Poverty and Deprivation

The latest Census 2021 data on deprived households in Oxford show that:

Over half of the households in Oxford (28,832) do not experience any dimension of deprivation and just under a third of the households in Oxford experience at least 1 dimension of deprivation (1,767 residents).
Approximately 0.3% of households in Oxford experienced all 4 dimensions of deprivation.

English Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019

According to the 2019 Index of Multiple Deprivation, 10 of Oxford's 83 neighbourhood areas ('Super Output Areas') are among the 20% most deprived areas in England. These areas, which are in the Leys, Rose Hill, Littlemore, Barton and areas of the city, experience multiple levels of deprivation – low skills, low incomes and relatively high levels of crime.

Men and women living in relatively deprived areas have a shorter life expectancy than those living in the least deprived areas. For more information see our health statistics page.

After adjusting for housing costs, 26% of children in Oxford live below the poverty line. According to the IoD 2019 rates of child poverty have reduced in the most deprived neighbourhoods but there remain six Oxford neighbourhoods with child poverty rates over 30% (Indices of Deprivation 2019).

Claimant count

In March 2023 Oxford had 2,710 (2.3%) working–age residents claiming unemployment benefits (Jobseeker's Allowances or Universal Credit claimants who are out of work), 60% men and 40% women. The rate for March 2023 is now lower than the rate for the same period last year (2.6%) and is still below the national and regional rates of 2.9% and 3.8% respectively. Latest figures on the number of benefit claimants