Oldham
Economic profile. Data last updated 2026-03-28.
Oldham supports 92,380 workplace jobs with median earnings 12% below the England average. The claimant rate (6.6%) is higher than the England average of 4.1%. Productivity (GVA per job) is ranked 204th 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 Oldham's economy.
The most specialised sectors are Human health & social work (LQ 1.77) and Manufacturing (LQ 1.46). Human health & social work shows the strongest local competitive advantage. Transport & storage underperforms its national sectoral trend.
Source: BRES via Nomis, 2020-2024·Last updated March 2026
Economic Output
Estimated Gross Value Added for Oldham, 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 £29,124 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 242,088 with 62.8% of working age. The dependency ratio is 59.3%.
Source: Census 2021, ONS·Last updated 2021
Commuting & Travel to Work
Census 2021 method of travel to work for Oldham residents.
21.3% of residents work from home (below the national average). The most common commute method is driving a car or van (52.8%).
Source: Census 2021 TS061, ONS·Last updated 2021
Business Environment
Active enterprises in Oldham from the UK Business Counts dataset.
7,515 active enterprises operate in this area. The business base has grown by 1.0% over three years. 76.8% 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 Oldham vs England, 2015-2025.
The median house price of £242,553 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. Oldham is ranked 29 out of 317 local authorities (1 = most deprived).
Ranked 29th of 317 local authorities on the IMD (1 = most deprived). The most challenging domain is Crime (ranked 5th), while Barriers to Housing & Services ranks comparatively better (307th).
Source: MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation, 2019·Last updated 2019
Impact Calculator
Estimate the economic impact of investment or job creation in Oldham using regional input-output multipliers.
Source: Derived from ONS Supply-Use Tables, regionalized via SLQ, 2019·Last updated March 2026