District statistics

General Health

The general health of residents within Braintree show that 47.3% of people have very good health.

Transport to Local Health Services

According to the Department for Transport, Braintree District residents have slightly longer travel times to local services compared to the Essex average (19.4 minutes), with an average of 23.7 minutes by walking or public transport to 8 key services, the third highest time in the county. Average times to GP surgeries were estimated at just under 14 minutes, whilst hospitals were 60 minutes and were the fourth and third highest times in Essex. Access to a car reduced these travel times significantly to 8.5 minutes for GP surgeries and 30 minutes to hospitals. /p>

Life Expectancy

The average life expectancy at birth for a child born in Braintree (2015-2017) was 82.7 years for females and 80.2 years for males. This lower than the average for England for females (83.1 years) but slightly higher for males (79.6 years).

Life expectancy at age 65 (the number of additional years a person could expect to live) was 20.6 years for females and 18.7 years for males; this is the (joint) lowest female life expectancy at 65 in the county.

Activities

To find a number of activities that are taking place in Essex, including dementia-friendly activities and activities for new parents please visit Livewell.

(Braintree JSNA Profile - 2019)

(Office of National Statistics – Census 2021)

The average weekly income for a Braintree resident working full time in 2018 was £630.30, £11.70 (1.86%) higher than the average for Essex and £55.40 (8.79%) higher than the average for England. This was the fifth highest average income out of 12 Districts. Part time workers in Braintree earned £193.90 per week, £11.80 (6.1%) more than the average for Essex, and £6.60 (3.4%) more than the average for England. This was the third highest weekly income for part time workers in Essex.

Male residents generally earned £179.50 (26%) more per week than females with an average weekly pay of £689.10 for male full time workers compared to £509.60 for females. This was the second highest difference in income in Essex for both percentage and actual income.

87.2% of residents (84,000 people) aged 16-64 in the Braintree District are economically active, 6.3% higher than the average for Essex (80.8%) and 8.4% higher than England (78.7%). This is the highest rate of economic activity in the county (Lowest = Brentwood (71.9%)). Within the same age group, it is estimated that 82.8% of residents (including both economically active and inactive) are in Employment, 4.7% higher than the Essex Average (78.1%) and 7.4% higher than England (75.4%).

(Braintree JSNA Profile - 2019)

(Office of National Statistics – Census 2021)

The estimated population of Braintree is now 155,200 comprising 79,100 females and 76,100 males. In the district the population size has increased by 5.5%, from around 147,100 in 2011. This is lower than the overall increase for England (6.6%), where the population grew by nearly 3.5 million to 56,489,800. It is also lower than the increase for the East of England (8.3%).

Braintree ranked 131st for total population out of 309 local authority areas in England, moving up one place in a decade.

Since the 2011 Census, Braintree has seen an annual population growth of 0.54%.

Age

There are 8,500 children aged 4 years and under and 1,400 people aged over 90 in the district.

Of those children aged 4 and under, 4,400 are male and 4,100 are female. However, at age 90, females outnumber males more than 2 to 1 - there being 1000 females to just 400 males.

Across the country the population has continued to age. In Braintree, there has been an increase of 29.8% in people aged 65 years and over, an increase of 1.3% in people aged 15 to 64 years, and a decrease of 0.9% in children aged under 15years

Population density

We are, though, still relatively sparsely populated, with Braintree being the 16th least densely populated of the East of England's 45 local authority areas. The population density (number of usual residents per square kilometre) is 254 - this is the equivalent to around 2 people living on each football pitch-sized area of land in Braintree. This is one of the lowest in Essex and compares with Maldon at 185 people per square kilometre and Chelmsford at 536 people per square kilometre.

Number of households

At the time of the Census, in Braintree there were 65,000 households (number of households with at least one usual resident) - that is less than Basildon (76,400) and Tendering (67,500).

Further information regarding resident population by sex, resident population by 5-year age group, resident population by sex and 5-year age group, resident population density and number of households. Estimates of the number of people by sex and age for all local authorities in the East of England.

Ethnicity

Ethnicity refers to a common group identity based on language, culture, religion or other social characteristics.

• Asian - 1.7%
• Black - 1.2%
• Mixed - 1.9%
• White - 94.7%
• Other - 0.5%

Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values.

• No Religion - 45%
• Christian - 47%
• Buddhist - 0.3%
• Hindu - 0.4%
• Jewish - 0.2%
• Muslim - 0.7%
• Sikh - 0.1%
• Other Religion - 0.4%
• Not Answered - 5.9%

Nationally and locally the number of crimes recorded by the police force in England and Wales is on the increase. Over a four year period the number of crimes recorded in the Braintree area has risen by 48% from 6,864 incidents or 46 crimes per 1000 residents in 2015/16 to 10,175 crimes or 67 crimes per 1000 in 2018/19. This percentage increase is higher than rates seen across the rest of the Essex Police Force area (42.7%) however the overall crime rate for Braintree is 24% lower than the average for England (89 per 1000) and the Essex Police Force area (87 per 1000) and is the 11th (out of 14) highest local authority in Essex (including Southend and Thurrock).

Local authorities have a responsibility, just like the police and fire and rescue authorities. Councils contribute in a variety of ways. Information is published on our website about advice and help on how to stay safe..

Explore where crimes have been report in the Braintree district on the police.uk website.

Braintree is a predominately rural District in the north of Essex. The majority of the populations live within the three towns of the District; Braintree, Witham and Halstead which are all located towards the south. The District is an advantageous place to live with an attractive rural setting and many historic buildings, nature reserves and local wildlife sites including ancient woodlands. The District is well placed for economic growth with the central and southern portions of the District benefiting from good rail and road links to London as well as London Stansted Airport and the ports to the east.

Braintree has a rich history from when it started as a small village. Houses were built near the River Brain by people during the Bronze and Iron Ages but was mainly inhabited by the Saxons. Braintree is also famous for its wool cloth trade and silk manufacturing.

Braintree is the largest town followed by Witham and Halstead. In addition to the town centre facilities, the District benefits from the Braintree Village Designer Outlet Village that attracts 4 million shoppers from the wider District and beyond. The areas in proximity to the A120 and A12 are attractive to commuters, with many who reside in the District travelling to Chelmsford, Colchester and London for work.

Visit Locate Braintree District to find out more about living, working, and visiting Braintree.

You can also take a look at visit Essex, which offers a wide range of things to enjoy in Essex and can be filtered specifically to Braintree