The Local Characteristics tables in this release focus on the topic of Demography and Families, cross-tabulated with one or more other topics from the census, at Output Area (OA) level in England and Wales. OAs are the lowest level of geography for which census estimates are produced, so Local Characteristics tables offer the greatest level of detail possible for all local areas.

The tables in this release add to the picture provided by the Detailed Characteristics tables on Demography published on 30 August 2013.

Due to the level of detail included in Local Characteristics tables, and the lower level of geography, in order to prevent disclosure of individuals’ information some classifications have been collapsed. As far as possible comparability with Detailed Characteristics tables has been retained.

More information about OAs and other geographic areas is available from ONS Geography.

All 25 Local Characteristics tables are available from the Nomis website. Each table can be accessed directly using the links in the reference table (37 Kb Excel sheet) .

In addition, two new Detailed Characteristics tables which provide estimates of dependent children by family type are also included.

Detailed Characteristics and Local Characteristics tables from previous releases are also available from the Nomis website.

Local Characteristics tables on Housing for Output Areas in England and Wales were also published on the 23 Jan 2014.

A short story presenting the current picture for families in England and Wales, including analysis of marital status, living arrangements, households and children, was published in an earlier release.

During early 2014, ONS will release further Local Characteristics tables for OAs and further statistics for MSOAs and Census Merged Wards. These will continue to provide an even richer and more valuable data source for the many users of the census.

Further information about the census estimates, including details about the methodology used and information about how other population sub-groups are counted and defined, is available in the 2011 Census user guide.

Further information on the fitness for purpose of the statistics in this release can be found in the Quality and Methodology Information paper (157.6 Kb Pdf) .