Middle layer Super Output Areas (December 2021) Boundaries EW BFE (V8) and Rural Urban Cla

Digital vector boundaries for Middle layer Super Output Areas (MSOAs) in England and Wales as of March 2021. This dataset is joined to the 2021 Rural-Urban Classification, a Government Statistical Service product developed by the Office for National Statistics, Defra, and the Welsh Assembly Government. Source data is from the Office for National Statistics and contains OS data © Crown copyright 2025.

Use Cases

• Mapping population density and settlement patterns based on the Rural-Urban Classification.
• Analyzing regional policy impacts using standardized administrative boundaries.
• Creating choropleth maps for socio-economic indicators at the MSOA level.
• Joining demographic or health statistics to consistent geographic units.

Strengths

• Boundaries are provided as digital vector data, suitable for GIS software.
• Includes the official 2021 Rural-Urban Classification, a Government Statistical Service product.
• Data is sourced from the authoritative Office for National Statistics.

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

Office for National Statistics, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Welsh Assembly Government.

Collection Method

Government statistical product; methodology documents are linked.

Time Range

As at 21 March 2021.

Freshness

Last updated 2025-04-04 00:00:00; freshness should be verified.

Geography

England and Wales.