South Cambridgeshire
Economic profile. Data last updated 2026-03-28.
South Cambridgeshire supports 86,990 workplace jobs with median earnings 29% above the England average. The claimant rate (2.0%) 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 South Cambridgeshire's economy.
The most specialised sectors are Professional, scientific & technical (LQ 2.42) and Manufacturing (LQ 1.80). Manufacturing 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 South Cambridgeshire, 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 £42,690 are significantly 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 162,117 with 62% of working age. The dependency ratio is 61.3% (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 South Cambridgeshire residents.
43.8% of residents work from home (well above the national average). The most common commute method is driving a car or van (40.7%).
Source: Census 2021 TS061, ONS·Last updated 2021
Business Environment
Active enterprises in South Cambridgeshire from the UK Business Counts dataset.
8,100 active enterprises operate in this area. The business base has grown by 0.2% over three years. 77.7% 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 South Cambridgeshire vs England, 2015-2025.
The median house price of £355,535 is significantly 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. South Cambridgeshire is ranked 300 out of 317 local authorities (1 = most deprived).
Ranked 300th of 317 local authorities on the IMD (1 = most deprived). The most challenging domain is Barriers to Housing & Services (ranked 98th), while Education, Skills & Training 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 South Cambridgeshire using regional input-output multipliers.
Source: Derived from ONS Supply-Use Tables, regionalized via SLQ, 2019·Last updated March 2026