Official statistics · 15 of 16 measures compare directly
Cheshire West and Chester and Forest of Dean compared
Every measure Civometry publishes for both areas, side by side. Each figure is its publisher’s own for the period named beside it, and the difference between the two is stated in the middle. Neither area is called better: which direction counts as better depends on what you are asking, and the page does not decide that for you. Where the two figures are not comparable — a different period, or nothing published for one side — the row says so instead of showing a difference.
Cheshire West and Chester
E06000050 · Cheshire Constabulary
Forest of Dean
E07000080 · Gloucestershire Constabulary
Getting better or worse
−3
Civometry calculation on Home Office, ONS, HM Land Registry and MHCLG figures
1 more in Forest of Dean
−2
Civometry calculation on Home Office, ONS, HM Land Registry and MHCLG figures
Population
373,951
ONS: Population estimates for the UK and constituent countries: historical time series
283,794 more in Cheshire West and Chester
90,157
ONS: Population estimates for the UK and constituent countries: historical time series
Median annual pay, full-time employees
£41,486
ONS: ASHE Table 8.7a: annual gross pay by place of residence
£840 more in Forest of Dean
£42,326
ONS: ASHE Table 8.7a: annual gross pay by place of residence
Average house price
£269,039
HM Land Registry: UK House Price Index: average prices
£19,485 more in Forest of Dean
£288,524
HM Land Registry: UK House Price Index: average prices
All private rents
£986
ONS: Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics
£160 more in Cheshire West and Chester
£826
ONS: Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics
All claimants
2.6%
ONS: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis)
0.1 percentage points higher in Cheshire West and Chester
2.5%
ONS: Claimant count by sex and age (Nomis)
Net international migration
+1,211
ONS: Components of population change by local authority (ONS mid-year estimates, sheet MYE3)
988 more in Cheshire West and Chester
+223
ONS: Components of population change by local authority (ONS mid-year estimates, sheet MYE3)
Band D council tax
£2,517
MHCLG: Council tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027
£74 more in Cheshire West and Chester
£2,443
MHCLG: Council tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027
IMD average score
17.7
MHCLG: English Indices of Deprivation: local authority district summaries
1.4 more in Forest of Dean
19.1
MHCLG: English Indices of Deprivation: local authority district summaries
Income-deprived residents
18.3%
MHCLG: English Indices of Deprivation: local authority district summaries
0.1 percentage points higher in Cheshire West and Chester
18.2%
MHCLG: English Indices of Deprivation: local authority district summaries
Recorded crime
71.9
Home Office: data.police.uk street-level crime, cumulative monthly archive
No published figure for Forest of Dean.
No published figure
Home Office: data.police.uk street-level crime, cumulative monthly archive
House price to pay ratio
6.5 years
HM Land Registry: UK House Price Index: average prices
0.3 years more in Forest of Dean
6.8 years
HM Land Registry: UK House Price Index: average prices
Annual rent as a share of pay
28.5%
ONS: Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics
5.1 percentage points higher in Cheshire West and Chester
23.4%
ONS: Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics
Band D council tax as a share of pay
6.07%
MHCLG: Council tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027
0.30 percentage points higher in Cheshire West and Chester
5.77%
MHCLG: Council tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026 to 2027
Mean domestic gas use per meter
10,927
DESNZ: Regional and local authority gas consumption statistics
574 more in Cheshire West and Chester
10,352
DESNZ: Regional and local authority gas consumption statistics
Mean domestic electricity use per meter
3,306
DESNZ: Regional and local authority electricity consumption statistics
598 more in Forest of Dean
3,904
DESNZ: Regional and local authority electricity consumption statistics
In one sentence
In the latest published figures, population was 373,951 in Cheshire West and Chester and 90,157 in Forest of Dean (mid-2025); median annual pay, full-time employees was £41,486 in Cheshire West and Chester and £42,326 in Forest of Dean (2025); and average house price was £269,039 in Cheshire West and Chester and £288,524 in Forest of Dean (June 2026). (Civometry, from official statistics; each figure is the publisher's own.)
In the latest published figures, population was 373,951 in Cheshire West and Chester and 90,157 in Forest of Dean (mid-2025); median annual pay, full-time employees was £41,486 in Cheshire West and Chester and £42,326 in Forest of Dean (2025); and average house price was £269,039 in Cheshire West and Chester and £288,524 in Forest of Dean (June 2026). (Civometry, from official statistics; each figure is the publisher's own.)
Recorded crime by category
A category-by-category crime comparison needs both areas to have a full, current twelve months in the data.police.uk archive. One of them does not, so it is not shown; the crime rate above, where published, still comes from that archive.
What this comparison rests on
Two figures are only subtracted when they are the same measure over the same period. Populations differ (373,951 and 90,157 residents on the latest estimates used here), so counts are shown alongside rates rather than instead of them. Nothing on this page is weighted, indexed or scored: every difference is one published number minus another, and the rows that cannot be compared say why.