Levels of deprivation across the borough are generally ranked among the highest in the country. Relative to other authorities, Oldham’s levels of deprivation have maintained a steady downward trend since 2004, according to the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (higher ranking depicts a higher level of deprivation).

Historical IMD Scores for Oldham

Domain	2019 Rank (of 317 LAs)	2015 Rank (of 326 LAs)	2010 Rank (of 326 LAs)	2007 Rank (of 354 LAs)	2004 Rank (of 354 LAs)
IMD Score	19	34	37	42	43
Income Scale	39	44	44	39	48
Employment Scale	46	45	48	49	44
Concentration	22	28	25	23	26
Extent	18	29	30	34	36

Source: ONS, Department for Communities and Local Government, English Indices of Deprivation.

Additional measures are available for 2010, 2015 and 2019. These are presented below.

Additional IMD Scores for Oldham

Domain	2019 Rank (of 317 LAs)	2015 Rank (of 327 LAs)	2010 Rank (of 327 LAs)
LSOA's in bottom 10% nationally	16	27	32
Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) score	35	47	50
Income Deprivation Affecting Older People (IDAOPI) score	52	52	42
Income score	21	30	34
Employment score	32	28	32
Education, Skills and Training score	23	34	30
Health, Deprivation and Disability score	40	31	49
Crime score	5	51	74
Barriers to Housing and Services score	307	315	298
Living Environment score	61	129	48

Source: ONS, Department for Communities and Local Government, English Indices of Deprivation

Oldham currently has four areas within the borough which are among the top 1% of the nation’s most deprived areas. The majority of these areas are centred in and around the town centre, particularly within the wards of St Mary’s, Coldhurst and Alexandra. Only the wards of Crompton, Saddleworth North and Saddleworth South do not contain any areas that fall within the nation’s top 20% most deprived.