Torbay: local statistics
Torbay is a unitary authority in the South West, home to an estimated 139,486 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 Torbay, from the council up to the G20.
Key figures
What the figures show
HM Land Registry puts the average price of a home in Torbay at £222,118 for July 2026, down 1.6% on July 2025. Among council areas that puts it the lowest in the South West; the average for the South West was £302,298. Since July 2016 prices have risen 27%; the July high in the series was £240,468 in 2023. Dividing the average price by the median annual pay of full-time employees living in Torbay (£33,493) gives a ratio of 6.6. That ratio is the 2nd lowest ratio in the South West.
Full-time employees living in Torbay earned a median £669.10 a week in April 2025 (£33,493 a year). That is 8.8% below the figure for the South West and the 3rd lowest of the 26 council areas in the South West. Measured by where people work rather than where they live, the median is £637.40, £31.70 lower. Ten years earlier, in 2015, it was £421.60: a change of +59% before inflation.
139,486 people lived in Torbay in mid-2025, according to the ONS, down 0.3% on a year earlier. That is 4,434 more people than in mid-2015, a rise of 3.3%; the South West grew by 8.0% over the same years, the 24th fastest growth of the 27 council areas in the South West. The series peaked at 139,862 in mid-2024.
3.4% of Torbay residents aged 16 to 64 (2,695 people) were on the claimant count in August 2026, compared with 2.7% in the South West. A year earlier the rate was 3.2%. The five-year high was 4.8% (August 2021); the low was 3.0% (May 2023).
In 2022 to 2024, women in Torbay had a life expectancy at birth of 83.2 years; for men it was 78.6 (England: 83.3 and 79.5). Since 2012 to 2014 it has changed by +0.1 years for women and -0.5 for men. It is the 22nd highest for women of 26 in the South West.
Police recorded 13,086 crimes in Torbay in the year to March 2026, 93.8 for every 1,000 residents, the 4th highest rate of 19 in the South West. A year earlier it was 98.4. The highest rate in the series was 98.4, in the year to March 2025. Fraud is not included.
4,960 businesses were registered for VAT or PAYE in Torbay in March 2026, 1% more than in 2016. That is 36 for every 1,000 residents, the 2nd lowest in the South West.
The Annual Population Survey estimates that 76.7% of Torbay residents aged 16 to 64 were in work in April 2025 to March 2026 (give or take 3.4 points); the figure for the South West was 79.0%. Over the 11 years shown it ranged from 73.0% to 78.9%.
For 2026-27 the average Band D council tax bill in Torbay is £2,470.25, 5.1% more than in 2025-26. It is the 17th highest of the 27 council areas in the South West. Ten years earlier, in 2016-17, it was £1,569.73.
History
Population (mid-year)
| 2015 | 135,052 |
| 2016 | 136,172 |
| 2017 | 137,329 |
| 2018 | 138,100 |
| 2019 | 138,754 |
| 2020 | 138,695 |
| 2021 | 139,440 |
| 2022 | 139,406 |
| 2023 | 139,734 |
| 2024 | 139,862 |
| 2025 | 139,486 |
Average house price (same month each year)
| July 2016 | £175,115 |
| July 2017 | £178,379 |
| July 2018 | £181,351 |
| July 2019 | £185,748 |
| July 2020 | £189,983 |
| July 2021 | £211,985 |
| July 2022 | £237,060 |
| July 2023 | £240,468 |
| July 2024 | £234,963 |
| July 2025 | £225,636 |
| July 2026 | £222,118 |
Median weekly pay, residents
| 2015 | £421.60 a week |
