%	5.32%
22	Sheppey Central	94.94%	5.06%
23	Priory	95.08%	4.92%
24	Minster Cliffs	95.51%	4.49%

Isle of Sheppey is ranked 22 out of 24 wards in Swale for the number of residents born outside of the UK.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Isle of Sheppey 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 Swale.

Area	Unemployed	Yearly Change
Swale	3.7%	-0.6%
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 Isle of Sheppey 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 Isle of Sheppey.

Economic Status	Proportion
In Employment	58.55%
In Part-Time Work	24.33%
Unemployed	4.39%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

75.67% of the people in work, are in full-time employment in Isle of Sheppey.

Isle of Sheppey Health Statistics

Sheppey Central has a lower proportion of residents (2.49%) describing their health as very good than the national average for England.

Area	VG	G	F	B	VB
Sheppey Central	46%	35.29%	13.24%	4.21%	1.25%
Swale	45.47%	34.77%	14.07%	4.41%	1.28%
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 Swale changed since 2011?

Swale residents who describe their health as either good or very good has increased by 0.05% between the 2011 and 2021 census.

Year	VG	G	F	B	VB
2011	44.32%	35.87%	14.07%	4.42%	1.32%
2021	45.47%	34.77%	14.07%	4.41%	1.28%

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

Source: Census 2011/2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Isle of Sheppey Age Distribution Statistics

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

Age Band	Proportion
4 & under	6.35%
5 - 9 years	7%
10 - 15 years	7.58%
16 - 19 years	4.19%
20 - 24 years	5.08%
25 - 34 years	13.71%
35 - 49 years	18.84%
50 - 64 years	19.61%
65 - 74 years	9.79%
75 - 84 years	6.07%
85 years & over	1.78%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Isle of Sheppey Education Statistics

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census to found of the level of education Isle of Sheppey 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

How grim is your Postcode?

In this first table we have compared Isle of Sheppey to the national average for England.

Level	Sheppey Central	England
No Qualifications	22.82%	18.08%
Level 1	12.56%	9.69%
Level 2	17.62%	13.32%
Apprenticeship	6.28%	5.32%
Level 3	18.89%	16.92%
Level 4	19.33%	33.92%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

How many residents own or rent their home in Isle of Sheppey and Swale?

We have taken the raw data from the 2021 census and calculated what proportion of people in Isle of Sheppey either own or rent their home. All percentages have been rounded to two decimal places. 68.18 of residents own their home either outright or mortgaged. 31.82 of Isle of Sheppey residents rent their home either privately or through a social landlord.

Area	Owned	Rented
Sheppey Central	68.18%	31.82%
Swale	66.97%	33.03%
South East	65.66%	34.34%
England	61.31%	38.69%

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Isle of Sheppey has a higher level of home ownership than than the national average.

Isle of Sheppey compared to other wards in Swale

#	Ward	Owned	Rented
1	Woodstock (Swale)	81.99%	18.01%
2	West Downs	80.62%	19.38%
3	Minster Cliffs	80.36%	19.64%
4	Bobbing, Iwade and Lower Halstow	79.91%	20.09%
5	Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch	78.3%	21.7%
6	Boughton and Courtenay	75.39%	24.61%
7	Borden and Grove Park	74.3%	25.7%
8	East Downs	70.83%	29.17%
9	Sheppey East	70.69%	29.31%
10	Kemsley	69.24%	30.76%
11	Queenborough and Halfway	68.48%	31.52%
12	St Ann's (Swale)	68.2%	31.8%
13	Sheppey Central	68.18%	31.82%
14	The Meads	67.77%	32.23%
15	Watling (Swale)	67.17%	32.83%
16	Homewood	66.17%	33.83%
17	Chalkwell (Swale)	65.99%	34.01%
18	Teynham and Lynsted	64.44%	35.56%
19	Abbey (Swale)	63.49%	36.51%
20	Priory (Swale)	62.25%	37.75%
21	Milton Regis	60.7%	39.3%
22	Murston	58.64%	41.36%
23	Roman (Swale)	56.82%	43.18%
24	Sheerness	40.66%	59.34%

Isle of Sheppey is ranked 13 out of 24 wards in Swale for the percentage of home owners.

Source: Census 2021 (Nomis/ONS)

Isle of Sheppey Social Grade & Occcupation Statistics

Social grade is a classification based on occupation and it enables a household and all its members to be classified according to the job of the main income earner. Isle of Sheppey has 20% less Higher and Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional households than the national average.

Grade	Swale	England
AB	17.08%	22.96%
C1	30.10%	30.92%
C2	25.42%	20.64%
DE	27.40%	25.49%

What is the population of Isle of Sheppey and Swale?

The table below contains the populations figures for each ward in Swale including Isle of Sheppey. These population ONS figures are estimated are dated Mid 2020.

Ward	Population
Abbey	5356
Bobbing, Iwade and Lower Halstow	6216
Borden and Grove Park	6454
Boughton and Courtenay	6720
Chalkwell	3445
East Downs	2717
Hartlip, Newington and Upchurch	6289
Homewood	6389
Kemsley	7135
Milton Regis	6285
Minster Cliffs	7765
Murston	7040
Priory	2903
Queenborough and Halfway	8173
Roman	6876
Sheerness	13475
Sheppey Central	9120
Sheppey East	7254
St Ann's	5628
Teynham and Lynsted	6326
The Meads	4118
Watling	6317
West Downs	2880
Woodstock	6134
Swale Total	151015

Source: Office for National Statistics (30 June 2020)

Last updated: 19/04/2021, Additional Sources: Office for National Statistics & Department for Work & Pensions.