Herefordshire, County of
Economic profile. Data last updated 2026-03-28.
Herefordshire, County of supports 82,480 workplace jobs with median earnings 11% below the England average. The claimant rate (2.6%) is lower than the England average of 4.1%. Productivity (GVA per job) is ranked 310th of 391 local authorities.
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 Herefordshire, County of's economy.
The most specialised sectors are Agriculture, forestry & fishing (LQ 10.68) and Manufacturing (LQ 1.76). Professional, scientific & technical shows the strongest local competitive advantage. Construction underperforms its national sectoral trend.
Source: BRES via Nomis, 2020-2024·Last updated March 2026
Economic Output
Estimated Gross Value Added for Herefordshire, County of, 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 £29,361 are below 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 187,033 with 59.1% of working age. The dependency ratio is 69.2% (above average, indicating a relatively older or younger population).
Source: Census 2021, ONS·Last updated 2021
Commuting & Travel to Work
Census 2021 method of travel to work for Herefordshire, County of residents.
25.6% of residents work from home. The most common commute method is driving a car or van (54.2%).
Source: Census 2021 TS061, ONS·Last updated 2021
Business Environment
Active enterprises in Herefordshire, County of from the UK Business Counts dataset.
10,740 active enterprises operate in this area. The business base has grown by 1.4% over three years. 79% 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 Herefordshire, County of vs England, 2015-2025.
The median house price of £244,527 is significantly below 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. Herefordshire, County of is ranked 137 out of 317 local authorities (1 = most deprived).
Ranked 137th of 317 local authorities on the IMD (1 = most deprived). The most challenging domain is Living Environment (ranked 42nd), while Crime ranks comparatively better (251st).
Source: MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation, 2019·Last updated 2019
Impact Calculator
Estimate the economic impact of investment or job creation in Herefordshire, County of using regional input-output multipliers.
Source: Derived from ONS Supply-Use Tables, regionalized via SLQ, 2019·Last updated March 2026