Useful websites

Updated 14/01/2026

Jump to:

Census resources

The census provides an invaluable source of information on the population relating to a wide range of topics. Because (nearly) everyone fills it in, you can get information from it about very small areas.

  • Census maps - easy to use tool for viewing census data in a map format for various types of geographies
  • Census maps - change since 2011
  • Build a custom area profile - easy to use tool that lets you build a custom geography (or use existing ones) and see how various census data compares for your area and a comparator, such as England or the rest of Bolton.
  • Create a custom dataset - look at how several factors vary together in a combination you select and download as a dataset.
  • NOMIS - download pre-made tables of current and previous census data.
  • How life has changed in Bolton - the ONS has produced a series of reports looking at changes since the previous census at local authority level.
  • Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on census outputs - from ONS. Most impacted topics are: geographic location of usual residents; students; international migration; labour market; travel to work. Topics with some pandemic-based effects are: living arrangements; health; unpaid care.
  • Origin-destination explorer - for people moving house and commuting to work (pandemic will impact commute data)
  • The ONS website provides informatation on releases from the 2021 and previous censuses.
  • Planning for Census 2031 - from ONS

Other national data & intelligence sources

Here are some external websites containing useful data, evidence and intelligence on the health and wellbeing of Bolton people, and factors influencing it.

  • The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities' fingertips profiles - a collection of trusted, regularly updated data and information on many health related topics. A good starting point is the Local Authority Health Profile
  • statistics at OHID - statistics for public health topics
  • Public health local area statistics - from OHID
  • House of Commons Library Website with breifings and dashboards on a wide range of topics. Primarily intended to inform MPs so most dashboards go down to consituency level but some lower.
  • Nomis - The most detailed and up-to-date statistics from official sources for local areas throughout the UK. Nomis has a range of datasets covering aspects of the labour market, life events and other topics.
  • UK health and care statistics finder - due to be discontinued 31/3/2026
  • Office for National Statistics - The UK's largest independent producer of official statistics and the recognised national statistical institute of the UK.
  • NICE - the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence produce a wide range of high quality guidance, advice, and quality standards for health, public health, and social care.
  • NHS England data - the statutory custodian for health and care data for England.
  • Statistics on public health - from NHS England
  • StatXplore is a resouce produced by the Department of Work and Pensions to access benefits data. It can be tricky to use, so Centre for Ageing Better have produced a helpful StatXplore user guide.
  • NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBA) open data portal. Current datasets include those on dispensing of medicines and dental activity.
  • NHS Organisation Data Service - datasets on NHS organisations such as list of all GP practices see GP practices page for in
  • UK public sector APIs - for programatically accessing data, e.g. for developing dashbaords that update themselves
  • UK Data Service - the principal repository for economic, population, and social research data in the UK. Access anonomysed datasets and survey materials from trusted data providers including governments, the Office for National Statistics, the ESRC, and diverse other funders and data owners. The digital collection comprises nationally and internationally significant datasets such as the Census, Understanding Society, the UK Cohort Studies, the Labour Force Surveys, the Family Resources Surveys and many others.

GM residents' survey

The Greater Manchester Residents' survey is a great source of information on a variety of topics and how they're changing over time. From wave 19 it is more closely aligned to the Greater Manchester Strategy.

Other local sources

Other useful resources

  • A useful guide to data visualisation and using it to unlock the potential of data from The Publications Office of the European Union
  • Manchester measuring inequalities toolkit - an online course about inequality measurement produced as part of the Making Manchester Fairer Programme by the University of Manchester in partnership with the Manchester City Council Department of Public Health