Barnsley: local statistics
Barnsley is a metropolitan borough in the Yorkshire and the Humber, home to an estimated 252,784 people (mid-2025). This page brings together 10 official figures for the area, each with its period, publisher and the address it was read from. See also who has power over Barnsley, from the council up to the G20.
Key figures
What the figures show
A girl born in Barnsley in 2022 to 2024 could expect to live 81.1 years and a boy 77.2 years, on the ONS's period measure, compared with 83.3 and 79.5 years across England. For women that is 0.6 years less than in 2012 to 2014; for men, 1.0 less. It is the 2nd lowest for women of the 15 council areas in the Yorkshire and the Humber.
Median weekly pay for full-time employees who live in Barnsley was £741.50 in April 2025 (£36,652 a year). That is 4.2% above the figure for the Yorkshire and the Humber and the 3rd highest in the Yorkshire and the Humber. Measured by where people work rather than where they live, the median is £736.40, £5.10 lower. Ten years earlier, in 2015, it was £469.60: a change of +58% before inflation.
The average house price in Barnsley was £175,537 in July 2026, up 3.5% on a year before. It ranks as the 12th highest of 15 in the Yorkshire and the Humber; the average for the Yorkshire and the Humber was £209,116. This July figure is the highest in the series, 62% up on July 2016. The average price is 4.8 times the median annual pay of full-time employees who live in Barnsley. That ratio is the 3rd lowest ratio of the 15 council areas in the Yorkshire and the Humber.
In March 2026, 8,035 VAT or PAYE-registered businesses were based in Barnsley, 11% more than in 2016. There are 32 per 1,000 residents, the lowest of the 15 council areas in the Yorkshire and the Humber.
3.3% of Barnsley residents aged 16 to 64 (5,125 people) were on the claimant count in August 2026, compared with 4.1% in the Yorkshire and the Humber. A year earlier the rate was 3.1%. Since August 2021 the rate has ranged between 3.0% (December 2025) and 5.2% (August 2021).
Average Band D council tax in Barnsley is £2,325.96 for 2026-27, up £84.61 on 2025-26. That makes it the 10th highest of 15 in the Yorkshire and the Humber. In 2016-17 the figure was £1,522.37, so it has risen 53%.
Barnsley had an estimated 252,784 residents in mid-2025, a change of +0.6% in a year. Over ten years, since mid-2015, it has grown by 6.1% (the Yorkshire and the Humber: +5.5%). That is 6th of 15 in the Yorkshire and the Humber, counting from the fastest growth. No earlier year in the series was higher.
Police recorded 23,936 crimes in Barnsley in the year to March 2026, 94.7 for every 1,000 residents, mid-table in the Yorkshire and the Humber, 9th of 15. A year earlier it was 99.8. In the year to March 2016 it was 66.1 per 1,000. Fraud is not included.
The Annual Population Survey estimates that 72.3% of Barnsley residents aged 16 to 64 were in work in April 2025 to March 2026, with a margin of error of 3.7 points either way, against 73.3% across the Yorkshire and the Humber. Its lowest reading in the series was 69.5% and its highest 75.6%.
History
Population (mid-year)
| 2015 | 238,242 |
| 2016 | 240,061 |
| 2017 | 241,287 |
| 2018 | 242,360 |
| 2019 | 243,558 |
| 2020 | 244,201 |
| 2021 | 244,887 |
| 2022 | 246,705 |
| 2023 | 248,820 |
| 2024 | 251,325 |
| 2025 | 252,784 |
Average house price (same month each year)
| July 2016 | £108,492 |
| July 2017 | £114,538 |
| July 2018 | £120,511 |
| July 2019 | £122,367 |
| July 2020 | £127,558 |
| July 2021 | £139,952 |
| July 2022 | £157,006 |
| July 2023 | £156,403 |
| July 2024 | £164,196 |
| July 2025 | £169,555 |
| July 2026 | £175,537 |
Median weekly pay, residents
| 2015 | £469.60 a week |
| 2016 | £476.80 a week |
| 2017 | £497.00 a week |
| 2018 | £492.50 a week |
| 2019 | £532.60 a week |
| 2020 | £517.50 a week |
| 2021 | £534.60 a week |
| 2022 | £563.30 a week |
| 2023 | £643.00 a week |
| 2024 | £689.60 a week |
| 2025 | £741.50 a week |
Average Band D council tax
| 2016-17 | £1,522.37 |
| 2017-18 | £1,592.13 |
| 2018-19 | £1,667.27 |
| 2019-20 | £1,757.10 |
| 2020-21 | £1,820.29 |
| 2021-22 | £1,881.85 |
| 2022-23 | £1,948.90 |
| 2023-24 | £2,033.15 |
| 2024-25 | £2,134.47 |
| 2025-26 | £2,241.35 |
| 2026-27 | £2,325.96 |
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents
| 2015/16 | 66.1 per 1,000 |
| 2016/17 | 81.7 per 1,000 |
| 2017/18 | 100.4 per 1,000 |
| 2018/19 | 100.8 per 1,000 |
| 2019/20 | 102.2 per 1,000 |
| 2020/21 | 92.4 per 1,000 |
| 2021/22 | 104.4 per 1,000 |
| 2022/23 | 111.6 per 1,000 |
| 2023/24 | 104.9 per 1,000 |
| 2024/25 | 99.8 per 1,000 |
| 2025/26 | 94.7 per 1,000 |
Employment rate
| 2015/16 | 71.3% |
| 2016/17 | 71.8% |
| 2017/18 | 70.8% |
| 2018/19 | 71.7% |
| 2019/20 | 73.4% |
| 2020/21 | 72.5% |
| 2021/22 | 69.5% |
| 2022/23 | 72.4% |
| 2023/24 | 70.2% |
| 2024/25 | 75.6% |
| 2025/26 | 72.3% |
