Stoke-on-Trent
Economic profile. Data last updated 2026-03-28.
Stoke-on-Trent supports 124,645 workplace jobs with median earnings 12% below the England average. The claimant rate (5.5%) is higher than the England average of 4.1%. Productivity (GVA per job) is ranked 333rd 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 Stoke-on-Trent's economy.
The most specialised sectors are Arts, entertainment & recreation (LQ 2.01) and Transport & storage (LQ 1.93). Arts, entertainment & recreation 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 Stoke-on-Trent, 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 £29,041 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 258,369 with 63.7% of working age. The dependency ratio is 56.9%.
Source: Census 2021, ONS·Last updated 2021
Commuting & Travel to Work
Census 2021 method of travel to work for Stoke-on-Trent residents.
15.2% of residents work from home (below the national average). The most common commute method is driving a car or van (58.3%).
Source: Census 2021 TS061, ONS·Last updated 2021
Business Environment
Active enterprises in Stoke-on-Trent from the UK Business Counts dataset.
6,700 active enterprises operate in this area. The business base has grown by 1.1% over three years. 72.5% 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 Stoke-on-Trent vs England, 2015-2025.
The median house price of £241,862 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. Stoke-on-Trent is ranked 15 out of 317 local authorities (1 = most deprived).
Ranked 15th of 317 local authorities on the IMD (1 = most deprived). The most challenging domain is Education, Skills & Training (ranked 5th), while Barriers to Housing & Services ranks comparatively better (269th).
Source: MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation, 2019·Last updated 2019
Impact Calculator
Estimate the economic impact of investment or job creation in Stoke-on-Trent using regional input-output multipliers.
Source: Derived from ONS Supply-Use Tables, regionalized via SLQ, 2019·Last updated March 2026