"According to the 2001 Census Dacorum has the highest population of all Hertfordshire?s Boroughs and Districts, with 137,799 residents. 15% of the residents are aged 65 or more and 19.7% are aged under 15. There are 57,612 (2003 figure) dwellings, of which around 20% (11,291) are owned by the Council. The 2001 census indicated that people from black and ethnic minority communities constitute 4.6% of the population of Dacorum. 5.2% of households are headed by a lone parent.
However the population profile varies ward by ward: those new town neighbourhoods that were developed most recently have lower than Borough-average age profile, with more young families and higher birth rate. The generation that originally moved to the new town as young adults is now at retirement age, and the proportion of 40-59 year olds, children of the original New Town settlers, is increasing. (Census 2001)
Dacorum is among the 50 most affluent areas in the country, although there are some deprived areas. The last index of Multiple Deprivation, taking a range of economic and social statistical measures, ranked Dacorum at 312 from a total of 353 English Council areas. This means that only 42 authorities are more affluent than Dacorum. However of 27 wards in the Borough, three are in the 50% most deprived wards in England.
The Borough is therefore relatively affluent, with very high levels of car-ownership (1.37 per household, and 42% of households having two or more cars) and high house prices. However even in the most affluent wards, there are pockets of deprivation, 17.3% of households in Dacorum have no access to a car, and access to housing is an issue for many local residents, particularly those on low incomes and key workers.
The service sector employs the largest number of people in the Borough and the trend is for this to increase whilst the manufacturing sector decreases. Service employment increased from 79% to 82% of total employment 1991 ? 1997. Manufacturing fell from 16% to 13%.
Over half of the Borough?s residents are in managerial, professional, technical, clerical, and secretarial occupations, typically based in offices.
Unemployment in Dacorum has remained low for a number of years although it rose slightly in 2002 from 1.6% to 1.7%. Long term unemployment relating to those out of a job for more than a year showed a similar trend rising from 5.8% to 7.9% of the total unemployed during 2002."
I think Hemel is pretty mixed ethnically, not as much as Luton/Watford but more than a lot of the villages. There are at least 6 different cultures in my part of the street.