Birmingham: local statistics
Birmingham is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, home to an estimated 1,176,960 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 Birmingham, from the council up to the G20.
Key figures
What the figures show
The claimant count for Birmingham stood at 77,930 in August 2026, or 10.1% of residents aged 16 to 64, compared with 5.3% in the West Midlands. Twelve months before, it was 10.0%. Over the last five years it peaked at 10.4% in March 2025 and was lowest at 7.9% in January 2023.
The police recorded 114.8 crimes per 1,000 residents in Birmingham in the year to March 2026 (135,120 offences in all), the highest rate of the 22 council areas in the West Midlands. A year earlier it was 115.1. Across the 11 years shown it ranged from 71.1 to 136.6 per 1,000. Fraud is not included.
The ONS counted 45,590 VAT or PAYE-registered businesses in Birmingham in March 2026, 15% more than in 2016. There are 39 per 1,000 residents, 19th of 30 in the West Midlands, counting from the highest.
The Annual Population Survey estimates that 66.8% of Birmingham residents aged 16 to 64 were in work in April 2025 to March 2026 (give or take 3.1 points); the figure for the West Midlands was 73.6%. Its lowest reading in the series was 60.4% and its highest 67.2%.
A girl born in Birmingham in 2022 to 2024 could expect to live 81.8 years and a boy 77.1 years, on the ONS's period measure (England: 83.3 and 79.5). Since 2012 to 2014 it has changed by -0.2 years for women and -0.1 for men. It is the 25th highest for women of the 30 council areas in the West Midlands.
In April 2025 the middle full-time earner living in Birmingham took home £707.90 a week before tax (£35,989 a year). It is the 22nd highest of 30 in the West Midlands, and 3.2% less than across the West Midlands. For full-time jobs located in Birmingham the median is £761.20 a week (+£53.30 on the residents' figure). Ten years earlier, in 2015, it was £488.20: a change of +45% before inflation.
Birmingham had an estimated 1,176,960 residents in mid-2025, a change of -0.5% in a year. Over ten years, since mid-2015, it has grown by 5.6%, against +7.8% for the West Midlands as a whole. That is the 20th fastest growth of the 30 council areas in the West Midlands. The series peaked at 1,182,920 in mid-2024.
HM Land Registry puts the average price of a home in Birmingham at £234,257 for July 2026, up 2.5% on July 2025. It ranks as mid-table in the West Midlands, 17th of 30; the average for the West Midlands was £250,880. This July figure is the highest in the series, 48% up on July 2016. Dividing the average price by the median annual pay of full-time employees living in Birmingham (£35,989) gives a ratio of 6.5. That ratio is mid-table in the West Midlands, 16th of 30.
Average Band D council tax in Birmingham is £2,362.90 for 2026-27, 5.2% more than in 2025-26. That makes it close to the middle of the 30 council areas in the West Midlands (18th highest). Ten years earlier, in 2016-17, it was £1,380.05.
History
Population (mid-year)
| 2015 | 1,114,932 |
| 2016 | 1,131,271 |
| 2017 | 1,139,893 |
| 2018 | 1,146,050 |
| 2019 | 1,150,646 |
| 2020 | 1,148,692 |
| 2021 | 1,143,285 |
| 2022 | 1,153,436 |
| 2023 | 1,169,606 |
| 2024 | 1,182,920 |
| 2025 | 1,176,960 |
Average house price (same month each year)
| July 2016 | £158,120 |
| July 2017 | £169,397 |
| July 2018 | £177,502 |
| July 2019 | £182,035 |
| July 2020 | £187,591 |
| July 2021 | £207,594 |
| July 2022 | £223,645 |
| July 2023 | £224,965 |
| July 2024 | £226,956 |
| July 2025 | £228,470 |
| July 2026 | £234,257 |
Median weekly pay, residents
| 2015 | £488.20 a week |
| 2016 | £495.00 a week |
| 2017 | £523.10 a week |
| 2018 | £531.50 a week |
| 2019 | £536.60 a week |
| 2020 | £551.60 a week |
| 2021 | £562.70 a week |
| 2022 | £599.90 a week |
| 2023 | £639.40 a week |
| 2024 | £661.50 a week |
| 2025 | £707.90 a week |
Average Band D council tax
| 2016-17 | £1,380.05 |
| 2017-18 | £1,446.15 |
| 2018-19 | £1,510.23 |
| 2019-20 | £1,601.48 |
| 2020-21 | £1,667.75 |
| 2021-22 | £1,755.54 |
| 2022-23 | £1,815.55 |
| 2023-24 | £1,913.02 |
| 2024-25 | £2,090.96 |
