Lancaster: local statistics
Lancaster is a district council area in the North West, home to an estimated 145,237 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 Lancaster, from the council up to the G20.
Key figures
What the figures show
Full-time employees living in Lancaster earned a median £686.70 a week in April 2025, or £34,890 over a year. That is 6.5% below the figure for the North West and 28th of 35 in the North West, counting from the highest. The workplace figure, £688.30, is within £5 of it. In 2015 the residents' median was £494.30, so it has risen 39% before inflation.
Lancaster had an estimated 145,237 residents in mid-2025, down 0.1% on mid-2024. Over ten years, since mid-2015, it has grown by 5.2%; the North West grew by 8.2% over the same years, the 27th fastest growth of 35 in the North West. The series peaked at 145,458 in mid-2023.
In August 2026, 2,675 people in Lancaster were on the claimant count, 2.9% of residents aged 16 to 64; the rate for the North West was 4.2%. That compares with 2.8% a year before. Since August 2021 the rate has ranged between 2.8% (December 2025) and 4.3% (August 2021).
HM Land Registry puts the average price of a home in Lancaster at £202,966 for July 2026, a rise of 4.9% in twelve months. Among council areas that puts it close to the middle of all 35 council areas in the North West (21st highest); the average for the North West was £221,445. This July figure is the highest in the series, 47% up on July 2016. Dividing the average price by the median annual pay of full-time employees living in Lancaster (£34,890) gives a ratio of 5.8. That ratio is close to the middle of all 35 council areas in the North West (17th highest ratio).
The Annual Population Survey estimates that 77.7% of Lancaster residents aged 16 to 64 were in work in April 2025 to March 2026 (give or take 6.5 points), against 73.8% across the North West. Its lowest reading in the series was 67.9% and its highest 82.4%.
The police recorded 72.7 crimes per 1,000 residents in Lancaster in the year to March 2026 (10,564 offences in all), the 22nd highest rate of all 35 council areas in the North West. The rate was 74.7 in the year to March 2025. Across the 11 years shown it ranged from 69.5 to 106.8 per 1,000. Fraud is not included.
5,485 businesses were registered for VAT or PAYE in Lancaster in March 2026, 1% more than in 2016. There are 38 per 1,000 residents, close to the middle of all 35 council areas in the North West (21st highest).
Average Band D council tax in Lancaster is £2,503.19 for 2026-27, up £95.69 on 2025-26. It is close to the middle of all 35 council areas in the North West (16th highest). Ten years earlier, in 2016-17, it was £1,625.29.
Life expectancy at birth in Lancaster is 81.8 years for women and 77.7 years for men (2022 to 2024) (England: 83.3 and 79.5). For women that is 0.1 years less than in 2012 to 2014; for men, 0.3 less. It is mid-table in the North West, 17th of 35.
