Cornwall: local statistics
Cornwall is a unitary authority in the South West, home to an estimated 584,782 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 Cornwall, from the council up to the G20.
Key figures
What the figures show
The ONS counted 29,950 VAT or PAYE-registered businesses in Cornwall in March 2026, 8% more than in 2016. That is 51 for every 1,000 residents, the 11th highest of 27 in the South West.
HM Land Registry puts the average price of a home in Cornwall at £275,642 for July 2026, a fall of 0.7% in twelve months. Among council areas that puts it 21st of 26 in the South West, counting from the highest (regional average £302,298). Since July 2016 prices have risen 38%; the July high in the series was £291,224 in 2023. Dividing the average price by the median annual pay of full-time employees living in Cornwall (£35,002) gives a ratio of 7.9. That ratio is mid-table in the South West, 15th of 26.
In April 2025 the middle full-time earner living in Cornwall took home £678.80 a week before tax, or £35,002 over a year. That is 7.5% below the figure for the South West and the 22nd highest of all 26 council areas in the South West. Jobs based in Cornwall paid a median £649.20 a week, £29.60 less than the figure for people who live there. Ten years earlier, in 2015, it was £440.50: a change of +54% before inflation.
Cornwall had an estimated 584,782 residents in mid-2025, up 0.4% on mid-2024. That is 37,448 more people than in mid-2015, a rise of 6.8% (the South West: +8.0%). That is 21st of 27 in the South West, counting from the fastest growth. No earlier year in the series was higher.
3.0% of Cornwall residents aged 16 to 64 (10,130 people) were on the claimant count in August 2026; the rate for the South West was 2.7%. That compares with 2.8% a year before. The five-year high was 3.9% (August 2021); the low was 2.5% (October 2022).
In 2022 to 2024, women in Cornwall had a life expectancy at birth of 83.6 years; for men it was 79.5, compared with 83.3 and 79.5 years across England. Since 2012 to 2014 it has changed by +0.2 years for women and +0.1 for men. It is 19th of 26 in the South West, counting from the highest for women.
A Band D home in Cornwall pays an average of £2,590.93 in council tax in 2026-27, 5.3% more than in 2025-26. It is 10th of 27 in the South West, counting from the highest. Ten years earlier, in 2016-17, it was £1,619.75.
The police recorded 62.6 crimes per 1,000 residents in Cornwall in the year to March 2026 (36,590 offences in all), the 12th highest rate of all 19 council areas in the South West. A year earlier it was 59.5. In the year to March 2016 it was 39.1 per 1,000. Fraud is not included.
The Annual Population Survey estimates that 76.8% of Cornwall residents aged 16 to 64 were in work in April 2025 to March 2026 (give or take 3.3 points), against 79.0% across the South West. Over the 11 years shown it ranged from 74.7% to 77.9%.
History
Population (mid-year)
| 2015 | 547,334 |
| 2016 | 551,203 |
| 2017 | 556,921 |
| 2018 | 559,961 |
| 2019 | 563,695 |
| 2020 | 565,045 |
| 2021 | 571,948 |
| 2022 | 575,248 |
| 2023 | 578,961 |
| 2024 | 582,205 |
| 2025 | 584,782 |
Average house price (same month each year)
| July 2016 | £200,365 |
| July 2017 | £210,216 |
| July 2018 | £220,578 |
| July 2019 | £225,496 |
| July 2020 | £231,062 |
| July 2021 | £255,396 |
| July 2022 | £290,942 |
| July 2023 | £291,224 |
| July 2024 | £282,761 |
| July 2025 | £277,714 |
| July 2026 | £275,642 |
Median weekly pay, residents
| 2015 | £440.50 a week |
| 2016 | £467.60 a week |
| 2017 | £479.10 a week |
| 2018 | £474.60 a week |
| 2019 | £504.40 a week |
| 2020 | £493.80 a week |
| 2021 | £517.20 a week |
| 2022 | £573.30 a week |
| 2023 | £630.50 a week |
