We published a new Beta version of this service on 26 March 2024 at Explore local statistics.
Compare a local authority and the UK average (median) local authority by different indicators, such as weekly pay and healthy life expectancy.
You can also add and compare up to three other local authorities.
Where the chosen local authority is more than one standard deviation away from the median, you will see the indicators highlighted under "better than the median" or "worse than the median". Some indicators have higher values positioned on the left under "worse than the median" such as the percentage of smoking adults because it is more intuitive.
Links to the publicly available sources of the data displayed in the tool can be found within our accompanying dataset.
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Updates 21 March 2024
We have included six new indicators. These are:
- births of new enterprises
- deaths of enterprises
- active enterprises
- high growth enterprises
- aged 16 to 64 years NVQ level 3 or above qualifications (Northern Ireland)
- circulatory mortality considered preventable in persons aged under 75 (Northern Ireland)
Following a recommendation from topic experts, we have renamed "Cardiovascular mortality considered preventable in persons aged under 75" to "Circulatory diseases considered preventable in persons aged under 75" because the indicator is based on the ICD-10 codes I00 to I99, which is referred to in ICD-10 as "Diseases of the circulatory system".
The accompanying datasets include data for a range of additional geographies, for example city regions, English regions and UK nations, where available and methodologically comparable. For more details see column S of the data dictionary.
Confidence intervals for the indicators, where applicable and available, have been included in the accompanying dataset. A confidence interval is a measure of the uncertainty around a specific estimate. If a confidence interval is 95%, it is expected that the interval will contain the true value on 95 occasions if repeated 100 times. As intervals around estimates widen, the level of uncertainty about where the true value lies increases.
We have published a trustworthiness, quality, and value statement to demonstrate that we have voluntarily applied the pillars of the Code of Practice for Statistics. Please refer to the “Voluntary TQV” tab in the accompanying dataset.
Notes
This interactive tool will be updated on a quarterly basis. The data displayed will not always match the most recent version of the related data source where new data and revisions become available in-between updates. Please refer to the data dictionary in the accompanying dataset for details on years covered and geographical coverage of each indicator, and for links to the original data sources. The data displayed are correct as of 16 February 2024.
This ninth iteration of our interactive tool shows 38 subnational indicators. Data for 12 more indicators are available in the accompanying dataset and in the data download. These are:
- births of new enterprises
- deaths of enterprises
- active enterprises
- high growth enterprises
- total value of UK exports
- inward foreign direct investment (FDI)
- outward foreign direct investment (FDI)
- public-funded gross regional capital and non-capital expenditure on research and development
- 4G coverage
- aged 19 years and over further education and skills achievements
- homicide
- population under devolution deal in England
The polarity of the indicator determines whether the lowest or highest value is positioned on the left-hand side of the jitter plot. The jitter plot presents the indicators so that "worse than the median" are on the left, and "better than the median" are on the right regardless of the value itself (for example, a high percentage of smoking adults is presented on the left-hand side). The indicators for which higher values are shown on the left are:
- public transport or walk to employment centre with 500 to 4,999 jobs
- cycle to employment centre with 500 to 4,999 jobs
- drive to employment centre with 500 to 4,999 jobs
- persistent absences for all pupils
- persistent absences for pupils eligible for free school meals
- persistent absences for pupils looked after continuously for at least 12 months by local authorities
- cigarette smokers
- obesity prevalence in children at reception age (aged four to five years)
- obesity prevalence in children at Year 6 age (aged 10 to 11 years)
- adult obesity prevalence (aged 18 years and over)
- circulatory mortality considered preventable in persons aged under 75
- circulatory mortality considered preventable in persons aged under 75 (Northern Ireland)
- anxiety
- aged 16 years and over modelled unemployment
The original data sources included in the interactive tool and the accompanying dataset report across different time periods. We have standardised the different time periods to reflect the same format, for example, calendar years are expressed as "2023", academic years are expressed as "2022/23", specific time periods are expressed as "04/2022 – 03/2023" or as "2018 – 2020".
Because of methodological differences, data for 23 indicators (two of which not displayed) are included for England only, one indicator (not displayed) is included for England and Wales, and three indicators (two of which are not displayed) are included for Great Britain, rather than for the whole of the UK. We are continuing to work with colleagues in the devolved administrations to improve the comparability of indicators at UK level where possible, as set out in the Government Statistical Service coherence work programme, while acknowledging the devolved nature of some policy areas.
When the same metric is on separate lines for different countries (e.g. Northern Ireland), please note that the median values will be different for each country. We use the median absolute deviation to standardise the distance of each area from the median value (within each metric), so that the orange line always corresponds to the centre of each distribution.
Our interactive tool operates on local authority districts' and unitary authorities’ 2022 boundaries. Where the original data source includes different boundaries, for example counties or boundaries predating 2022, data points for these geographies will be not displayed in our interactive tool but will be available in the accompanying dataset and in the data download.
Data for some indicators are only published for upper tier local authorities (counties and unitary authorities) and not for lower tier local authorities (local authority districts and unitary authorities). For example, 28 indicators will appear in the interactive tool for Fareham, however, the other seven will be available for Hampshire in the accompanying dataset and in the data download. These are:
- pupils meeting the expected standards in reading, writing and maths at the end of key stage 2
- state-funded schools rated good or outstanding
- persistent absences for all pupils
- persistent absences for pupils eligible for free school meals in the past 6 years
- persistent absences for pupils looked after continuously for at least 12 months by local authorities
- female healthy life expectancy
- male healthy life expectancy
In line with the original data sources, data for Isles of Scilly and City of London are not available for several indicators. Please refer to the original data sources to learn more about the reasons for excluding them.
About this tool
The Subnational indicators explorer, the first step towards an Explore Subnational Statistics service, promotes transparency and makes it easy for users to access and visualise subnational indicators in one place.
The indicators are grouped in three categories ("boosting productivity, pay, jobs and living standards", "spreading opportunity and improving public services" and “restoring a sense of community, local pride and belonging”) in line with the Levelling Up the United Kingdom: missions and metrics Technical Annex, plus a “other” category for additional indicators.
Methodology
To position each local authority within the cloud of local authorities, we used a robust measure of statistical dispersion called the median absolute deviation (MAD). We preferred the MAD to the mean absolute deviation as outliers have a smaller effect on the median than they do on the mean.
To compute the MAD for a specific indicator, first calculate the median of all values at local authority level for that indicator. Second, subtract the median from each value and get the absolute values. Finally, calculate the median of the median absolute deviations obtained from the previous step and multiply this by 1.4826. This constant is linked to the assumption of normality of the data.
The distance of each local authority from the centre line (the local authority with the median value in the distribution) is equivalent to the difference between the value of the chosen local authority and the value of the median local authority, divided by the MAD. We consider the resulting score to be positive or negative if the score is at least one MAD above or below the median. Usually, a score is considered to be significantly different from the median score if it is at least two MADs above or below the median.
Where the score of a local authority is more than 7.5 MADs above or below the score of the median local authority, the local authority is shown at the end of the scale and its position is not fully representative of its score.
Last updated on 21 March 2024