History
Population (mid-year)
| 2015 | 138,102 |
| 2016 | 138,572 |
| 2017 | 138,678 |
| 2018 | 138,995 |
| 2019 | 139,795 |
| 2020 | 140,881 |
| 2021 | 142,351 |
| 2022 | 144,594 |
| 2023 | 145,458 |
| 2024 | 145,332 |
| 2025 | 145,237 |
Average house price (same month each year)
| July 2016 | £138,261 |
| July 2017 | £139,621 |
| July 2018 | £142,462 |
| July 2019 | £146,228 |
| July 2020 | £148,881 |
| July 2021 | £165,492 |
| July 2022 | £185,053 |
| July 2023 | £190,310 |
| July 2024 | £198,674 |
| July 2025 | £193,469 |
| July 2026 | £202,966 |
Median weekly pay, residents
| 2015 | £494.30 a week |
| 2016 | £523.10 a week |
| 2017 | £512.30 a week |
| 2018 | £521.50 a week |
| 2019 | £546.70 a week |
| 2020 | £561.70 a week |
| 2021 | £611.80 a week |
| 2022 | £593.80 a week |
| 2023 | £630.60 a week |
| 2024 | £652.20 a week |
| 2025 | £686.70 a week |
Average Band D council tax
| 2016-17 | £1,625.29 |
| 2017-18 | £1,681.19 |
| 2018-19 | £1,775.20 |
| 2019-20 | £1,860.49 |
| 2020-21 | £1,931.09 |
| 2021-22 | £2,011.49 |
| 2022-23 | £2,093.01 |
| 2023-24 | £2,204.91 |
| 2024-25 | £2,297.19 |
| 2025-26 | £2,407.50 |
| 2026-27 | £2,503.19 |
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents
| 2015/16 | 70.2 per 1,000 |
| 2016/17 | 70.3 per 1,000 |
| 2017/18 | 82.6 per 1,000 |
| 2018/19 | 106.8 per 1,000 |
| 2019/20 | 87.0 per 1,000 |
| 2020/21 | 69.5 per 1,000 |
| 2021/22 | 79.8 per 1,000 |
| 2022/23 | 74.1 per 1,000 |
| 2023/24 | 73.6 per 1,000 |
| 2024/25 | 74.7 per 1,000 |
| 2025/26 | 72.7 per 1,000 |
Employment rate
| 2015/16 | 71.6% |
| 2016/17 | 80.3% |
| 2017/18 | 76.7% |
| 2018/19 | 71.1% |
| 2019/20 | 67.9% |
| 2020/21 | 78.4% |
| 2021/22 | 72.2% |
| 2022/23 | 75.9% |
| 2023/24 | 70.9% |
| 2024/25 | 82.4% |
| 2025/26 | 77.7% |
Life expectancy, women
| 2012 to 2014 | 81.9 years |
| 2013 to 2015 | 81.9 years |
| 2014 to 2016 | 82.0 years |
| 2015 to 2017 | 82.3 years |
| 2016 to 2018 | 82.5 years |
| 2017 to 2019 | 82.4 years |
| 2018 to 2020 | 82.1 years |
| 2019 to 2021 | 81.8 years |
| 2020 to 2022 | 81.7 years |
| 2021 to 2023 | 81.7 years |
| 2022 to 2024 | 81.8 years |
Registered businesses
| 2016 | 5,455 |
| 2017 | 5,545 |
| 2018 | 5,555 |
| 2019 | 5,590 |
| 2020 | 5,635 |
| 2021 | 5,595 |
| 2022 | 5,595 |
| 2023 | 5,580 |
| 2024 | 5,570 |
| 2025 | 5,495 |
| 2026 | 5,485 |
Questions about Lancaster
What is the average salary in Lancaster?
Median pay for full-time employees living in Lancaster was £686.70 a week in April 2025 (£34,890 a year), from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
What is the population of Lancaster?
145,237 in mid-2025, the latest ONS mid-year estimate.
How many people claim unemployment-related benefits in Lancaster?
2,675 in August 2026 (2.9% of residents aged 16 to 64), on the ONS claimant count, which is not the unemployment rate.
What is the average house price in Lancaster?
HM Land Registry's figure for July 2026 is £202,966.
What is the crime rate in Lancaster?
72.7 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents in the year to March 2026, excluding fraud (Home Office).
How much is Band D council tax in Lancaster?
£2,503.19 on average for 2026-27, including police, fire and parish precepts (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government).
What is life expectancy in Lancaster?
For 2022 to 2024 the ONS gives 77.7 years for men and 81.8 for women.
Who has power over Lancaster
Every body that makes decisions for Lancaster, 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
- Lancaster council spending, reserves, debt and council tax
- Lancaster 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
- Lancaster and Wyre: Cat Smith (Labour) MP
- Morecambe and Lunesdale: Lizzi Collinge (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 North West
- UK figures: UK average weekly earnings growth · UK population · UK unemployment rate
- Other council areas in the North West: Blackburn with Darwen · Blackpool · Halton · Knowsley · Preston · West Lancashire
Related questions
- What is the average salary in my area?
- What is the population of my area?
- What is the unemployment 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.