Plymouth
Economic profile. Data last updated 2026-03-28.
Plymouth supports 118,355 workplace jobs with median earnings 12% below the England average. The claimant rate (3.5%) is lower than the England average of 4.1%. Productivity (GVA per job) is ranked 256th 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 Plymouth's economy.
The most specialised sectors are Manufacturing (LQ 1.67) and Human health & social work (LQ 1.51). Human health & social work shows the strongest local competitive advantage. Manufacturing underperforms its national sectoral trend.
Source: BRES via Nomis, 2020-2024·Last updated March 2026
Economic Output
Estimated Gross Value Added for Plymouth, 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 £28,992 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 264,695 with 65.1% of working age. The dependency ratio is 53.6%.
Source: Census 2021, ONS·Last updated 2021
Commuting & Travel to Work
Census 2021 method of travel to work for Plymouth residents.
21.2% of residents work from home (below the national average). The most common commute method is driving a car or van (51.2%).
Source: Census 2021 TS061, ONS·Last updated 2021
Business Environment
Active enterprises in Plymouth from the UK Business Counts dataset.
6,190 active enterprises operate in this area. The business base has declined by 2.1% over three years. 74% 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 Plymouth vs England, 2015-2025.
The median house price of £241,454 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. Plymouth is ranked 72 out of 317 local authorities (1 = most deprived).
Ranked 72nd of 317 local authorities on the IMD (1 = most deprived). The most challenging domain is Health & Disability (ranked 41st), while Barriers to Housing & Services ranks comparatively better (227th).
Source: MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation, 2019·Last updated 2019
Impact Calculator
Estimate the economic impact of investment or job creation in Plymouth using regional input-output multipliers.
Source: Derived from ONS Supply-Use Tables, regionalized via SLQ, 2019·Last updated March 2026