Area Classifications

A range of area classifications are produced by official sources in order to understand the socioeconomic make up of an area. These are available at a small area level, providing important contextual information about these neighbourhoods.

A selection of the most widely used area classifications are included below.

2011 Output Area Classification

The 2011 Area Classification for Output Areas categorises all UK output areas based on 2011 Census data on a wide range of socioeconomic and demographic topics. They aim to identify parts of the UK with similar characteristics using a defined set of supergroups, groups and subgroups.

The 2011 Area Classification data for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland is summarised in an interactive dashboard, available at the link below.

The 2011 Output Area Classification was released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in August 2014. The data updates the classification produced for the 2001 Census.

2011 Rural Urban Classification

The 2011 Rural-Urban Classification (RUC2011) allows for a consistent analysis of datasets by rural/urban areas. A suite of classifications has been produced for use at a variety of geographic levels. RUC2011 is a revised version of the classification produced after the 2001 Census. It was created by the Department of Town and Regional Planning at the University of Sheffield on behalf of a government working group.

RUC2011 of lower layer super output areas (LSOAs) is built up from the OA level classification, with assignment to urban or rural classification made by reference to the category to which the majority of their constituent OAs is assigned.

The 2011 Rural Urban Classification data for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland is summarised in an interactive dashboard, available at the link below.

The 2011 Urban Rural Classification was released by the Office for National Statistics in October 2013. The data updates the classification produced for the 2001 Census.

2018 Leicestershire Rural Evidence Base

The Leicestershire Rural Partnership (LRP) commissioned the county council to produce a rural evidence base in order to present a comprehensive picture of rural Leicestershire. It is intended that the report will assist the LRP in responding to key national and local consultations to assist with influencing and applying for new funding streams including the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

The report covers the following topics:
• Population
• Deprivation
• Economy
• Communities
• Housing and Employment Land
• Early Help/ Supporting Leicestershire Families
• Rural Health Issues

The report is available at the link below:

2019 Indices of Deprivation

The English Indices of Deprivation 2019 are based on 39 separate indicators, organised across seven distinct domains of deprivation which are combined, using appropriate weights, to calculate the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019 (IMD 2019). This is an overall measure of multiple deprivation experienced by people living in an area and is calculated for every Lower layer Super Output Area (LSOA) in England. Every LSOA in England is ranked according to its level of deprivation relative to that of other areas.

The results of the ID2019 for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland are summarised in an interactive dashboard, available at the link below.

The Indices of Deprivation are released periodically by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). The latest update of the indices was released in September 2019, updating the 2015 indices.

Useful Links

The Consumer Data Research Centre has published an online tool to explore the 2015 Indices of Deprivation, 2011 Output area Classification and 2011 Urban Rural Classification. The tool also contains a variety of socioeconomic datasets.

The tool can be accessed at the link below: