St Albans

Economic profile. Data last updated 2026-03-28.

St Albans supports 65,090 workplace jobs with median earnings 38% above the England average. The claimant rate (2.4%) is lower than the England average of 4.1%.

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Workplace Jobs

65,090

Claimant Rate

2.4%

England: 4.1%

Median Annual Earnings

£45,543

5th of 348

England: £33,080

Median House Price

£379,296

1.8%

England: £290,000

Price-to-Earnings

8.3x

GVA per Job

£61,481

England: £63,763

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 St Albans's economy.

The most specialised sectors are Real estate (LQ 1.39) and Professional, scientific & technical (LQ 1.38). Real estate shows the strongest local competitive advantage. Administrative & support services underperforms its national sectoral trend.

Largest Sector

Wholesale & retail trade

Most Specialised

Real estate

England: LQ 1.39

Fastest Growing

Real estate

Specialised Sectors

6

England: LQ > 1.25

Source: BRES via Nomis, 2020-2024·Last updated March 2026

Economic Output

Estimated Gross Value Added for St Albans, derived from sector employment and national productivity ratios.

Total GVA

£4.0bn

GVA per Job

£61,481

England: £63,763

Productivity Rank

143

143rd of 391

Top GVA Sector

Real estate

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 £45,543 are significantly above the England median of £33,080.

Median Annual

£45,543

England: £33,080

10th Percentile

£13,523

90th Percentile

N/A

90/10 Ratio

N/A

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 148,169 with 62.5% of working age. The dependency ratio is 60%.

Population

148,169

Working-Age %

62.5%

Dependency Ratio

60%

Working-Age Pop.

92,609

Source: Census 2021, ONS·Last updated 2021

Commuting & Travel to Work

Census 2021 method of travel to work for St Albans residents.

53% of residents work from home (well above the national average). The most common commute method is driving a car or van (31.9%).

Total Commuters

72,871

Work from Home

53.0%

Source: Census 2021 TS061, ONS·Last updated 2021

Business Environment

Active enterprises in St Albans from the UK Business Counts dataset.

8,200 active enterprises operate in this area. The business base has declined by 1.6% over three years. 82.5% of enterprises have fewer than 5 employees.

Active Enterprises

8,200

3-Year Growth

-1.6%

1.6%

Share of England

0.3%

Source: UK Business Counts via Nomis, 2024·Last updated March 2026

Housing & Property Market

Estimated house prices for St Albans vs England, 2015-2025.

The median house price of £379,296 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.

Median Price

£379,296

England: £290,000

Price-to-Earnings

8.3x

12-Month Change

1.8%

Source: HM Land Registry, Census 2021, 2015-2025·Last updated March 2026

Place & Deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation 2019. St Albans is ranked 306 out of 317 local authorities (1 = most deprived).

Ranked 306th of 317 local authorities on the IMD (1 = most deprived). The most challenging domain is Barriers to Housing & Services (ranked 138th), while Education, Skills & Training ranks comparatively better (316th).

IMD Rank

306 / 317

IMD Score

8.3

Deprivation Percentile

4th

Source: MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation, 2019·Last updated 2019

Impact Calculator

Estimate the economic impact of investment or job creation in St Albans using regional input-output multipliers.

Source: Derived from ONS Supply-Use Tables, regionalized via SLQ, 2019·Last updated March 2026