Bedford
Economic profile. Data last updated 2026-03-28.
Bedford supports 82,360 workplace jobs with median earnings 9% above the England average. The claimant rate (4.5%) is higher than the England average of 4.1%.
Source: ONS, Nomis, HM Land Registry, 2024-2025·Last updated March 2026
Employment & Labour Market
Monthly claimant count rate over the past 3 years.
Source: Claimant Count via Nomis, BRES, 2020-2026·Last updated March 2026
Industry Structure
Location quotients and shift-share analysis for Bedford's economy.
The most specialised sectors are Transport & storage (LQ 1.45) and Public administration & defence (LQ 1.34). Wholesale & retail trade shows the strongest local competitive advantage. Professional, scientific & technical underperforms its national sectoral trend.
Source: BRES via Nomis, 2020-2024·Last updated March 2026
Economic Output
Estimated Gross Value Added for Bedford, derived from sector employment and national productivity ratios.
Estimates based on national GVA-per-job ratios applied to local sector employment (BRES). Indicative only. See Methodology for details.
Earnings & Income
Gross annual earnings distribution, 2025.
Median annual earnings of £35,987 are above the England median of £33,080.
Source: ASHE via Nomis, 2025·Last updated March 2026
Skills & Qualifications
Census 2021 highest qualification and occupation data.
Source: Census 2021, ONS
Demographics
Census 2021 population by age band.
The population is 185,231 with 64.4% of working age. The dependency ratio is 55.2%.
Source: Census 2021, ONS·Last updated 2021
Commuting & Travel to Work
Census 2021 method of travel to work for Bedford residents.
31.4% of residents work from home. The most common commute method is driving a car or van (47.2%).
Source: Census 2021 TS061, ONS·Last updated 2021
Business Environment
Active enterprises in Bedford from the UK Business Counts dataset.
7,225 active enterprises operate in this area. The business base has declined by 0.5% over three years. 79.4% of enterprises have fewer than 5 employees.
Source: UK Business Counts via Nomis, 2024·Last updated March 2026
Housing & Property Market
Estimated house prices for Bedford vs England, 2015-2025.
The median house price of £299,710 is in line with the England median of £290,000. The price-to-earnings ratio is 8.3x. Prices have risen 1.8% over the past year.
Source: HM Land Registry, Census 2021, 2015-2025·Last updated March 2026
Place & Deprivation
Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019. Bedford is ranked 156 out of 317 local authorities (1 = most deprived).
Ranked 156th of 317 local authorities on the IMD (1 = most deprived). The most challenging domain is Barriers to Housing & Services (ranked 79th), while Education, Skills & Training ranks comparatively better (167th).
Source: MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation, 2019·Last updated 2019
Impact Calculator
Estimate the economic impact of investment or job creation in Bedford using regional input-output multipliers.
Source: Derived from ONS Supply-Use Tables, regionalized via SLQ, 2019·Last updated March 2026