TrackPostcode.UK

Rankings

Best places for jobs in the UK

Ranked on how much of the working-age population is actually in work, which is the labour-market measure published everywhere on the same basis.

In short

The best places for jobs in the UK are ranked here on the ONS Annual Population Survey employment rate for 16 to 64 year olds, published per local authority. The current top three are Crawley (95), Camberley (94) and Horsham (91).

  • Employment category: ONS Annual Population Survey employment rate, 16 to 64, by local authority via NOMIS.
  • Ranked from 539 indexed UK areas, rebuilt daily from the latest published figures.
  • Every area links to a full report with the source behind each figure.

Compiled by the TrackPostcode.UK data team Data last updated How we score every area Data sources

Crawley95Camberley94Horsham91Worthing91Witney89Hemel Hempstead88Exmouth88Fareham88Honiton88Sidmouth88
Best places for jobs in the UK: the top ten, drawn from the same figures as the table below.
Top ten compared across the categories that most often change the answer
#AreaNationScoreCost of livingSafetyWeatherBroadband
1CrawleyEngland954242—96
2CamberleyEngland9441587292
=3HorshamEngland914451—81
=3WorthingEngland915343—98
5WitneyEngland8954588095
=6Hemel HempsteadEngland8837457289
=6ExmouthEngland887258—76
=6FarehamEngland885956—98
=6HonitonEngland887273—76
=6SidmouthEngland887275—76

Category scores are 0 to 100 and a dash means that dataset has not loaded for the area yet, in which case it is excluded from the overall score rather than guessed at. Open any area for the full report and its sources.

Best places for jobs in the UK: the full ranking

Areas are ranked on whatever categories they have, with the weights renormalised over them, so an area with a gap is scored on its own remaining evidence. Show only areas measured on all twelve categories to compare like with like.

1CrawleyCrawley, South East, England · 90% complete952CamberleySurrey Heath, South East, England · 95% complete94=3HorshamHorsham, South East, England · 85% complete91=3WorthingWorthing, South East, England · 85% complete915WitneyWest Oxfordshire, South East, England · 100% complete89=6Hemel HempsteadDacorum, East of England, England · 100% complete88=6ExmouthEast Devon, South West, England · 85% complete88=6FarehamFareham, South East, England · 85% complete88=6HonitonEast Devon, South West, England · 85% complete88=6SidmouthEast Devon, South West, England · 85% complete88=11BanburyCherwell, South East, England · 95% complete84=11BarnstapleNorth Devon, South West, England · 95% complete84=11BicesterCherwell, South East, England · 95% complete84=11IlfracombeNorth Devon, South West, England · 95% complete84=11TivertonMid Devon, South West, England · 85% complete8416ElyEast Cambridgeshire, East of England, England · 95% complete83=17BiggleswadeCentral Bedfordshire, East of England, England · 95% complete82=17Burton upon TrentEast Staffordshire, West Midlands, England · 95% complete82=17DunstableCentral Bedfordshire, East of England, England · 90% complete82=17Leighton BuzzardCentral Bedfordshire, East of England, England · 85% complete82=17UttoxeterEast Staffordshire, West Midlands, England · 85% complete82=22LeatherheadMole Valley, South East, England · 100% complete81=22WandsworthWandsworth, London, England · 95% complete81=22DorkingMole Valley, South East, England · 90% complete8125StroudStroud, South West, England · 85% complete80=26LetchworthNorth Hertfordshire, East of England, England · 95% complete79=26MatlockDerbyshire Dales, East Midlands, England · 95% complete79=26HitchinNorth Hertfordshire, East of England, England · 90% complete79=26Droitwich SpaWychavon, West Midlands, England · 85% complete79=26EveshamWychavon, West Midlands, England · 85% complete79=31DidcotSouth Oxfordshire, South East, England · 100% complete78=31WokingWoking, South East, England · 100% complete78=31Melton MowbrayMelton, East Midlands, England · 95% complete78=31ThornburySouth Gloucestershire, South West, England · 95% complete78=31YateSouth Gloucestershire, South West, England · 85% complete78=36LewesLewes, South East, England · 100% complete77=36NewhavenLewes, South East, England · 95% complete77=36ChichesterChichester, South East, England · 90% complete77=36FelixstoweEast Suffolk, East of England, England · 90% complete77=36KenilworthWarwick, West Midlands, England · 90% complete77=36LivingstonWest Lothian, Scotland · 90% complete77=36LowestoftEast Suffolk, East of England, England · 90% complete77=36Royal Leamington SpaWarwick, West Midlands, England · 90% complete77=36BathgateWest Lothian, Scotland · 85% complete77=36WarwickWarwick, West Midlands, England · 85% complete77=36WoodbridgeEast Suffolk, East of England, England · 85% complete77=47CheshuntBroxbourne, East of England, England · 95% complete76=47DawlishTeignbridge, South West, England · 90% complete76=47Market HarboroughHarborough, East Midlands, England · 90% complete76=47Newton AbbotTeignbridge, South West, England · 85% complete76

