Central Colchester

Colchester · East of England · population 11,399 · 6 LSOAs

Approximate neighbourhood (MSOA) boundary. © OpenStreetMap contributors; boundary © ONS / Crown copyright.

42Area Score / 100 ?
  • #3,953 of 6,856 in England
  • #535 of 746 in East of England
  • #16 of 21 in Colchester
  • Around the England average
Compare this area →

People living here Census 2021

Residents11,314
Median age (est.)37
Density3,225per km²
No qualifications13%
Degree or above41%
No car or van34%

Age

0–14 15%15–24 11%25–44 36%45–64 22%65+ 16%

Tenure

Own outright: 23%Mortgage/shared: 23%Social rent: 11%Private rent: 43%
Own outright 23%Mortgage/shared 23%Social rent 11%Private rent 43%

Households

One person: 41%Couple, no children: 18%Couple with children: 17%Lone parent: 11%Other: 13%
One person 41%Couple, no children 18%Couple with children 17%Lone parent 11%Other 13%

Work (top occupations)

Professional 24% · Associate professional 15% · Managers & directors 12%

All occupation groups
Professional24%
Associate professional15%
Managers & directors12%
Caring & leisure11%
Elementary10%
Administrative8%
Skilled trades8%
Sales & customer service7%
Process & plant6%

Ethnic group

White: 82%Asian: 8%Black: 4%Mixed: 4%Other: 3%
White 82%Asian 8%Black 4%Mixed 4%Other 3%

Religion & identity

No religion 45% · Christian 42% · Muslim 4%

Born outside the UK: 25%

Census 2021 (ONS), Crown copyright, OGL v3.0. Shares are of each question's own respondents (e.g. education is % of residents aged 16+). Figures date from March 2021 and change slowly between censuses.

In summary

Central Colchester is close to the England average for deprivation, ranked #3,953 of 6,856 neighbourhoods nationally, and #16 of 21 in Colchester. It is highly uneven across the seven themes — strong on Housing & access (80) but weak on Crime (5). Typical homes here sold for about £242,000 over the past year, up 24% across five years (from 187 sales), 27% below the wider Colchester median of £330,000. Cheaper homes only partly offset the deprivation score, leaving it at #1,901 of 6,851 on our affordability-adjusted measure. Typical household take-home income is around £46,127 a year, in the top third of England. Recorded crime ran at 264 incidents per 1,000 residents over the past year, well above the England rate of 83.

Themed scores ?

Each 0–100, higher = less deprived on that theme. National rank shown.

Income 42 · #3,967
Employment 48 · #3,556
Education 61 · #2,665
Health 40 · #4,145
Crime 5 · #6,497
Housing & access 80 · #1,390
Living environment 39 · #4,200

House prices ?

£242,000median (12m) · +12.6% yr · n=187
TypeMedian (12m)Sales1yr5yr
All homes£242,000187+12.6%+24.1%
Detached£375,00013-15.3%+12.8%
Semi-detached£320,00027+4.9%+23.1%
Terraced£285,00064+5.6%+18.8%
Flat£172,50083-0.2%+13.5%
This area£242,000
Colchester£330,000
East of England£348,000
England£300,000
Annual median price, all homes. Small samples can be volatile.

Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Household income

Net household income (a year)£46,127±£6,548 · #1,819 of 6,856
After housing costs (equivalised)£34,839
Price-to-income ?5.2×typical home ÷ net income — less stretched than the England figure of 7.5×

Model-based ONS estimates (FYE 2023) with 95% confidence intervals — a guide to the typical household, not a measurement. How income estimates work →

Affordability-adjusted Score ?

72Affordability-adjusted Score / 100
Best-value areas in England →

Recorded crime ?

264 crimes per 1,000 residents · 12 months · 3,011 offences
Colchester86
East of England70
England83

Rank #6,314 of 6,427 areas with published data (1 = lowest recorded rate).

Category (12 months)Recorded
Violence & sexual offences1,375
Theft774
Burglary77
Vehicle crime121
Criminal damage & arson174
Public order & weapons271
Drugs132
Robbery51
Other36

Anti-social behaviour, recorded separately: 374 incidents.

Recorded incidents, not convictions. Crimes are counted where they happen while residents are counted where they live, so busy town-centre, retail and nightlife areas show high per-resident rates because visitors bring incidents with them. Street-level crime data © Crown copyright, data.police.uk, OGL v3.0. More on crime figures →

Official sources

Nearby areas

The closest neighbourhoods on the map, whichever authority they fall in.

Other areas in Colchester

Similar areas across England

Neighbourhoods with the closest Area Score elsewhere in the country, for comparison.