Cotswold: local statistics
Cotswold is a district council area in the South West, home to an estimated 91,563 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 Cotswold, from the council up to the G20.
Key figures
What the figures show
The average house price in Cotswold was £421,125 in July 2026, up 0.4% on a year before. It ranks as the highest in the South West (regional average £302,298). The July peak was £439,204 in 2024, and prices are 40% above July 2016. The average price is 10.2 times the median annual pay of full-time employees who live in Cotswold. That ratio is the highest ratio of the 26 council areas in the South West.
The police recorded 44.2 crimes per 1,000 residents in Cotswold in the year to March 2026 (4,049 offences in all), the 2nd lowest rate of the 19 council areas in the South West. The rate was 44.9 in the year to March 2025. The highest rate in the series was 57.7, in the year to March 2023. Fraud is not included.
The median full-time employee living in Cotswold was paid £811.00 a week before tax in April 2025, or £41,267 over a year. That is 10.5% above the figure for the South West and the 3rd highest in the South West. Measured by where people work rather than where they live, the median is £672.70, £138.30 lower. Ten years earlier, in 2015, it was £530.40: a change of +53% before inflation.
The claimant count for Cotswold stood at 1,090 in August 2026, or 2.1% of residents aged 16 to 64 (the South West: 2.7%). Twelve months before, it was 2.0%. The five-year high was 2.7% (August 2021); the low was 1.6% (September 2023).
A Band D home in Cotswold pays an average of £2,391.65 in council tax in 2026-27, up £114.95 on 2025-26. It is the 22nd highest of the 27 council areas in the South West. Ten years earlier, in 2016-17, it was £1,536.05.
An estimated 82.5% of people aged 16 to 64 living in Cotswold were in work in April 2025 to March 2026, according to the ONS Annual Population Survey (give or take 6.7 points); the figure for the South West was 79.0%. Its lowest reading in the series was 75.9% and its highest 84.1%.
In mid-2025 the population of Cotswold was estimated at 91,563, down 0.2% on a year earlier. The ten-year change since mid-2015 is +7.4%, against +8.0% for the South West as a whole, 18th of 27 in the South West, counting from the fastest growth. The series peaked at 91,728 in mid-2024.
In 2022 to 2024, women in Cotswold had a life expectancy at birth of 84.6 years; for men it was 82.0, compared with 83.3 and 79.5 years across England. For women that is 0.5 years less than in 2012 to 2014; for men, 1.1 more. It is 10th of 26 in the South West, counting from the highest for women.
6,870 businesses were registered for VAT or PAYE in Cotswold in March 2026, 3% more than in 2016. There are 75 per 1,000 residents, the 2nd highest of the 27 council areas in the South West.
History
Population (mid-year)
| 2015 | 85,293 |
| 2016 | 85,994 |
| 2017 | 87,540 |
| 2018 | 88,814 |
| 2019 | 89,632 |
| 2020 | 89,824 |
| 2021 | 91,076 |
| 2022 | 91,403 |
| 2023 | 91,686 |
| 2024 | 91,728 |
| 2025 | 91,563 |
Average house price (same month each year)
| July 2016 | £301,498 |
| July 2017 | £325,509 |
| July 2018 | £337,237 |
| July 2019 | £356,023 |
| July 2020 | £354,817 |
| July 2021 | £371,455 |
| July 2022 | £432,568 |
| July 2023 | £431,637 |
| July 2024 | £439,204 |
| July 2025 | £419,445 |
| July 2026 | £421,125 |
Median weekly pay, residents
| 2015 | £530.40 a week |
| 2016 | £549.00 a week |
| 2017 | £609.20 a week |
