FOI reference: FOI-2026-3762
You asked
Please could you provide the following data, from an underlying survey (or multiple) such as the Family Resources Survey (FRS), Labour Force Survey (LFS) or Census, if it exists:
Variables: for each Middle Layer Super Output Area (MSOA) in England and National Statistics Socio-economic classification (NS-SEC) category, the following data on households:
Mean gross household income for households with the main earner in this NS-SEC group and working in this MSOA (both total income and income specifically from employment)
Median gross household income for households with the main earner in this NS-SEC group and working in this MSOA (again both total and from employment)
Number of observations of households with the main earner in this NS-SEC group and working in this MSOA, used in the computation of the above two variables
Number of observations of households with the main earner in this NS-SEC group and living in this MSOA
Additionally, for every pair of MSOAs in England and every NS-SEC category, the number of observations of households with the main earner in this NS-SEC group who lives in the first MSOA and works in the second MSOA.
Years: 2011, or as close to this year as possible. Please use 2011 MSOA boundaries.
Please report each of the above variables both weighted and unweighted, using the survey weights. Please use the standard three-class NS-SEC grouping throughout. If it is not possible to categorise by NS-SEC directly from the underlying data, please use SOC2010 occupation classifications mapped to NS-SEC, and state the mapping used. If disclosure controls restrict the release of these variables for certain NS-SEC and MSOA pairs, please explicitly report this rather than omitting the pair entirely. If the underlying data permits (but as a lower priority), please also provide the data at the LSOA-by-NS-SEC level, using 2011 LSOA boundaries.
If multiple waves of the relevant surveys are available between 2011 and 2019, please also report all of the above variables using the pooled sample of all observations from all waves in this period. In doing this, please express all incomes in constant 2011 prices throughout, using the CPIH or an alternative stated price index. If the pooled sample from 2011-2019 involves multiple observations of the same household over time, please only use their first observation in computing the above variables for the total 2011-2019 sample.
Please could you also provide answers to the following:
What are the sources of the data?
In the relevant source, what is the description of the variable containing the household income data?
In the relevant source, what is the definition of the main earner (or the equivalent used in the calculation of the above variables)?
If you do not hold this information, are there other public bodies that may hold it, or parts of it?
Apologies for the complexity of the request. If it exceeds the cost limit for FOI requests, or anything is unclear, please let me know so that I can revise the scope. If it is better to split the request up and direct separate parts of it to specific survey contacts, I would greatly appreciate advice on which parts would be best directed to which survey. I would also greatly appreciate details on which parts of the data requested are not available anywhere, if this is the case.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry relating to household income broken down by Middle Layer Super Output Area (MSOA) and National Statistics Socio-economic classification (NS-SEC).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes a range of income statistics covering different geographic areas and levels of detail. We have outlined the outputs most relevant to your request.
The ONS publishes accredited official statistics on Income estimates for small areas in England and Wales. The estimates are modelled using the Family Resources Survey (FRS), rather than direct counts or simple survey estimates for each area. This is necessary because the FRS does not contain enough responses to produce reliable direct estimates for every MSOA.
The modelling combines income information from the FRS with relevant census and administrative information about each area. The statistics provide mean household income for four income concepts:
- total or gross household income
- disposable or net household income
- equivalised disposable income before housing costs
- equivalised disposable income after housing costs
As such, the methodology is designed to produce these estimates at a MSOA geographic level and does not produce estimates for population subgroups. We are therefore unable to provide small area income estimates broken down by NS-SEC.
For other statistics derived from the Family Resources Survey such as Households below average income, we recommend that you contact the Department for Work and Pensions.
The ONS also routinely publishes accredited official estimates of household income as part of the Household disposable income and inequality, UK (HDII) and Effects of taxes and benefits on UK household income (ETB) annual releases. These estimates are derived from the Household Finances Survey (HFS), with further details on data sources and definitional detail available in the Income and Earnings Statistics Guide. Published data tables include estimates of household income by NS-SEC in HDII Table 29 and household income by region in ETB Table 18.
Regional breakdowns derived from HFS are routinely provided at International Territorial Level 1 (ITL1). HFS data are not published at Middle Layer Super Output Area (MSOA) level because of disclosure and sample size considerations. We are therefore unable to provide published estimates at this level. If you would like to request bespoke datasets at the ITL1 level, please contact the household income and expenditure analysis team hie@ons.gov.uk to discuss your enquiry further. Such services are subject to legal frameworks, resources, statistical robustness and agreement of costs, subject to our charging policy.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) contains information on employment, occupation and workplace, but it is not the principal source used by the ONS for detailed household income statistics. The ONS does not hold the requested household-level income derived from the LFS in a recorded form.
The census provides detailed information on usual residence, workplace and socio-economic characteristics, but it does not collect household income. Consequently, the requested household income measures cannot be obtained directly from census records.
Further information on definitional detail is available in the Income and Earnings Statistics Guide.