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Geodemographic Profiling of England's COVID-19 Tiers

1st December 2020

There has been a lot of speculation regarding the disparities in economic performance widening as a result of COVID restrictions in England. So at GMAP, we thought we would use our MVPLUS location intelligence tool and the CAMEO geodemographic classification to profile the COVID Tiers that will be coming into force when the current lockdown ends tomorrow.


Our exploration showed a strong correlation between affluence and the COVID Tiers in place from tomorrow. This is apparent in the indices above. Currently Tier 3 has a much greater % of households of the lower affluence CAMEO groups than England as a whole, and Tier 2 has a much greater % of the higher affluence CAMEO groups.

What could be causing this? Is it the ability of more affluent groups to work from home in less labour-intensive jobs, their reduced need to use public transport or their likelihood to reside in more rural areas with a lower risk of contact?

With continued uncertainty ahead as we emerge from the Lockdown, the question remains as to what impact this will have on the post-COVID recovery, and on Boris Johnson’s “levelling-up” agenda?


There has been a lot of speculation regarding the disparities in economic performance widening as a result of COVID restrictions in England. So at GMAP, we thought we would use our MVPLUS location intelligence tool and the CAMEO geodemographic classification to profile the COVID Tiers that will be coming into force when the current lockdown ends tomorrow.


Our exploration showed a strong correlation between affluence and the COVID Tiers in place from tomorrow. This is apparent in the indices above. Currently Tier 3 has a much greater % of households of the lower affluence CAMEO groups than England as a whole, and Tier 2 has a much greater % of the higher affluence CAMEO groups.

What could be causing this? Is it the ability of more affluent groups to work from home in less labour-intensive jobs, their reduced need to use public transport or their likelihood to reside in more rural areas with a lower risk of contact?

With continued uncertainty ahead as we emerge from the Lockdown, the question remains as to what impact this will have on the post-COVID recovery, and on Boris Johnson’s “levelling-up” agenda?


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