Life expectancy, women
| 2012 to 2014 | 81.7 years |
| 2013 to 2015 | 81.5 years |
| 2014 to 2016 | 81.8 years |
| 2015 to 2017 | 81.8 years |
| 2016 to 2018 | 81.7 years |
| 2017 to 2019 | 81.6 years |
| 2018 to 2020 | 80.9 years |
| 2019 to 2021 | 80.4 years |
| 2020 to 2022 | 79.9 years |
| 2021 to 2023 | 80.5 years |
| 2022 to 2024 | 81.1 years |
Registered businesses
| 2016 | 7,230 |
| 2017 | 7,550 |
| 2018 | 7,505 |
| 2019 | 7,615 |
| 2020 | 7,730 |
| 2021 | 8,060 |
| 2022 | 8,025 |
| 2023 | 7,980 |
| 2024 | 7,900 |
| 2025 | 7,845 |
| 2026 | 8,035 |
Questions about Barnsley
What is life expectancy in Barnsley?
81.1 years for women and 77.2 for men (2022 to 2024, ONS).
What is the average salary in Barnsley?
Median pay for full-time employees living in Barnsley was £741.50 a week in April 2025 (£36,652 a year), from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
What is the average house price in Barnsley?
HM Land Registry's figure for July 2026 is £175,537.
How many people claim unemployment-related benefits in Barnsley?
The ONS claimant count was 5,125 in August 2026, 3.3% of 16 to 64-year-olds. It counts benefit claims, not unemployment.
How much is Band D council tax in Barnsley?
£2,325.96 on average for 2026-27, including police, fire and parish precepts (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government).
What is the population of Barnsley?
The ONS estimates 252,784 people lived in Barnsley in mid-2025.
What is the crime rate in Barnsley?
Home Office figures show 23,936 offences in the year to March 2026, or 94.7 per 1,000 people, not counting fraud.
Who has power over Barnsley
Every body that makes decisions for Barnsley, from the street up to the G20. Each one links to its page on the official record. How the ten levels work.
Level 1: Neighbourhood and community power
Residents' and tenants' groups, neighbourhood forums and local policing panels.
Level 2: Parish, town and community councils
Parish, town and community councils, where the area has them, sit below the council.
Level 3: Local councils
- Barnsley council spending, reserves, debt and council tax
- Barnsley in official figures this page
Level 5: Devolved and state governments
England has no devolved parliament of its own: its laws are made by the UK Parliament.
Level 6: National government
- All 650 MPs votes, interests and costs
- UK government and Parliament official figures and sources
Level 7: Regional blocs and supranational bodies
- Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights (CoE / ECtHR) The UK Government says the United Kingdom was one of the Council of Europe's founding members.
Level 8: The UN and global treaty bodies
- United Nations (General Assembly and Security Council) The UN lists the United Kingdom as a member admitted on 24 October 1945.
- United Nations Security Council (UNSC) The UK is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council and holds the veto, according to the UN.
- NATO NATO lists the United Kingdom among its 12 founding members, which signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, D.C.
- World Health Organization (WHO) WHO's list of member states includes the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
- World Trade Organization (WTO) The WTO says the United Kingdom has been a WTO member since 1 January 1995 and a member of GATT since 1 January 1948.
- Commonwealth of Nations The UK is one of the 56 members, one of three European members with Cyprus and Malta, and the Commonwealth Secretariat is headquartered at Marlborough House in London.
Level 9: The IMF, World Bank and global finance
- International Monetary Fund (IMF) The UK has been a member since 27 December 1945 and has a quota of SDR 20,155.1 million (IMF country page for the United Kingdom).
- World Bank Group (WBG) The UK holds 3.75% of voting power in the IBRD (data as of 30 June 2026) and 6.92% in IDA (as of 30 June 2026), according to the World Bank's voting tables.
Level 10: G7, G20, Davos and global forums
Sources
Each value above links to the official file or query it was read from, on 14 October 2026. What each figure measures.
- Recorded crime: Years before April 2020 come from the earlier Home Office table.
More on this area and these figures
- Council money: spending, reserves and debt
- Figures for the whole region: the Yorkshire and the Humber
- UK figures: Life expectancy at birth (UK) · UK average weekly earnings growth · UK average house price
- Other council areas in the Yorkshire and the Humber: Calderdale · Doncaster · Kingston upon Hull, City of · North Lincolnshire · Rotherham · York
Related questions
- How healthy is my area?
- What is the average salary in my area?
- What is the average house price in my area?
- What is the unemployment rate in my area?
- How do I check my council tax band?
Figures checked 14 October 2026. Link moved or figure out of date? Tell us.