Geodemographics provide a means to classify people by neighbourhood or other small area according to the characteristics of those areas. 

Whilst "demographics" refers to the characteristics of a population, a "geodemographic" classification links people to where they live, using well-established clustering techniques to group statistically similar neighbourhoods into distinct classes. 

There are a number of commercial classifications available, most of which have a hierarchy of individual clusters and higher level groups, and which distinguish between different lifestages and social status / levels of wealth.

Typically these classification systems are built using census data which provide a comprehensive and reliable source of information relating to demographic characteristics such as age, household size and socio-economic status.

A number of classifications also include additional information from commercial and other government sources, as these sources generally have the benefit of being more regularly updated than the census, as well as offering extra dimensions which are not recorded on the census. For example, income levels, county court judgements (CCJs), household council tax bands and property valuation data.

Geodemographic classifications have many applications, in particular for marketing, sales forecasting, demand modelling and resource planning. 

Customer data for example can be tagged by geodemographic group in order to determine the prevalence and purchasing behaviour of each group.  Using this intelligence, areas containing "high value" groups can be targeted for marketing or identified as suitable locations for new outlets.

Similarly, health data may be associated with a geodemographic classsification to aid understanding of variations in mortality or the prevalence of different medical conditions by geographical area.