| 2018 | £613.00 a week |
| 2019 | £615.10 a week |
| 2020 | £575.00 a week |
| 2021 | £601.80 a week |
| 2022 | £667.40 a week |
| 2023 | £701.00 a week |
| 2024 | £757.70 a week |
| 2025 | £811.00 a week |
Average Band D council tax
| 2016-17 | £1,536.05 |
| 2017-18 | £1,589.70 |
| 2018-19 | £1,657.79 |
| 2019-20 | £1,749.25 |
| 2020-21 | £1,817.20 |
| 2021-22 | £1,902.36 |
| 2022-23 | £1,966.88 |
| 2023-24 | £2,063.63 |
| 2024-25 | £2,169.77 |
| 2025-26 | £2,276.70 |
| 2026-27 | £2,391.65 |
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents
| 2015/16 | 33.7 per 1,000 |
| 2016/17 | 32.2 per 1,000 |
| 2017/18 | 33.3 per 1,000 |
| 2018/19 | 35.4 per 1,000 |
| 2019/20 | 40.7 per 1,000 |
| 2020/21 | 38.3 per 1,000 |
| 2021/22 | 47.4 per 1,000 |
| 2022/23 | 57.7 per 1,000 |
| 2023/24 | 53.5 per 1,000 |
| 2024/25 | 44.9 per 1,000 |
| 2025/26 | 44.2 per 1,000 |
Employment rate
| 2015/16 | 79.3% |
| 2016/17 | 82.5% |
| 2017/18 | 82.3% |
| 2018/19 | 75.9% |
| 2019/20 | 84.1% |
| 2020/21 | 78.2% |
| 2021/22 | 77.9% |
| 2022/23 | 79.3% |
| 2023/24 | 75.9% |
| 2024/25 | 76.2% |
| 2025/26 | 82.5% |
Life expectancy, women
| 2012 to 2014 | 85.1 years |
| 2013 to 2015 | 84.8 years |
| 2014 to 2016 | 84.9 years |
| 2015 to 2017 | 84.9 years |
| 2016 to 2018 | 85.0 years |
| 2017 to 2019 | 84.9 years |
| 2018 to 2020 | 84.6 years |
| 2019 to 2021 | 84.6 years |
| 2020 to 2022 | 84.7 years |
| 2021 to 2023 | 84.6 years |
| 2022 to 2024 | 84.6 years |
Registered businesses
| 2016 | 6,675 |
| 2017 | 6,740 |
| 2018 | 6,895 |
| 2019 | 6,915 |
| 2020 | 6,925 |
| 2021 | 6,915 |
| 2022 | 6,905 |
| 2023 | 6,815 |
| 2024 | 6,805 |
| 2025 | 6,750 |
| 2026 | 6,870 |
Questions about Cotswold
What is the average house price in Cotswold?
HM Land Registry's figure for July 2026 is £421,125.
What is the crime rate in Cotswold?
44.2 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents in the year to March 2026, excluding fraud (Home Office).
What is the average salary in Cotswold?
£811.00 a week before tax, the median for full-time employees who live there (April 2025, ONS).
How many people claim unemployment-related benefits in Cotswold?
1,090 in August 2026 (2.1% of residents aged 16 to 64), on the ONS claimant count, which is not the unemployment rate.
How much is Band D council tax in Cotswold?
£2,391.65 on average for 2026-27, including police, fire and parish precepts (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government).
What is the population of Cotswold?
91,563 in mid-2025, the latest ONS mid-year estimate.
What is life expectancy in Cotswold?
84.6 years for women and 82.0 for men (2022 to 2024, ONS).
Who has power over Cotswold
Every body that makes decisions for Cotswold, 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
- Cotswold council spending, reserves, debt and council tax
- Cotswold 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
- North Cotswolds: Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Conservative) MP
- South Cotswolds: Dr Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat) 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 · Crime Survey for England and Wales: headline crime · UK average weekly earnings growth
- Other council areas in the South West: Forest of Dean · Mid Devon · North Devon · South Hams · Tewkesbury · Torridge
Related questions
- What is the average house price in my area?
- How do I find the crime rate in my area?
- What is the average salary 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.