Official Statistics

Key findings, Statistical Digest of Rural England

Updated 20 May 2025

Applies to England

Population

The key findings from the Population section, as of May 2025, are as follows:

• Around 10 million people live in rural areas, and since mid-2020, the population has been growing faster than in urban areas.
• The more rural the area, the higher the average age, and the faster this average age is increasing.
• Net internal migration within England tends to be towards majority rural authorities, and in 2023 the rate of this migration was higher than in 2013; the exception to this are 15- to- 19-year-olds for which there is net migration from majority rural authorities.
• 5.9 million people lived in majority rural local authorities in mid-2023 (10% of England’s population); 37% of these lived in authorities where the majority of the population resided further from a major town or city.
• Around 9.5 million people lived in rural settlements at Census 2021..

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Housing

The key findings from the Housing section, as of December 2024, are as follows:

• In 2020, there were proportionally more rural homes that were either detached or pre-1919 than in urban areas and these two characteristics have the potential to make homes less energy efficient and therefore harder to keep adequately warm.
• There were 13 more new homes completed per 1,000 households in Predominantly Rural areas than in Predominantly Urban areas, with 3 in every 4 new homes completed by private enterprise; affordable housing accounts for 29% of new homes in Predominantly Rural areas.
• Average sale prices of residential properties are higher in Rural areas than in Urban areas, however average rent prices are lower.
• Location has a bigger impact on house purchase affordability than rurality; homes are generally more affordable to buy in the North of England than the South, regardless of their settlement type.
• In 2023, the percentage of dwellings classed as second homes was twice as high in Predominantly Rural areas (1.8%) than in Predominantly Urban areas, however rurality has little impact on the percentage of dwellings classed as empty.
• In 2022/23, there were proportionally fewer homeless people needing assistance in securing permanent settled accommodation in Predominantly Rural areas than in Predominantly Urban areas (excluding London).
• In 2021/22, there were almost double the number of new residential addresses per population in Rural areas than Urban areas.
• There is a marginally larger proportion of homes in rural areas than in urban areas that fail to meet the Decent Homes Standard; but in both cases the proportion is several percentage points higher than in suburban residential areas.

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Health and Wellbeing

The key findings from the Health and Wellbeing section, as of November 2024, are as follows:

• On average, a child born now in a Rural area can expect to live longer than a child born in an Urban area. Preventable mortality rates are similar between settlement types, and the infant mortality rate is lower in Rural areas than in Urban areas. However, the registered suicide rate is higher in Rural areas.
• Over the last 5 years, Rural residents typically rated their wellbeing higher than the average scores given by people living in Urban Areas; but in both areas, average wellbeing scores are lower than prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• On average populations relative to NHS dentist numbers are higher in Predominantly Rural areas compared with Predominantly Urban areas and the proportion of people recently visiting a dentist is lower in Predominantly Rural areas than in Predominantly Urban areas.
• There were more General Practitioner working hours per patient in Predominantly Rural areas than in Predominantly Urban areas, however the average wait times for patient appointments were longer.
• Childcare is changing in both Rural and Urban areas; in the last 7 years the number of providers has reduced alongside a move away from childminders and towards childcare on non-domestic premises; and the overall quality of childcare has improved.
• The rates of loneliness (a subjective, unwelcome feeling of lack or loss of companionship) reported in 2021/22 were slightly lower in Rural areas than in Urban ones when assessed both directly and indirectly.
• A greater proportion of people said they volunteered in Rural areas over the period 2013/14 to 2021/22 than did so in Urban areas, but over this period, the proportion of people who said they volunteered has fallen in both Rural and Urban areas. .

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Communities and Households

The key findings from the Communities and Households section, as of May 2025, are as follows:

• Deprivation in rural areas tends to be more dispersed. Deprivation measures are intended to identify concentrations of deprivation and the more dispersed nature of deprivation in rural areas mean that it less well identified. Deprived Rural areas are more prevalent along the East coast of England, in former mining communities in the North of England, and in the South West of England.
• Under both the relative low income and the absolute low-income poverty measures, the proportions of individuals and households living in poverty was lower in Rural areas than in Urban areas in 2023/24.
• In the last decade, average weekly expenditure (excluding mortgage payments) as a percentage of average weekly disposable income has been higher in Rural areas than Urban areas in all but two years (2013 and financial year 2017/18).
• The recorded crime rates in Predominantly Rural areas were generally lower than in Predominantly Urban areas; the proportion of offences resulting in a charge/summons was slightly higher.
• In Rural areas, residents had more confidence in the police than Urban residents, and victim rates were typically lower for all crimes except for computer misuse.
• Proportionally more people in Rural areas are satisfied with, and have a stronger attachment to, their neighbourhood than people in Urban areas.

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Connectivity and Accessibility

The key findings from the Connectivity and Accessibility section, as of April 2025, are as follows:

• The availability of broadband and mobile services in rural areas can be poorer than in urban areas – with lower speeds or coverage – but coverage has been improving year on year.
• In 2021 people living in the most Rural areas travelled almost twice as far per year than those in the most Urban areas.
• There are proportionally fewer electric plug-in cars and publicly available electric vehicle chargers in Rural areas compared to Urban areas.
• In 2019, 80.9% of people living in Rural areas had access to a General Practice within half an hour’s travel using public transport and walking, compared with 99.8% of people living in Urban areas.
• Working from home is generally more common in Rural areas than Urban areas (34% and 30% respectively of all workers for each area type in 2022), but it is dependent on the type of sector people work in.