| 2024 | £669.40 a week |
| 2025 | £678.80 a week |
Average Band D council tax
| 2016-17 | £1,619.75 |
| 2017-18 | £1,685.51 |
| 2018-19 | £1,772.29 |
| 2019-20 | £1,864.02 |
| 2020-21 | £1,943.26 |
| 2021-22 | £2,041.95 |
| 2022-23 | £2,108.89 |
| 2023-24 | £2,221.39 |
| 2024-25 | £2,342.54 |
| 2025-26 | £2,459.92 |
| 2026-27 | £2,590.93 |
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents
| 2015/16 | 39.1 per 1,000 |
| 2016/17 | 42.4 per 1,000 |
| 2017/18 | 51.2 per 1,000 |
| 2018/19 | 52.2 per 1,000 |
| 2019/20 | 49.1 per 1,000 |
| 2020/21 | 45.8 per 1,000 |
| 2021/22 | 50.5 per 1,000 |
| 2022/23 | 51.7 per 1,000 |
| 2023/24 | 54.6 per 1,000 |
| 2024/25 | 59.5 per 1,000 |
| 2025/26 | 62.6 per 1,000 |
Employment rate
| 2015/16 | 74.7% |
| 2016/17 | 77.7% |
| 2017/18 | 75.3% |
| 2018/19 | 76.4% |
| 2019/20 | 77.9% |
| 2020/21 | 75.0% |
| 2021/22 | 74.7% |
| 2022/23 | 77.1% |
| 2023/24 | 76.9% |
| 2024/25 | 77.6% |
| 2025/26 | 76.8% |
Life expectancy, women
| 2012 to 2014 | 83.4 years |
| 2013 to 2015 | 83.4 years |
| 2014 to 2016 | 83.3 years |
| 2015 to 2017 | 83.2 years |
| 2016 to 2018 | 83.2 years |
| 2017 to 2019 | 83.5 years |
| 2018 to 2020 | 83.6 years |
| 2019 to 2021 | 83.6 years |
| 2020 to 2022 | 83.5 years |
| 2021 to 2023 | 83.4 years |
| 2022 to 2024 | 83.6 years |
Registered businesses
| 2016 | 27,625 |
| 2017 | 28,120 |
| 2018 | 28,045 |
| 2019 | 28,505 |
| 2020 | 28,850 |
| 2021 | 28,785 |
| 2022 | 29,680 |
| 2023 | 29,650 |
| 2024 | 29,590 |
| 2025 | 29,715 |
| 2026 | 29,950 |
Questions about Cornwall
What is the average house price in Cornwall?
£275,642 in July 2026, on HM Land Registry's UK House Price Index (-0.7% on a year).
What is the average salary in Cornwall?
Median pay for full-time employees living in Cornwall was £678.80 a week in April 2025 (£35,002 a year), from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
What is the population of Cornwall?
The ONS estimates 584,782 people lived in Cornwall in mid-2025.
How many people claim unemployment-related benefits in Cornwall?
10,130 in August 2026 (3.0% of residents aged 16 to 64), on the ONS claimant count, which is not the unemployment rate.
What is life expectancy in Cornwall?
83.6 years for women and 79.5 for men (2022 to 2024, ONS).
How much is Band D council tax in Cornwall?
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government gives an average Band D bill of £2,590.93 for 2026-27.
What is the crime rate in Cornwall?
Home Office figures show 36,590 offences in the year to March 2026, or 62.6 per 1,000 people, not counting fraud.
Who has power over Cornwall
Every body that makes decisions for Cornwall, 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
- Cornwall council spending, reserves, debt and council tax
- Cornwall 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
- Camborne and Redruth: Perran Moon (Labour) MP
- North Cornwall: Ben Maguire (Liberal Democrat) MP
- South East Cornwall: Anna Gelderd (Labour) MP
- St Austell and Newquay: Noah Law (Labour) MP
- St Ives: Andrew George (Liberal Democrat) MP
- Truro and Falmouth: Jayne Kirkham (Labour (Co-op)) 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 South West
- UK figures: UK average house price · UK average weekly earnings growth · UK population
- Other council areas in the South West: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole · Bristol, City of · Dorset · Somerset · South Gloucestershire · Wiltshire
Related questions
- What is the average house price in my area?
- What is the average salary in my area?
- What is the population of my area?
- What is the unemployment rate in my area?
- Who are my local councillors?
Figures checked 14 October 2026. Link moved or figure out of date? Tell us.