Glossary

Definitions of common terms found within our outputs.

GM (geographical area)

Greater Manchester. A region located within the North-West of England comprising of the following 10 Local Authorities:

Bolton
Bury
Manchester
Oldham
Rochdale
Salford
Stockport
Tameside
Trafford
Wigan

We have the boundary files for Greater Manchester and the 10 Local Authorities available to view and download on GitHub.
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GMCA

Greater Manchester Combined Authority. See the GMCA website for more details.
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Household (census definition)

A household is:

one person living alone or
a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address who share cooking facilities and share a living room or sitting room or dining area

A household must have at least one usual resident at the address. A group of short-term residents living together or a group of visitors staying at an address is not classified as a household.
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LSOA

Lower-layer Super Output Area. Statistically comparable geographies defined by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), initially following the census in 2001 and revised following each successive census. They are made up of approximately 4 or 5 Output Areas, comprising between 400 and 1,200 households and between 1,000 and 3,000 residents. There are 139 LSOAs in Trafford following the 2021 Census.
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MSOA

Middle-layer Super Output Area. Statistically comparable geographies defined by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), initially following the census in 2001 and revised following each successive census. They are made up of approximately 4 or 5 Lower-layer Super Output Areas, comprising between 2,000 and 6,000 households and between 5,000 and 15,000 residents. There are 28 MSOAs in Trafford following the 2021 Census.
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OA

Output Area. Statistically comparable geographies defined by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), initially following the census in 2001 and revised following each successive census. They are the lowest level of statistical geography, comprising between 40 and 250 households and between 100 and 625 residents. There are 738 OAs in Trafford following the 2021 Census.
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ONS

Office for National Statistics. The UK's largest independent producer of official statistics and the recognised national statistical institute of the UK. See the ONS website for more details.
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Usual resident (census definition)

A usual resident is anyone who on Census Day (12 March 2021) was in the UK and had stayed or intended to stay in the UK for a period of 12 months or more, or had a permanent UK address and was outside the UK and intended to be outside the UK for less than 12 months.
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