Central Bedfordshire
Economic profile. Data last updated 2026-03-28.
Central Bedfordshire supports 112,450 workplace jobs with median earnings 11% above the England average. The claimant rate (2.7%) is lower 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 Central Bedfordshire's economy.
The most specialised sectors are Transport & storage (LQ 1.90) and Mining & quarrying (LQ 1.89). Transport & storage 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 Central Bedfordshire, 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 £36,622 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 294,251 with 63.6% of working age. The dependency ratio is 57.3%.
Source: Census 2021, ONS·Last updated 2021
Commuting & Travel to Work
Census 2021 method of travel to work for Central Bedfordshire residents.
34.5% of residents work from home. The most common commute method is driving a car or van (50.8%).
Source: Census 2021 TS061, ONS·Last updated 2021
Business Environment
Active enterprises in Central Bedfordshire from the UK Business Counts dataset.
12,500 active enterprises operate in this area. The business base has grown by 2.3% over three years. 81% 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 Central Bedfordshire vs England, 2015-2025.
The median house price of £304,999 is above 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. Central Bedfordshire is ranked 264 out of 317 local authorities (1 = most deprived).
Ranked 264th of 317 local authorities on the IMD (1 = most deprived). The most challenging domain is Barriers to Housing & Services (ranked 177th), while Employment ranks comparatively better (262nd).
Source: MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation, 2019·Last updated 2019
Impact Calculator
Estimate the economic impact of investment or job creation in Central Bedfordshire using regional input-output multipliers.
Source: Derived from ONS Supply-Use Tables, regionalized via SLQ, 2019·Last updated March 2026