All eyes focused on the most deprived communities in Wales upon the publication in November of the current Wales Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) figures. Rhyl hit the headlines. Two Rhyl areas were in the "bottom 10" most deprived communities in the country. Four in Rhyl were in the bottom 20. Eight fell in the lower quartile (that's half of Rhyl's communities).
WIMD considers a range of indicators such as income, education, employment, community safety, health and the local environment. It then ranks all communities in Wales in terms of deprivation.
But what about the opposite end of the scale? The WIMD uses over 1,900 ranked lower super output community areas (LSOAs) in Wales. Ruthin is divided into three LSOAs.
Ruthin 3 broadly covers Parc Brynhyfryd, Erw Goch, Dro Deg, Maes Cantaba, Castle Park & Llanrhydd. It was ranked as the 60th least deprived LSOA in Wales or, by extension, the 60th most prosperous. This equated to the 8th least deprived area in North Wales, out of 423. It was again the highest-ranking LSOA in Denbighshire out of 58 LSOAs. In the county, behind it came Denbigh Lower 1 (2nd in Denbighshire/130th); Prestatyn East 2 (3rd/132nd); Denbigh Lower 2 (4th/194th); and Llanbedr DC/Llangynhafal (5th/250th). In Denbighshire, nothing therefore touched Ruthin 3.
Ruthin 2 broadly covers Bryn Eryl, Greenfield Road, Haulfryn, Central, Lon Parcŵr, Canol y Dre, Glasdir and Bryn Goodman. Ruthin 2 was ranked 323rd in Wales. This placed Ruthin 1 and 2 comfortably within the top quartile in Wales. Ruthin 2 was 8th in Denbighshire.
Ruthin 1 is comparable to Llanfwrog Urban (Cae Seren, Porth y Dre, Maes Hafod and Llawr y Dyffryn, etc). This was ranked as 852nd in Wales or 28th in Denbighshire. It could therefore be said to be typical in terms of both the country and the county.
Let's look a little to the future when Denbighshire potentially merges voluntarily or mandatorily with Conwy. At November's ranking, Ruthin 3 still leads the Conwy/Denbighshire pack. It's followed by Deganwy (2nd in Conwy-Denbighshire/75th in Wales); Marl 1(3rd/82nd); Rhiw 2 (4th/91st); and Penrhyn 2 (5th/92nd) and Penrhyn 3 (6th/108th). The addition of these Conwy LSOAs pushes Denbigh Lower 1 and Prestatyn East 2 from second and third to seventh and eighth.
The villages within Ruthin's hinterland scored as follows, with Llanbedr DC/Llangynhafal already mentioned above at 250th. In Wales, Llanarmon yn Iâl/Llandegla was ranked 329th; Efenechtyd 377th; Llanfair DC/Gwyddelwern 380th; Llandyrnog 534th and Llanrhaeadr yng Nghinmeirch 563rd. All but the last two were in the top quartile.
What does this say about Ruthin and its villages? That this area is prosperous when compared to Wales, North Wales and Denbighshire. It's also possible to drill further into the information. Then we see that what lets Ruthin 2 & 3 down in terms of their ranking is access to services. Here, Rhyl wards score very highly and Ruthin 3 in particular very unfavourably.
But in terms of community safety, Ruthin 3 is ranked 37th in Wales, whereas the lowest ranked Rhyl LSOA is 1906th out of 1909. Ruthin 3 is ranked 7th in Wales for its physical environment. Generally, the surrounding villages also score highly in terms of these two determinants.
Figures such as these do not give the full picture and splitting Ruthin into three is still a coarse measure. But it does confirm what we already know: living in the local area is a good place to be. There are many worse and only a few better places to live than here.
To find out more about WIMB and download the statistics, type in "Wales Index of Multiple Deprivation" into your favoured search engine.
WIMD considers a range of indicators such as income, education, employment, community safety, health and the local environment. It then ranks all communities in Wales in terms of deprivation.
But what about the opposite end of the scale? The WIMD uses over 1,900 ranked lower super output community areas (LSOAs) in Wales. Ruthin is divided into three LSOAs.
Ruthin 3 broadly covers Parc Brynhyfryd, Erw Goch, Dro Deg, Maes Cantaba, Castle Park & Llanrhydd. It was ranked as the 60th least deprived LSOA in Wales or, by extension, the 60th most prosperous. This equated to the 8th least deprived area in North Wales, out of 423. It was again the highest-ranking LSOA in Denbighshire out of 58 LSOAs. In the county, behind it came Denbigh Lower 1 (2nd in Denbighshire/130th); Prestatyn East 2 (3rd/132nd); Denbigh Lower 2 (4th/194th); and Llanbedr DC/Llangynhafal (5th/250th). In Denbighshire, nothing therefore touched Ruthin 3.
Ruthin 2 broadly covers Bryn Eryl, Greenfield Road, Haulfryn, Central, Lon Parcŵr, Canol y Dre, Glasdir and Bryn Goodman. Ruthin 2 was ranked 323rd in Wales. This placed Ruthin 1 and 2 comfortably within the top quartile in Wales. Ruthin 2 was 8th in Denbighshire.
Ruthin 1 is comparable to Llanfwrog Urban (Cae Seren, Porth y Dre, Maes Hafod and Llawr y Dyffryn, etc). This was ranked as 852nd in Wales or 28th in Denbighshire. It could therefore be said to be typical in terms of both the country and the county.
Let's look a little to the future when Denbighshire potentially merges voluntarily or mandatorily with Conwy. At November's ranking, Ruthin 3 still leads the Conwy/Denbighshire pack. It's followed by Deganwy (2nd in Conwy-Denbighshire/75th in Wales); Marl 1(3rd/82nd); Rhiw 2 (4th/91st); and Penrhyn 2 (5th/92nd) and Penrhyn 3 (6th/108th). The addition of these Conwy LSOAs pushes Denbigh Lower 1 and Prestatyn East 2 from second and third to seventh and eighth.
The villages within Ruthin's hinterland scored as follows, with Llanbedr DC/Llangynhafal already mentioned above at 250th. In Wales, Llanarmon yn Iâl/Llandegla was ranked 329th; Efenechtyd 377th; Llanfair DC/Gwyddelwern 380th; Llandyrnog 534th and Llanrhaeadr yng Nghinmeirch 563rd. All but the last two were in the top quartile.
What does this say about Ruthin and its villages? That this area is prosperous when compared to Wales, North Wales and Denbighshire. It's also possible to drill further into the information. Then we see that what lets Ruthin 2 & 3 down in terms of their ranking is access to services. Here, Rhyl wards score very highly and Ruthin 3 in particular very unfavourably.
But in terms of community safety, Ruthin 3 is ranked 37th in Wales, whereas the lowest ranked Rhyl LSOA is 1906th out of 1909. Ruthin 3 is ranked 7th in Wales for its physical environment. Generally, the surrounding villages also score highly in terms of these two determinants.
Figures such as these do not give the full picture and splitting Ruthin into three is still a coarse measure. But it does confirm what we already know: living in the local area is a good place to be. There are many worse and only a few better places to live than here.
To find out more about WIMB and download the statistics, type in "Wales Index of Multiple Deprivation" into your favoured search engine.