Wiltshire: local statistics
Wiltshire is a unitary authority in the South West, home to an estimated 526,392 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 Wiltshire, from the council up to the G20.
Key figures
What the figures show
In March 2026, 24,985 VAT or PAYE-registered businesses were based in Wiltshire, 2% fewer than in 2016. There are 47 per 1,000 residents, the 17th highest of 27 in the South West.
A typical home in Wiltshire cost £328,746 in July 2026, on the UK House Price Index, up 2.6% on July 2025. Among council areas that puts it the 8th highest of the 26 council areas in the South West; the average for the South West was £302,298. Prices are 30% above July 2016 and at their highest July level in the series. The average price is 8.7 times the median annual pay of full-time employees who live in Wiltshire. That ratio is the 6th highest ratio of 26 in the South West.
Police recorded 25,796 crimes in Wiltshire in the year to March 2026, 49.0 for every 1,000 residents, the 14th highest rate of the 19 council areas in the South West. That compares with 46.6 per 1,000 the year before. Across the 11 years shown it ranged from 40.9 to 52.3 per 1,000. Fraud is not included.
Life expectancy at birth in Wiltshire is 84.7 years for women and 81.3 years for men (2022 to 2024) (England: 83.3 and 79.5). For women that is 0.7 years more than in 2012 to 2014; for men, 0.6 more. It is the 8th highest for women of the 26 council areas in the South West.
The Annual Population Survey estimates that 81.5% of Wiltshire residents aged 16 to 64 were in work in April 2025 to March 2026 (give or take 2.8 points); the figure for the South West was 79.0%. Its lowest reading in the series was 78.7% and its highest 83.8%.
Average Band D council tax in Wiltshire is £2,571.78 for 2026-27, 5.3% more than in 2025-26. It is 11th of 27 in the South West, counting from the highest. In 2016-17 the figure was £1,594.72, so it has risen 61%.
In mid-2025 the population of Wiltshire was estimated at 526,392, up 0.5% on mid-2024. Over ten years, since mid-2015, it has grown by 7.8%, against +8.0% for the South West as a whole. That is close to the middle of the 27 council areas in the South West (16th fastest growth). The mid-2025 estimate is the highest in the series.
Full-time employees living in Wiltshire earned a median £750.90 a week in April 2025 (£37,811 a year). That is 2.3% above the figure for the South West and close to the middle of the 26 council areas in the South West (12th highest). Measured by where people work rather than where they live, the median is £728.10, £22.80 lower. In 2015 the residents' median was £517.70, so it has risen 45% before inflation.
2.3% of Wiltshire residents aged 16 to 64 (7,165 people) were on the claimant count in August 2026, compared with 2.7% in the South West. Twelve months before, it was 2.2%. The five-year high was 3.0% (August 2021); the low was 1.9% (September 2023).
History
Population (mid-year)
| 2015 | 488,377 |
| 2016 | 492,706 |
| 2017 | 497,177 |
| 2018 | 498,703 |
| 2019 | 502,985 |
| 2020 | 507,047 |
| 2021 | 513,240 |
| 2022 | 515,957 |
| 2023 | 519,941 |
| 2024 | 524,001 |
| 2025 | 526,392 |
Average house price (same month each year)
| July 2016 | £252,813 |
| July 2017 | £268,565 |
| July 2018 | £274,105 |
| July 2019 | £269,172 |
| July 2020 | £273,203 |
| July 2021 | £286,634 |
| July 2022 | £320,792 |
| July 2023 | £318,690 |
| July 2024 | £316,897 |
| July 2025 | £320,437 |
| July 2026 | £328,746 |
Median weekly pay, residents
| 2015 | £517.70 a week |
| 2016 | £519.80 a week |
| 2017 | £553.30 a week |
| 2018 | £560.70 a week |
| 2019 | £564.80 a week |
| 2020 | £571.60 a week |
| 2021 | £608.60 a week |
| 2022 | £647.90 a week |
