Bradford: local statistics
Bradford is a metropolitan borough in the Yorkshire and the Humber, home to an estimated 557,758 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 Bradford, from the council up to the G20.
Key figures
What the figures show
In August 2026, 24,330 people in Bradford were on the claimant count, 6.9% of residents aged 16 to 64 (the Yorkshire and the Humber: 4.1%). That compares with 7.0% a year before. Since August 2021 the rate has ranged between 6.2% (January 2023) and 8.4% (August 2021).
The median full-time employee living in Bradford was paid £670.70 a week before tax in April 2025 (£33,526 a year). That is 5.7% below the figure for the Yorkshire and the Humber and the 2nd lowest in the Yorkshire and the Humber. Measured by where people work rather than where they live, the median is £688.00, £17.30 higher. Ten years earlier, in 2015, it was £449.50: a change of +49% before inflation.
In the year to March 2026, 65,941 offences were recorded by police in Bradford: 118.2 per 1,000 people, the 2nd highest rate of all 15 council areas in the Yorkshire and the Humber. A year earlier it was 122.7. Across the 11 years shown it ranged from 95.7 to 139.9 per 1,000. Fraud is not included.
An estimated 69.1% of people aged 16 to 64 living in Bradford were in work in April 2025 to March 2026, according to the ONS Annual Population Survey (give or take 3.6 points), against 73.3% across the Yorkshire and the Humber. Over the 11 years shown it ranged from 66.0% to 72.9%.
19,635 businesses were registered for VAT or PAYE in Bradford in March 2026, 11% more than in 2016. There are 35 per 1,000 residents, the 11th highest of all 15 council areas in the Yorkshire and the Humber.
Homes in Bradford sold for an average of £182,766 in July 2026, a rise of 2.5% in twelve months. That is the 10th 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, 47% up on July 2016. The average price is 5.5 times the median annual pay of full-time employees who live in Bradford. That ratio is mid-table in the Yorkshire and the Humber, 9th of 15.
The ONS estimates that 557,758 people lived in Bradford in mid-2025, down 0.4% on mid-2024. Over ten years, since mid-2015, it has grown by 4.3% (the Yorkshire and the Humber: +5.5%), mid-table in the Yorkshire and the Humber, 9th of 15. The series peaked at 559,818 in mid-2024.
Life expectancy at birth in Bradford is 81.7 years for women and 77.0 years for men (2022 to 2024), compared with 83.3 and 79.5 years across England. For women that is 0.3 years more than in 2012 to 2014; for men, 0.6 less. It is close to the middle of all 15 council areas in the Yorkshire and the Humber (9th highest for women).
For 2026-27 the average Band D council tax bill in Bradford is £2,360.73, up £114.58 on 2025-26. It is close to the middle of all 15 council areas in the Yorkshire and the Humber (8th highest). Ten years earlier, in 2016-17, it was £1,414.28.
History
Population (mid-year)
| 2015 | 534,919 |
| 2016 | 538,178 |
| 2017 | 540,447 |
| 2018 | 542,542 |
| 2019 | 545,966 |
| 2020 | 547,141 |
| 2021 | 546,839 |
| 2022 | 550,629 |
| 2023 | 556,919 |
| 2024 | 559,818 |
| 2025 | 557,758 |
Average house price (same month each year)
| July 2016 | £124,344 |
| July 2017 | £127,791 |
| July 2018 | £129,557 |
| July 2019 | £130,807 |
| July 2020 | £131,522 |
| July 2021 | £147,663 |
| July 2022 | £162,560 |
| July 2023 | £162,899 |
| July 2024 | £172,306 |
| July 2025 | £178,388 |
| July 2026 | £182,766 |
Median weekly pay, residents
| 2015 | £449.50 a week |
| 2016 | £471.60 a week |
| 2017 | £475.70 a week |
| 2018 | £488.70 a week |
| 2019 | £503.70 a week |
| 2020 | £536.60 a week |
