Super Output Areas

These are a new set of geographies designed specifically for statistical purposes.  There are 3 layers:

Lower Layer - minimum population 1000, and an average population of 1500.  These nest within ward boundaries.

Middle Layer - minimum population 5000, and an average population of 7200.  These are built up from lower level super output areas.

Upper Layer - minimum size c25,000

The key feature about SOA's is that the boundaries will not change.  This means they are useful if you want to monitor data over time.  All census variables are available for this geography, and more frequently other data sets are becoming available too.

The only drawback of this geography is that the areas do not have meaningful names - they are a set of codes - and therefore it might be difficult for people to know where they actually are.