Mosaic, developed by Experian, classifies every UK household into one of 15 distinct ‘groups’, from which 63 sub-groups (‘types’) are also derived. These classifications describe households in terms of their typical demographics, their behaviours, lifestyle characteristics, attitudes and how they like to interact with organisations or services. They identify groups of households that are as similar as possible to each other, and as different as possible from any other group. For convenience, groups and types have basic descriptive names, such as ‘Village Retirement’, ‘Satellite Settlers’ and ‘Bus-Route Renters’.
This section builds a picture of rural Somerset is terms of Mosaic 2014 classifications. It considers the most rural areas (‘Rural Village and Dispersed’) and the less rural areas (‘Rural Town and Fringe’), as defined by the ONS Rural-Urban Classification.
These areas have an average population density of around 0.5 people per hectare. According to Mosaic these households consist predominantly of mature married couples or singles (typified by the types: ‘Village Retirement’, ‘Wealthy Landowners’, ‘ Scattered Homesteads’, and ‘Satellite Settlers’). People in these groups are typically well-educated, have mid to high incomes, and are in reasonably good health.
Families with children make up a relatively small proportion of Somerset’s most rural population. Of these, the affluent ‘Rural Vogue’ (detached housing, good income) outnumber ‘Local Focus’ (low property value/social renting) by around 2 to 1.
Potentially the most vulnerable groups in Somerset villages are ‘Outlying seniors’ (aged 60+, low cost housing, low income) and ‘Pocket Pensions’ (mostly living alone, socially renting, low income). Typical locations for these types are Quantock Vale, Old Cleeve, Curry Rivel and Bishops Lydeard. Between them, these types account for around 8% of Somerset’s most rural households.
The great majority (96%) of households are classified within ten Mosaic types, as follows:
Table 1: Most common Mosaic types in 'rural village and dispersed' areas
Mosaic Type | Type 'Name' | No. of households | % of households | Typical household characteristics | Typical locations |
A4 | Village Retirement | 14,282 | 21.7% | Retired couples and singles; larger village locations; like to be self sufficient | East Chinnock; West Quantock; Shepton Beauchamp |
A3 | Wealthy Landowners | 10,842 | 16.5% | Mature married couples; high value large detached homes | Axe Vale; Wedmore (South); Charlton Horethorne |
A2 | Scattered Homesteads | 9,600 | 14.6% | Married couples aged 50+; isolated housing; high levels of homeworking | Exford; Roadwater; Brendon Hills |
G29 | Satellite Settlers | 9,140 | 13.9% | Mature households; larger villages; close to transport links | Middlezoy; Pawlett; Montecute |
A1 | Rural Vogue | 7,810 | 11.9% | Families with children; detached housing; good income | North Newton; Stoke St Gregory; East Brent |
G27 | Outlying Seniors | 4,905 | 7.5% | Aged 60+; low cost housing; low income | Old Cleeve; Quantock Vale; Horton |
G28 | Local Focus | 4,417 | 6.7% | Rent or own affordable homes; skilled trades | Wyke and Redlynch; Bishops Lydeard (North); Norton-sub-Hamdon |
F24 | Bungalow Haven | 702 | 1.1% | Elderly couples and singles; own home outright | Ruishton; Compton Dundon; Creech St Michael |
D16 | Mid-Career Convention | 656 | 1.0% | Married couples with children; professional jobs; mortgage | Cumpton Dundon; Misterton; Chilcompton |
N59 | Pocket Pensioners | 611 | 0.9% | Retired and mostly living alone; social rented; low incomes | Curry Rivel (North); Bishops Lydeard (North) |
Source: Mosaic 2014
These areas have an average population density of around 5 people per hectare. ‘Local Focus’ (families with children, mid-level income) is the most common type, followed by mature couples and singles represented by ‘Outlying Seniors’ and ‘Satellite Settlers’. Rural towns see a more diverse range of types, particularly in terms of a younger population demographic, e.g., ‘Contemporary Starts’ (full-time employed, starter salaries), ‘Mid Careers-Convention’ (professional jobs, mortgages) and ‘Bus-Route Renters’ (renting, living alone or sharing).
More than three-quarters (77%) of Somerset households in and around rural towns are represented by ten Mosaic types. The least affluent of these are typically ‘Pocket Pensioners’ (e.g. in Castle Cary and parts of Crewkerne and Somerton) and the younger ‘Bus-Route Renters’ (e.g. in parts of Glastonbury and Wincanton).
Table 2: Most common Mosaic types in 'rural town and fringe' areas
Mosaic Type | Type 'Name' | No. of households | % of households | Typical household characteristics | Typical locations |
G28 | Local Focus | 8,674 | 17.5% | Rent or own affordable homes; skilled trades | Watchet (South); Williton (North); Wiveliscombe |
G27 | Outlying Seniors | 7,567 | 15.2% | Aged 60+; low cost housing; low income | Watchet (North); Merriott (South); Cannington |
G29 | Satellite Settlers | 6,511 | 13.1% | Mature households; larger villages; close to transport links | Axbridge; Milborne Wick; Cannington (West) |
A4 | Village Retirement | 4,193 | 8.4% | Retied couples and singles; larger village locations; like to be self sufficient | Forton; Curry Rivel (South); Porlock |
F24 | Bungalow Haven | 3,046 | 6.1% | Elderly couples and singles; own home outright | Creech St Michael (West); North Petherton (East); Crewkerne (North) |
H34 | Contemporary Starts | 1,982 | 4.0% | Younger households; full-time employment; starter salaries | Ilchester; North Petherton (Outer); Cotford St Luke |
D16 | Mid-Careers Convention | 1,961 | 3.9% | Married couples with children; professional jobs; mortgage | Glastonbury (West); Creech St Michael (West); Puriton |
N59 | Pocket Pensions | 1,764 | 3.5% | Retired and mostly living alone; social rented; low incomes | Castle Cary; Somerton (East); Crewkerne (Central) |
J45 | Bus-Route Renters | 1203 | 2.4% | Aged 25 to 40; living alone or sharing; renting | Glastonbury (Central); Crewkerne (West); Wincanton (Central) |
A2 | Scattered Homesteads | 1,174 | 2.4% | Married couples aged 50+; isolated housing; high levels of homeworking | Dulverton; Porlock and District; Henstridge |
Source: Mosaic 2014
For detailed statistics and key messages from the 2011 Census on rural Somerset see our Census 2011 Rurality page.
There has been a big increase since 2001 in the number of residents with a Level 4 (e.g., Bachelor degree) or above qualification. There are now more people qualified to at least Level 4 (25.6%) than people with no qualifications (22.4%). - 2011 Census