| 2016 | £442.40 a week |
| 2017 | £477.20 a week |
| 2018 | £471.90 a week |
| 2019 | £506.80 a week |
| 2020 | £466.90 a week |
| 2021 | £542.30 a week |
| 2022 | £566.70 a week |
| 2023 | £572.50 a week |
| 2024 | £632.40 a week |
| 2025 | £669.10 a week |
Average Band D council tax
| 2016-17 | £1,569.73 |
| 2017-18 | £1,640.54 |
| 2018-19 | £1,737.95 |
| 2019-20 | £1,808.78 |
| 2020-21 | £1,880.56 |
| 2021-22 | £1,975.37 |
| 2022-23 | £2,036.63 |
| 2023-24 | £2,141.20 |
| 2024-25 | £2,242.85 |
| 2025-26 | £2,350.64 |
| 2026-27 | £2,470.25 |
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents
| 2015/16 | 63.2 per 1,000 |
| 2016/17 | 70.8 per 1,000 |
| 2017/18 | 85.9 per 1,000 |
| 2018/19 | 88.1 per 1,000 |
| 2019/20 | 81.4 per 1,000 |
| 2020/21 | 75.2 per 1,000 |
| 2021/22 | 81.0 per 1,000 |
| 2022/23 | 79.0 per 1,000 |
| 2023/24 | 85.0 per 1,000 |
| 2024/25 | 98.4 per 1,000 |
| 2025/26 | 93.8 per 1,000 |
Employment rate
| 2015/16 | 74.6% |
| 2016/17 | 76.0% |
| 2017/18 | 76.4% |
| 2018/19 | 74.2% |
| 2019/20 | 73.0% |
| 2020/21 | 74.4% |
| 2021/22 | 75.3% |
| 2022/23 | 76.4% |
| 2023/24 | 74.0% |
| 2024/25 | 78.9% |
| 2025/26 | 76.7% |
Life expectancy, women
| 2012 to 2014 | 83.1 years |
| 2013 to 2015 | 83.3 years |
| 2014 to 2016 | 82.7 years |
| 2015 to 2017 | 82.8 years |
| 2016 to 2018 | 82.4 years |
| 2017 to 2019 | 82.7 years |
| 2018 to 2020 | 82.5 years |
| 2019 to 2021 | 82.8 years |
| 2020 to 2022 | 82.9 years |
| 2021 to 2023 | 83.1 years |
| 2022 to 2024 | 83.2 years |
Registered businesses
| 2016 | 4,920 |
| 2017 | 5,000 |
| 2018 | 4,920 |
| 2019 | 4,955 |
| 2020 | 4,915 |
| 2021 | 4,970 |
| 2022 | 5,025 |
| 2023 | 4,965 |
| 2024 | 4,920 |
| 2025 | 4,880 |
| 2026 | 4,960 |
Questions about Torbay
What is the average house price in Torbay?
£222,118 in July 2026, on HM Land Registry's UK House Price Index (-1.6% on a year).
What is the average salary in Torbay?
£669.10 a week before tax, the median for full-time employees who live there (April 2025, ONS).
What is the population of Torbay?
The ONS estimates 139,486 people lived in Torbay in mid-2025.
How many people claim unemployment-related benefits in Torbay?
The ONS claimant count was 2,695 in August 2026, 3.4% of 16 to 64-year-olds. It counts benefit claims, not unemployment.
What is life expectancy in Torbay?
For 2022 to 2024 the ONS gives 78.6 years for men and 83.2 for women.
What is the crime rate in Torbay?
93.8 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents in the year to March 2026, excluding fraud (Home Office).
How much is Band D council tax in Torbay?
£2,470.25 on average for 2026-27, including police, fire and parish precepts (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government).
Who has power over Torbay
Every body that makes decisions for Torbay, 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
- Torbay council spending, reserves, debt and council tax
- Torbay 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
- South Devon: Caroline Voaden (Liberal Democrat) MP
- Torbay: Steve Darling (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 · UK average weekly earnings growth · UK population
- Other council areas in the South West: Cheltenham · East Devon · Exeter · Gloucester · Stroud · Teignbridge
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?
- Which council am I in?
Figures checked 14 October 2026. Link moved or figure out of date? Tell us.