| 2025-26 | £2,245.41 |
| 2026-27 | £2,362.90 |
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents
| 2015/16 | 71.1 per 1,000 |
| 2016/17 | 79.9 per 1,000 |
| 2017/18 | 88.7 per 1,000 |
| 2018/19 | 98.0 per 1,000 |
| 2019/20 | 99.7 per 1,000 |
| 2020/21 | 108.1 per 1,000 |
| 2021/22 | 133.5 per 1,000 |
| 2022/23 | 136.6 per 1,000 |
| 2023/24 | 120.8 per 1,000 |
| 2024/25 | 115.1 per 1,000 |
| 2025/26 | 114.8 per 1,000 |
Employment rate
| 2015/16 | 60.4% |
| 2016/17 | 64.5% |
| 2017/18 | 64.3% |
| 2018/19 | 65.5% |
| 2019/20 | 64.6% |
| 2020/21 | 65.7% |
| 2021/22 | 66.2% |
| 2022/23 | 65.6% |
| 2023/24 | 65.8% |
| 2024/25 | 67.2% |
| 2025/26 | 66.8% |
Life expectancy, women
| 2012 to 2014 | 82.0 years |
| 2013 to 2015 | 81.9 years |
| 2014 to 2016 | 81.9 years |
| 2015 to 2017 | 82.0 years |
| 2016 to 2018 | 82.1 years |
| 2017 to 2019 | 82.4 years |
| 2018 to 2020 | 81.9 years |
| 2019 to 2021 | 81.4 years |
| 2020 to 2022 | 81.1 years |
| 2021 to 2023 | 81.3 years |
| 2022 to 2024 | 81.8 years |
Registered businesses
| 2016 | 39,810 |
| 2017 | 44,395 |
| 2018 | 41,955 |
| 2019 | 43,950 |
| 2020 | 45,695 |
| 2021 | 44,190 |
| 2022 | 44,485 |
| 2023 | 44,285 |
| 2024 | 44,535 |
| 2025 | 44,855 |
| 2026 | 45,590 |
Questions about Birmingham
How many people claim unemployment-related benefits in Birmingham?
The ONS claimant count was 77,930 in August 2026, 10.1% of 16 to 64-year-olds. It counts benefit claims, not unemployment.
What is the crime rate in Birmingham?
Home Office figures show 135,120 offences in the year to March 2026, or 114.8 per 1,000 people, not counting fraud.
What is life expectancy in Birmingham?
81.8 years for women and 77.1 for men (2022 to 2024, ONS).
What is the average salary in Birmingham?
£707.90 a week before tax, the median for full-time employees who live there (April 2025, ONS).
What is the population of Birmingham?
The ONS estimates 1,176,960 people lived in Birmingham in mid-2025.
What is the average house price in Birmingham?
HM Land Registry's figure for July 2026 is £234,257.
How much is Band D council tax in Birmingham?
£2,362.90 on average for 2026-27, including police, fire and parish precepts (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government).
Who has power over Birmingham
Every body that makes decisions for Birmingham, 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
- Birmingham council spending, reserves, debt and council tax
- Birmingham in official figures this page
Level 4: County councils, combined authorities and metro mayors
- West Midlands Combined Authority combined authority
- West Midlands Police police force
- Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust NHS
- Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust NHS
- NHS Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board NHS
- Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust NHS
- West Midlands in official figures
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
- Birmingham Edgbaston: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op)) MP
- Birmingham Erdington: Paulette Hamilton (Labour) MP
- Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley: Tahir Ali (Labour) MP
- Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North: Liam Byrne (Labour) MP
- Birmingham Ladywood: Shabana Mahmood (Labour) MP
- Birmingham Northfield: Laurence Turner (Labour) MP
- Birmingham Perry Barr: Ayoub Khan (Independent) MP
- Birmingham Selly Oak: Al Carns (Labour) MP
- Birmingham Yardley: Jess Phillips (Labour) MP
- Sutton Coldfield: Sir Andrew Mitchell (Conservative) MP
- 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 West Midlands
- UK figures: UK unemployment rate · Crime Survey for England and Wales: headline crime · UK employment rate
- Other council areas in the West Midlands: Coventry · Dudley · Sandwell · Shropshire · Walsall · Wolverhampton
Related questions
- What is the unemployment rate in my area?
- How do I find the crime rate in my area?
- How healthy is my area?
- What is the average salary in my area?
- Which council am I in?
Figures checked 14 October 2026. Link moved or figure out of date? Tell us.