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Average Gross Household Income
2008

June 2008

Introduction

This research monitor details estimates of gross household income before tax (including investment income and welfare payments) down to the ward level. The information is derived from the 'Paycheck' system, which is managed by the private sector consultancy group (External) CACI . This is the seventh research monitor that utilises this data source, and all the previous articles are in the research monitor archive .

The Paycheck Model

Paycheck uses information on millions of households from CACI's lifestyle database, along with census and market research data to increase reliability. This allows robust household income figures to be produced for Lancashire districts and wards.

Lancashire County Council has acquired the 2008 gross household income details for all the wards in the county and the 14 authorities within the Lancashire NUTS-2 area. The information has been selectively used in this report to highlight areas of wealth and income deprivation within the county.

Bar chart showing the mean gross household income for each of Lancashire's local authorities - see text for details Note The Lancashire figure is for Lancashire NUTS-2. Source CACI

Lancashire Results

For the Lancashire County Council (NUTS-3) administrative area, which excludes Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool Unitary Authorities, average household income for 2008 was £32,400. The Lancashire NUTS-2 area, which includes the two unitary authorities, recorded a lower average of £31,800. In comparison, the North West average for 2008 was £32,200 whilst the GB figure was £34,400.

Figure 1 ranks the CACI results for each local authority in the county. Ribble Valley is the most prosperous authority with Chorley in second place. South Ribble in 2007 moved ahead of Fylde into third place, but the two districts have again changed positions in 2008. These are the four Lancashire authorities that recorded average income levels that were in excess of the national figure.

In the previous edition of this monitor, Hyndburn occupied the fifth lowest position in Lancashire and Pendle was in the second lowest place. The 2008 results however have seen these two authorities swop places, but the movements are not that significant since the differences in the average income figures for Pendle, Burnley, Blackburn with Darwen and Hyndburn were relatively small. Blackpool continues to occupy the bottom place and was the only area to have an average of under £29,000.

Household income information measures wealth by area of residence therefore the more urbanised districts are likely to see some of the wealth generated in their area lost to the more rural districts that are popular with commuters. The inward migration of wealthy retired/semi-retired individuals will also augment a district's average gross income figure.

The rural Ribble Valley district is a popular commuter location. West Lancashire is a good base for commuting to Merseyside, whilst Rossendale benefits from its location to the north of Manchester. Chorley and South Ribble are suitable locations for commuters to either Manchester or Preston. In contrast, commuting patterns work against areas such as Blackpool, Blackburn, Burnley and Preston.

Average Gross Household Incomes at the Ward Level

Gross household income data at the ward level was released for the first time in 2004 for 2001 Census of Population ward boundaries. The 2004-2008 figures therefore are compatible, but prior to 2004 previous editions of this research monitor used ward data based on 1991 ward boundaries.

Map showing the mean gross household income for each of Lancashire's wards - see text for details Source CACI Top Locks, Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Pennine Ward, Chorley District

Photograph of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal's Top Locks in the Pennine ward of Chorley district

For the 2008 ward results, the Pennine ward in Chorley district, with an average in excess of £49,000, retains its position of having the highest average income in Lancashire (Table 2). In second place was Wilpshire, which is in the Ribble Valley just to the north of Blackburn. North Turton with Tockholes (a predominantly rural area to the south of Blackburn) was in second place, whilst Brindle with Hoghton, also in Chorley district, was fourth.

The nine wards with the highest average income figures were all in either Blackburn with Darwen, Chorley and Ribble Valley. In general terms, the majority of the most affluent wards in the county are in the rural areas close to the major urban centres. These represent popular areas for commuting to the core urban areas in Lancashire and to Manchester and Liverpool. To the north of the county around Lancaster, the rural wards are somewhat more isolated and do not benefit to such a large extent from affluent commuters.

Photograph of Burnley town centre, including the bus station and St Peter's Health and Leisure Centre in the Daneshouse with Stoneyholme ward of Burnley district

The household income data reveal that of the 20 wards with the lowest average figures, seven were in Blackburn with Darwen, and three each were in Hyndburn and Preston. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Blackpool has only one ward (Clifton) in the bottom 20. Given that the authority had the lowest average income level of any of the 14 Lancashire areas, it is a little surprising that not more of its wards are listed in Table 3. The authority has ward average income levels that are on the whole low and has no significant areas of affluence to help support the overall figure for the authority. The low ward results are however not as low as some of the figures achieved in the core urban areas away from the coast.

Blackburn with Darwen authority contains some of the most and also some of the least affluent areas in the county. It has three of the top 20 wards, but also seven in the bottom 20 wards. This dramatically emphasises the large disparities that can be found within this one authority.

Please note that graphs of the results at the ward level are in the Earnings, Income and Benefits Area Profiles for each of the 12 county districts and two unitary authorities.

This page was compiled by Bryan Moulding .

All enquiries from the media should be sent to Corporate.Communications@lancashire.gov.uk .

Any other questions about the content of this page may be sent to EconInfo@lancashire.gov.uk .

For all enquiries about the county council's services , contact the Customer Service Centre on 0845 0530000 (01772 530000) or at Enquiries@css.lancscc.gov.uk .

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