Worcester: local statistics
Worcester is a district council area in the West Midlands, home to an estimated 106,954 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 Worcester, from the council up to the G20.
Key figures
What the figures show
Worcester had an estimated 106,954 residents in mid-2025, up 0.4% on a year earlier. That is 3,861 more people than in mid-2015, a rise of 3.7%, against +7.8% for the West Midlands as a whole, the 26th fastest growth of the 30 council areas in the West Midlands. No earlier year in the series was higher.
The ONS counted 4,230 VAT or PAYE-registered businesses in Worcester in March 2026, 9% more than in 2016. That is 40 for every 1,000 residents, close to the middle of the 30 council areas in the West Midlands (17th highest).
In April 2025 the middle full-time earner living in Worcester took home £759.90 a week before tax (£38,880 a year). It is 11th of 30 in the West Midlands, counting from the highest, and 4.0% more than across the West Midlands. Jobs based in Worcester paid a median £753.40 a week, £6.50 less than the figure for people who live there. In 2015 the residents' median was £528.10, so it has risen 44% before inflation.
3.4% of Worcester residents aged 16 to 64 (2,335 people) were on the claimant count in August 2026; the rate for the West Midlands was 5.3%. The rate was the same a year earlier. Since August 2021 the rate has ranged between 3.2% (December 2025) and 4.4% (August 2021).
HM Land Registry puts the average price of a home in Worcester at £251,221 for July 2026, up 0.1% on July 2025. It ranks as mid-table in the West Midlands, 14th of 30; the average for the West Midlands was £250,880. This July figure is the highest in the series, 40% up on July 2016. Dividing the average price by the median annual pay of full-time employees living in Worcester (£38,880) gives a ratio of 6.5. That ratio is the 19th highest ratio of the 30 council areas in the West Midlands.
A girl born in Worcester in 2022 to 2024 could expect to live 83.2 years and a boy 78.5 years, on the ONS's period measure (England: 83.3 and 79.5). Since 2012 to 2014 it has changed by +0.1 years for women and -0.3 for men. It is mid-table in the West Midlands, 14th of 30.
Average Band D council tax in Worcester is £2,405.81 for 2026-27, up £171.88 on 2025-26. It is close to the middle of the 30 council areas in the West Midlands (15th highest). Ten years earlier, in 2016-17, it was £1,564.40.
The Home Office does not publish recorded crime for Worcester on its own for recent years, so this page gives the figure for the West Mercia police force area: 79,871 offences excluding fraud in the year to March 2026, 888 fewer than the year before.
The Annual Population Survey estimates that 75.6% of Worcester residents aged 16 to 64 were in work in April 2025 to March 2026 (give or take 8.9 points); the figure for the West Midlands was 73.6%. Its lowest reading in the series was 72.7% and its highest 82.7%.
History
Population (mid-year)
| 2015 | 103,093 |
| 2016 | 104,696 |
| 2017 | 105,321 |
| 2018 | 105,303 |
| 2019 | 105,137 |
| 2020 | 104,399 |
| 2021 | 103,628 |
| 2022 | 104,218 |
| 2023 | 105,457 |
| 2024 | 106,566 |
| 2025 | 106,954 |
Average house price (same month each year)
| July 2016 | £179,246 |
| July 2017 | £193,122 |
| July 2018 | £196,564 |
| July 2019 | £199,831 |
| July 2020 | £196,980 |
| July 2021 | £215,386 |
| July 2022 | £240,444 |
| July 2023 | £234,111 |
| July 2024 | £248,963 |
| July 2025 | £250,923 |
| July 2026 | £251,221 |
Median weekly pay, residents
| 2015 | £528.10 a week |
| 2016 | £546.70 a week |
| 2017 | £546.20 a week |
| 2018 | £539.50 a week |
| 2019 | £546.30 a week |
| 2020 | £523.40 a week |
| 2021 | £579.20 a week |
| 2022 | £639.40 a week |
| 2023 | £686.20 a week |
| 2024 | £729.60 a week |
| 2025 | £759.90 a week |
Average Band D council tax
| 2016-17 | £1,564.40 |
| 2017-18 | £1,604.04 |
| 2018-19 | £1,676.26 |
| 2019-20 | £1,752.27 |
| 2020-21 | £1,817.76 |
| 2021-22 | £1,872.22 |
| 2022-23 | £1,941.35 |
| 2023-24 | £2,036.31 |
| 2024-25 | £2,131.62 |
| 2025-26 | £2,233.93 |
| 2026-27 | £2,405.81 |
Employment rate
| 2015/16 | 78.8% |
| 2016/17 | 79.5% |
| 2017/18 | 78.0% |
| 2018/19 | 82.0% |
| 2019/20 | 81.2% |
| 2020/21 | 72.7% |
| 2021/22 | 82.7% |
| 2022/23 | 76.2% |
| 2023/24 | 77.7% |
| 2024/25 | 80.1% |
| 2025/26 | 75.6% |
Life expectancy, women
| 2012 to 2014 | 83.1 years |
| 2013 to 2015 | 83.4 years |
| 2014 to 2016 | 83.6 years |
| 2015 to 2017 | 83.8 years |
| 2016 to 2018 | 83.4 years |
| 2017 to 2019 | 83.3 years |
| 2018 to 2020 | 82.7 years |
| 2019 to 2021 | 82.6 years |
| 2020 to 2022 | 82.5 years |
| 2021 to 2023 | 83.0 years |
| 2022 to 2024 | 83.2 years |
Registered businesses
| 2016 | 3,875 |
| 2017 | 3,995 |
| 2018 | 3,965 |
| 2019 | 3,980 |
| 2020 | 4,110 |
| 2021 | 4,180 |
| 2022 | 4,365 |
| 2023 | 4,245 |
| 2024 | 4,190 |
| 2025 | 4,105 |
| 2026 | 4,230 |
Questions about Worcester
What is the population of Worcester?
The ONS estimates 106,954 people lived in Worcester in mid-2025.
What is the average salary in Worcester?
£759.90 a week before tax, the median for full-time employees who live there (April 2025, ONS).
How many people claim unemployment-related benefits in Worcester?
The ONS claimant count was 2,335 in August 2026, 3.4% of 16 to 64-year-olds. It counts benefit claims, not unemployment.
What is the average house price in Worcester?
HM Land Registry's figure for July 2026 is £251,221.
What is life expectancy in Worcester?
For 2022 to 2024 the ONS gives 78.5 years for men and 83.2 for women.
How much is Band D council tax in Worcester?
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government gives an average Band D bill of £2,405.81 for 2026-27.
Who has power over Worcester
Every body that makes decisions for Worcester, 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
- Worcester council spending, reserves, debt and council tax
- Worcester 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
- Worcester: Tom Collins (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 (police force area): This figure covers the whole West Mercia police force area, not just Worcester, because the Home Office tables do not give Worcester on its own. It is the sum of the force's partnership rows, including offences not assigned to a partnership, and excludes fraud.
More on this area and these figures
- Council money: spending, reserves and debt
- Figures for the whole region: the West Midlands
- UK figures: UK population · UK average weekly earnings growth · UK unemployment rate
- Other council areas in the West Midlands: Bromsgrove · Cannock Chase · Lichfield · South Staffordshire · Staffordshire Moorlands · Wyre Forest
Related questions
- What is the population of my area?
- What is the average salary in my area?
- What is the unemployment rate in my area?
- What is the average house price in my area?
- Which council am I in?
Figures checked 14 October 2026. Link moved or figure out of date? Tell us.