England and Wales Census 2021 - RM077: Method used to travel to work by distance travelled to work

This dataset provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents in England and Wales by method used to travel to work (2001 specification) and by distance travelled to work. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.

As Census 2021 was during a unique period of rapid change, take care when using this data for planning purposes. Due to methodological changes the ‘mainly work at or from home: any workplace type’ category has a population of zero. Please use the transport_to_workplace_12a classification instead. Read more about this quality notice.

As Census 2021 was during a unique period of rapid change, take care when using this data for planning purposes. Read more about this quality notice.

Area type

Census 2021 statistics are published for a number of different geographies. These can be large, for example the whole of England, or small, for example an output area (OA), the lowest level of geography for which statistics are produced.

For higher levels of geography, more detailed statistics can be produced. When a lower level of geography is used, such as output areas (which have a minimum of 100 persons), the statistics produced have less detail. This is to protect the confidentiality of people and ensure that individuals or their characteristics cannot be identified.

Lower tier local authorities

Lower tier local authorities provide a range of local services. There are 309 lower tier local authorities in England made up of 181 non-metropolitan districts, 59 unitary authorities, 36 metropolitan districts and 33 London boroughs (including City of London). In Wales there are 22 local authorities made up of 22 unitary authorities.

Coverage

Census 2021 statistics are published for the whole of England and Wales. However, you can choose to filter areas by:

  • country - for example, Wales
  • region - for example, London
  • local authority - for example, Cornwall
  • health area – for example, Clinical Commissioning Group
  • statistical area - for example, MSOA or LSOA

Method used to travel to workplace

A person's place of work and their method of travel to work. This is the 2001 method of producing travel to work variables.

"Work mainly from home" applies to someone who indicated their place of work as their home address and travelled to work by driving a car or van, for example visiting clients.

Distance travelled to work

The distance, in kilometres, between a person's residential postcode and their workplace postcode measured in a straight line. A distance travelled of 0.1km indicates that the workplace postcode is the same as the residential postcode. Distances over 1200km are treated as invalid, and an imputed or estimated value is added.

“Work mainly at or from home” is made up of those that ticked either the "Mainly work at or from home" box for the address of workplace question, or the “Work mainly at or from home” box for the method of travel to work question.

Distance is calculated as the straight line distance between the enumeration postcode and the workplace postcode.

Combine this variable with “Economic activity status” to identify those in employment at the time of the census.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Last Updated April 17, 2023, 12:27 (BST)
Created April 17, 2023, 12:27 (BST)
Visibility Public
Year 2021
Topics Transport
Travel to work or study
Units Persons
Geographic Layer Census Electoral Divisions
Census Wards
Countries
Integrated Care Boards
Local Health Boards
Lower Super Output Areas
Lower Tier Local Authorities
Middle Super Output Areas
NHS England Regions
Output Areas
Regions
Sub Integrated Care Board Locations
Upper Tier Local Authorities
Westminster Parliamentary Constituencies
Frequency Decennial
DOI https://doi.org/10.5257/census/aggregate-2021-1
Citation Office for National Statistics; National Records of Scotland; Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency; UK Data Service. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5257/census/aggregate-2021-1
Geographical Coverage Location England and Wales
Granularity Country down to output areas
Geographic Spatial data {"geo_type": "polygon", "lat": "52.4036", "lon": "-1.93872", "left": "-6.53687", "top": "55.8275", "right": "1.98853", "bottom": "49.6694", "srid": null, "accuracy": null, "source": null}