Southend-on-Sea
Economic profile. Data last updated 2026-03-28.
Southend-on-Sea supports 65,655 workplace jobs with median earnings broadly in line with the England average. The claimant rate (4.4%) is higher 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 Southend-on-Sea's economy.
The most specialised sectors are Real estate (LQ 1.78) and Education (LQ 1.42). Education shows the strongest local competitive advantage. Public administration & defence underperforms its national sectoral trend.
Source: BRES via Nomis, 2020-2024·Last updated March 2026
Economic Output
Estimated Gross Value Added for Southend-on-Sea, 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 £33,594 are in line with 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 180,686 with 63% of working age. The dependency ratio is 58.7%.
Source: Census 2021, ONS·Last updated 2021
Commuting & Travel to Work
Census 2021 method of travel to work for Southend-on-Sea residents.
33.4% of residents work from home. The most common commute method is driving a car or van (39.8%).
Source: Census 2021 TS061, ONS·Last updated 2021
Business Environment
Active enterprises in Southend-on-Sea from the UK Business Counts dataset.
6,975 active enterprises operate in this area. The business base has declined by 0.7% over three years. 80.9% 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 Southend-on-Sea vs England, 2015-2025.
The median house price of £279,781 is in line with 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. Southend-on-Sea is ranked 129 out of 317 local authorities (1 = most deprived).
Ranked 129th of 317 local authorities on the IMD (1 = most deprived). The most challenging domain is Crime (ranked 92nd), while Barriers to Housing & Services ranks comparatively better (233rd).
Source: MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation, 2019·Last updated 2019
Impact Calculator
Estimate the economic impact of investment or job creation in Southend-on-Sea using regional input-output multipliers.
Source: Derived from ONS Supply-Use Tables, regionalized via SLQ, 2019·Last updated March 2026