| 2023 | £677.60 a week |
| 2024 | £721.30 a week |
| 2025 | £750.90 a week |
Average Band D council tax
| 2016-17 | £1,594.72 |
| 2017-18 | £1,670.84 |
| 2018-19 | £1,777.94 |
| 2019-20 | £1,854.68 |
| 2020-21 | £1,934.80 |
| 2021-22 | £2,031.06 |
| 2022-23 | £2,100.24 |
| 2023-24 | £2,216.29 |
| 2024-25 | £2,330.28 |
| 2025-26 | £2,443.40 |
| 2026-27 | £2,571.78 |
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents
| 2015/16 | 40.9 per 1,000 |
| 2016/17 | 43.8 per 1,000 |
| 2017/18 | 50.0 per 1,000 |
| 2018/19 | 52.0 per 1,000 |
| 2019/20 | 52.3 per 1,000 |
| 2020/21 | 44.5 per 1,000 |
| 2021/22 | 50.3 per 1,000 |
| 2022/23 | 51.9 per 1,000 |
| 2023/24 | 46.2 per 1,000 |
| 2024/25 | 46.6 per 1,000 |
| 2025/26 | 49.0 per 1,000 |
Employment rate
| 2015/16 | 78.9% |
| 2016/17 | 81.3% |
| 2017/18 | 81.2% |
| 2018/19 | 78.9% |
| 2019/20 | 78.7% |
| 2020/21 | 79.2% |
| 2021/22 | 82.5% |
| 2022/23 | 80.7% |
| 2023/24 | 79.9% |
| 2024/25 | 83.8% |
| 2025/26 | 81.5% |
Life expectancy, women
| 2012 to 2014 | 84.0 years |
| 2013 to 2015 | 84.0 years |
| 2014 to 2016 | 84.1 years |
| 2015 to 2017 | 84.0 years |
| 2016 to 2018 | 84.2 years |
| 2017 to 2019 | 84.8 years |
| 2018 to 2020 | 84.5 years |
| 2019 to 2021 | 84.6 years |
| 2020 to 2022 | 84.3 years |
| 2021 to 2023 | 84.6 years |
| 2022 to 2024 | 84.7 years |
Registered businesses
| 2016 | 25,475 |
| 2017 | 28,970 |
| 2018 | 25,910 |
| 2019 | 25,735 |
| 2020 | 25,610 |
| 2021 | 25,215 |
| 2022 | 25,125 |
| 2023 | 24,910 |
| 2024 | 24,950 |
| 2025 | 24,755 |
| 2026 | 24,985 |
Questions about Wiltshire
What is the average house price in Wiltshire?
£328,746 in July 2026, on HM Land Registry's UK House Price Index (+2.6% on a year).
What is the crime rate in Wiltshire?
49.0 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents in the year to March 2026, excluding fraud (Home Office).
What is life expectancy in Wiltshire?
For 2022 to 2024 the ONS gives 81.3 years for men and 84.7 for women.
How much is Band D council tax in Wiltshire?
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government gives an average Band D bill of £2,571.78 for 2026-27.
What is the population of Wiltshire?
The ONS estimates 526,392 people lived in Wiltshire in mid-2025.
What is the average salary in Wiltshire?
£750.90 a week before tax, the median for full-time employees who live there (April 2025, ONS).
How many people claim unemployment-related benefits in Wiltshire?
7,165 in August 2026 (2.3% of residents aged 16 to 64), on the ONS claimant count, which is not the unemployment rate.
Who has power over Wiltshire
Every body that makes decisions for Wiltshire, 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
- Wiltshire council spending, reserves, debt and council tax
- Wiltshire 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
- Chippenham: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat) MP
- East Wiltshire: Danny Kruger (Reform UK) MP
- Melksham and Devizes: Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrat) MP
- Salisbury: John Glen (Conservative) MP
- South Cotswolds: Dr Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat) MP
- South West Wiltshire: Dr Andrew Murrison (Conservative) 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 · Life expectancy at birth (UK)
- Other council areas in the South West: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole · Bristol, City of · Cornwall · Dorset · Somerset · South Gloucestershire
Related questions
- What is the average house price in my area?
- How do I find the crime rate in my area?
- How healthy is my area?
- How much has council tax gone up this year?
- Which council am I in?
Figures checked 14 October 2026. Link moved or figure out of date? Tell us.