Best in Scotland

=1LivingstonWest Lothian, Scotland77=1BathgateWest Lothian, Scotland773EdinburghCity of Edinburgh, Scotland69=4PenicuikMidlothian, Scotland66=4DalkeithMidlothian, Scotland66=6DumfriesDumfries and Galloway, Scotland64=6HawickScottish Borders, Scotland64=6LerwickShetland Islands, Scotland64=6FalkirkFalkirk, Scotland64=6GrangemouthFalkirk, Scotland64

Best in England

1CrawleyCrawley, South East, England952CamberleySurrey Heath, South East, England94=3HorshamHorsham, South East, England91=3WorthingWorthing, South East, England915WitneyWest Oxfordshire, South East, England89=6Hemel HempsteadDacorum, East of England, England88=6ExmouthEast Devon, South West, England88=6FarehamFareham, South East, England88=6HonitonEast Devon, South West, England88=6SidmouthEast Devon, South West, England88

Best in Wales

=1ChepstowMonmouthshire, Wales62=1AbergavennyMonmouthshire, Wales62=1MonmouthMonmouthshire, Wales624MoldFlintshire, Wales61=5BangorGwynedd, Wales60=5CaernarfonGwynedd, Wales60=7NewportNewport, Wales58=7BreconPowys, Wales58=9CarmarthenCarmarthenshire, Wales55=9LlanelliCarmarthenshire, Wales55

Ranked from 539 indexed areas by TrackPostcode.UK scores. Coverage grows as more areas are indexed.

About this ranking

How is the jobs ranking built?

From the ONS Annual Population Survey employment rate - the share of 16 to 64 year olds in work - published per local authority and accessed through NOMIS. UK local authorities typically run from about 62 per cent to about 82 per cent. Right now the highest are Crawley (95/100), Camberley (94/100), Horsham (91/100).

Does this measure wages or the number of vacancies?

Neither. It measures how much of the working-age population is in work, which is the labour-market statistic published for every authority on the same basis. Local earnings appear separately, in the affordability score, where they are compared against house prices.

How current is the employment figure?

The Annual Population Survey is a rolling twelve-month survey published with a lag, so the figure describes a recent year rather than this month. Each area report names the exact period it used.

Every ranking

Best places to liveBest places for remote workersBest places for familiesBest places for studentsBest places for retirementBest places under £200,000Most affordable placesCheapest places to liveSafest placesSunniest placesBest weatherFastest broadbandCleanest airBest transport linksMost to doBest healthcare access

The same index ordered by a different measurement each time, from the same twelve category scores and rebuilt daily. Each one states on its own page what it measures and what it does not.

Read next: the best places to live in the UK, the most affordable places to live, the safest places to live, the sunniest places in the UK, the relocation quiz and how every score is built.

What this ranking measures: Employment category: ONS Annual Population Survey employment rate, 16 to 64, by local authority via NOMIS. Read the full methodology before quoting a figure.

Primary source: ONS / NOMIS. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.