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Education, Qualifications and Training

The key findings from the Education, Qualifications and Training section, as of January 2025, are as follows:

• The number of schools in Predominantly Rural areas has reduced over the last decade; schools in Predominantly Rural area on average have fewer students than in Predominantly Urban areas and are less likely to employ a full-time head teacher. The increased number of pupils per school over the last decade led to an increased number of teachers, but the pupil to teacher ratio has risen.
• The average primary class size was around 2 pupils per class smaller in Predominantly Rural areas than in Predominantly Urban areas, but the average secondary school class size was the same in Predominantly Rural and Predominantly Urban areas.
• In the 2022/23 academic year, 71.0% of pupils living in Rural areas left school with English and Maths GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (equivalent to A* to C). This was higher than for pupils living in Urban areas (67.3%).
• As at July 2023, 84% of secondary schools in Rural areas had received an “outstanding” or “good” outcome from their most recent inspection, compared with 81% in Urban areas.
• The total percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals is lower in Rural areas than in Urban areas; this has been the case for at least the last 5 years.
• In 2023 there were proportionally more Elective Home Education pupils in Predominantly Rural areas than there were in Predominantly Urban areas. In 2022/23 the proportion of pupils needing the extra support offered by an education, health and care (EHC) plan was slightly higher in Predominantly Rural areas than it was in Predominantly Urban areas; but a much lower proportion of children with an EHC attended a state funded special school in Predominantly Rural areas than in Predominantly Urban areas.
• Students from Predominantly Rural areas were less likely to progress onto a university degree than students from Predominantly Urban areas; but for those students from Predominantly Rural that do progress they were marginally more likely to go to a top-class university than students from Predominantly Urban areas.
• There were proportionally more apprenticeship starts in Predominantly Rural areas than in Predominantly Urban areas; this is largely driven by higher levels of Intermediate and Advanced-level apprenticeship starts for Males in Rural areas.
• Educational attainment levels of the workforce differ depending on whether you are considering where people work or where they live. Attainment levels based on workplace locations tend to be higher in Predominantly Urban areas. Residence based analysis shows higher levels of attainment in Predominantly Rural areas for Level 1 and 2 qualifications (GCSEs and NVQs Levels 1 and 2), while more recent years have shown the opposite for higher level qualifications like degrees.

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Rural Economic Bulletin

The key findings from the Rural Economic Bulletin section, as of April 2025, are as follows:

• Employment rates have been consistently higher in Rural areas than in Urban areas since 2007, while rates for unemployment and economic inactivity have been consistently lower in Rural areas.
• In 2022, workplace-based median earnings saw an annual increase of 8.7% in Predominantly Rural areas and 6.4% in Predominantly Urban areas. For residence-based earnings Predominantly Rural areas saw in increase of 8.1% compared with 6.3% for Predominantly Urban areas (excluding London).
• Generally, proportionally more people living in Urban areas are made redundant than in Rural areas, however redundancy rates tend to fluctuate over time.
• Proportionally fewer people claim Jobseeker’s Allowance in Rural areas than in Urban areas.
• In 2022, Gross Value Added in rural areas was £240 billion and accounted for 12% of England’s GVA, based on new LSOA-level estimates. At Local Authority-level, output in majority rural local authorities totalled £153 billion (8%) in 2022 and a further £188 billion (10%) was generated in intermediate rural local authorities, combining to £341 billion.
• In 2022/23, there were 549,600 businesses registered in Rural areas, accounting for 23% of all registered businesses in England.
• Businesses registered in Rural areas employed 3.8 million people, accounting for 14% of all those employed by registered businesses in England.
• In Rural areas the greatest proportion of employment occurs in those businesses with between 10 and 49 employees (30%). In Urban areas the greatest proportion of employment occurs within businesses that have 250 employees or more (30% of employment).
• In 2022/23 the ‘Agriculture, forestry and fishing’ sector had the largest proportion of business numbers in Rural areas (14% of all businesses for the area type) but only accounted for 7% of all employment for the area type, with the ‘Education, health and social work sector’ having the largest proportion of employment for the area type (16%).
• Business start-ups and deaths per head of population are lower in Predominantly Rural areas, but overall, Predominantly Rural areas have more businesses per head of population than in Predominantly Urban areas (excluding London). Business survival rates are higher in Predominantly Rural areas, but these areas have a lower rate of high-growth enterprises.

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Energy

The key findings from the Energy section, as of May 2025, are as follows:

• In both Rural and Urban areas around 11% of households are regarded as fuel poor; however, the average depth of the fuel poverty for Rural households is greater, especially if their homes are pre-1919 and/or off the gas grid.
• Whether the property is a house or a flat and the age of the property are far more important factors in determining its energy efficiency than its level of rurality; in both Predominantly Rural and Predominantly Urban areas the average energy efficiency of homes is improving.
• For pre-2012 properties in Predominantly Rural areas proportionally fewer reach an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C or better than in Predominantly Urban or London areas.
• The lower energy efficiency of older and / or detached houses means that their modelled energy costs are higher than new properties or flats in both Rural and Urban areas.
• Average domestic electricity consumption is higher in Predominantly Rural areas than Predominantly Urban areas, but the reverse is true for domestic gas consumption.
• Factors such as whether a home is a flat or a house, whether it is Owner-occupied or Socially rented and whether or not it is a new house are far more important to determining the CO2 emissions from the property than whether it is in a Predominantly Rural or Predominantly Urban area.