| 2021 | £546.10 a week |
| 2022 | £570.10 a week |
| 2023 | £616.90 a week |
| 2024 | £642.90 a week |
| 2025 | £670.70 a week |
Average Band D council tax
| 2016-17 | £1,414.28 |
| 2017-18 | £1,482.27 |
| 2018-19 | £1,572.92 |
| 2019-20 | £1,640.11 |
| 2020-21 | £1,707.63 |
| 2021-22 | £1,796.19 |
| 2022-23 | £1,857.47 |
| 2023-24 | £1,955.79 |
| 2024-25 | £2,055.35 |
| 2025-26 | £2,246.15 |
| 2026-27 | £2,360.73 |
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents
| 2015/16 | 95.7 per 1,000 |
| 2016/17 | 111.0 per 1,000 |
| 2017/18 | 127.9 per 1,000 |
| 2018/19 | 139.9 per 1,000 |
| 2019/20 | 133.9 per 1,000 |
| 2020/21 | 119.0 per 1,000 |
| 2021/22 | 135.5 per 1,000 |
| 2022/23 | 139.1 per 1,000 |
| 2023/24 | 127.0 per 1,000 |
| 2024/25 | 122.7 per 1,000 |
| 2025/26 | 118.2 per 1,000 |
Employment rate
| 2015/16 | 66.4% |
| 2016/17 | 67.2% |
| 2017/18 | 68.1% |
| 2018/19 | 66.0% |
| 2019/20 | 66.3% |
| 2020/21 | 69.8% |
| 2021/22 | 72.9% |
| 2022/23 | 69.3% |
| 2023/24 | 67.4% |
| 2024/25 | 69.1% |
| 2025/26 | 69.1% |
Life expectancy, women
| 2012 to 2014 | 81.4 years |
| 2013 to 2015 | 81.3 years |
| 2014 to 2016 | 81.5 years |
| 2015 to 2017 | 81.6 years |
| 2016 to 2018 | 81.7 years |
| 2017 to 2019 | 81.9 years |
| 2018 to 2020 | 81.6 years |
| 2019 to 2021 | 81.4 years |
| 2020 to 2022 | 81.1 years |
| 2021 to 2023 | 81.4 years |
| 2022 to 2024 | 81.7 years |
Registered businesses
| 2016 | 17,620 |
| 2017 | 18,285 |
| 2018 | 18,060 |
| 2019 | 18,420 |
| 2020 | 18,705 |
| 2021 | 18,895 |
| 2022 | 19,165 |
| 2023 | 19,170 |
| 2024 | 19,020 |
| 2025 | 19,280 |
| 2026 | 19,635 |
Questions about Bradford
How many people claim unemployment-related benefits in Bradford?
The ONS claimant count was 24,330 in August 2026, 6.9% of 16 to 64-year-olds. It counts benefit claims, not unemployment.
What is the average salary in Bradford?
£670.70 a week before tax, the median for full-time employees who live there (April 2025, ONS).
What is the crime rate in Bradford?
118.2 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents in the year to March 2026, excluding fraud (Home Office).
What is the average house price in Bradford?
£182,766 in July 2026, on HM Land Registry's UK House Price Index (+2.5% on a year).
What is the population of Bradford?
The ONS estimates 557,758 people lived in Bradford in mid-2025.
What is life expectancy in Bradford?
81.7 years for women and 77.0 for men (2022 to 2024, ONS).
How much is Band D council tax in Bradford?
£2,360.73 on average for 2026-27, including police, fire and parish precepts (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government).
Who has power over Bradford
Every body that makes decisions for Bradford, 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
- Bradford council spending, reserves, debt and council tax
- Bradford 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
- Bradford East: Imran Hussain (Labour) MP
- Bradford South: Judith Cummins (Labour) MP
- Bradford West: Naz Shah (Labour) MP
- Keighley and Ilkley: Robbie Moore (Conservative) MP
- Shipley: Anna Dixon (Labour) 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 Yorkshire and the Humber
- UK figures: UK unemployment rate · UK average weekly earnings growth · Crime Survey for England and Wales: headline crime
- Other council areas in the Yorkshire and the Humber: Doncaster · East Riding of Yorkshire · Kirklees · North Yorkshire · Sheffield · Wakefield
Related questions
- What is the unemployment rate in my area?
- What is the average salary in my area?
- How do I find the crime rate in my area?
- What is the average house price 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.