Photo: David Weston · CC BY-SA 2.0Work, pay and getting to work in Congleton
Set against UK towns, the Jobs & income grade of Congleton is C+, #35 of 46 in Cheshire. 5,376 residents leave for work each working day; 4,201 people arrive. 33% of residents who travel to work go less than 3 miles.
Work in Congleton: the figures worth knowing
Fewer jobs than working residents
11,617 jobs are based in Congleton for 14,366 working residents; the typical UK town has 0.7 jobs per resident in work. Shops, aerospace, rail and ships and restaurants, cafés and pubs make up 26% of them. Jobs based here ↓
Longer journeys to work
Against 45% across England’s towns. 11% of commuters walk to work (11% across England’s towns). Getting to work ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 and BRES, DWP claimant counts via Nomis, and ONS household income.
On jobs and income, Congleton grades C+
Better than 42% of UK towns once its four measures are combined: #35 of 46 in Cheshire.
Its strongest measure is getting to jobs without a car; its weakest, employment deprivation.
How the grade works
Each input is ranked against every UK town of 1,000 or more (higher income and job access are better; fewer claimants and less employment deprivation are better), the four ranks are averaged, and the average is ranked again. A town needs three of the four.
14% of Congleton’s trips to work are on foot, by bike or public transport
Median journey 12.4 km; typical UK town 8.4 km.
Congleton grades B− for walkability: the share of commuters who walk, cycle or take public transport, against UK towns.
ONS Census 2021, TS061 (method of travel) and TS058 (distance, straight line from home to workplace), output areas summed. Census day fell in the third lockdown, so fewer people travelled than usual.
How residents who travel to work get there, and how far they go (Census 2021, not counting those working mainly at home).
Each working day, more people leave Congleton for work than come in
14,366 residents were in work at the 2021 Census; 13,166 people worked in Congleton.
30% of residents who travel to a workplace stay in the town; in the typical UK town of 2,500+ it’s 14%.
The middle of each bar is the same people: residents who work in the town or from home.
Congleton’s commuters work from Macclesfield to Crewe
- Biddulph682
- Countryside480
- Stoke-on-Trent402
- Macclesfield315
- Crewe229
- Kidsgrove177
- Alsager160
- Newcastle-under-Lyme131
- Leek102
- Sandbach80
- Macclesfield1,242
- Countryside844
- Crewe441
- Stoke-on-Trent383
- Wythenshawe153
- Manchester132
- Wilmslow114
- Sandbach108
- Newcastle-under-Lyme106
- Biddulph98
70% of residents who travel to a workplace work outside Congleton; Macclesfield takes the most (1,242). Coming the other way, Biddulph sends the most (682).
The ten places that send the most workers into Congleton, and the ten where its residents most often work (Census 2021, by home and workplace). Line width is the number of people.
11,617 jobs, one in five in manufacturing
0.8 for every working resident; the typical UK town has 0.7.
BRES counts jobs, not people (a part-time job and a second job count once each), so it runs above the Census count of people working here (13,166). Small areas are shared out to the town by where their Census 2021 workers were based; kinds of work are BRES industry divisions (SIC 2007), rounded. England’s towns: all jobs in its built-up areas.
Jobs at workplaces in Congleton (employees and working owners, ONS Business Register and Employment Survey 2024).
£51,760 a year: the mean household income in Congleton
Higher than 48% of UK towns of 2,500+; the typical town is £52,385. The whole council area of Cheshire East averages £52,942.
The town figure is ONS’s neighbourhood (MSOA) estimates shared out by where the town’s residents live.
Total household income before tax, mean, year to March 2023 (ONS small-area estimates).
Across Congleton, household incomes range from £47K to £57K
Mean household income before tax in each of the 4 neighbourhoods (MSOAs) mostly inside the town: the highest is 1.2 times the lowest.
Each dot is a neighbourhood (MSOA, about 8,000 people) mostly inside Congleton; names from the House of Commons Library. ONS gives each a 95% range of roughly ±£7K to ±£10K, so neighbourhoods close together on the strip may not really differ.
Jobless claims in the Cheshire East council area have run below England and Wales every month since 2015
Cheshire East’s rate was about 1.8% in 2019, peaked at 4.6% in May 2020 and has averaged 2.3% in 2026, against 4% across England and Wales. Claims everywhere stay higher than before the pandemic, partly because Universal Credit counts more people on low pay as looking for work.
The chart is the whole council area of Cheshire East, which Nomis publishes monthly; the figures above the line are for Congleton’s built-up area. Claimant count: people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, or Universal Credit while required to look for work. Employment deprivation counts people out of work on Jobseeker’s Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Carer’s Allowance or the Universal Credit equivalents (English Indices of Deprivation 2025). The “most deprived tenth” compares areas within England only.
Claimant rate since 2015: people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance or Universal Credit while looking for work, as a share of residents aged 16 to 64 (DWP, via Nomis).
58% of people 16 and over in Congleton are in work
Compared with England’s towns, 4% are full-time students (against 7%) and 28% are retired (against 21%).
ONS Census 2021, tables TS066 (economic activity) and TS063 (occupation), output areas summed to the built-up area. England’s towns: everyone living in its built-up areas.
Everyone 16 and over, by what they were doing the week before the 2021 Census, and the jobs of those in work.
Out of 233 UK towns of 21,000 to 41,000, Congleton comes 112th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Jobs per worker | Work in own town | Claimants | Income | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harpenden Hertfordshire | 30,964 | 0.8 | 30% | 1.5% | £92K | A+ |
| 2 | Sevenoaks Kent | 26,474 | 1.2 | 34% | 1.6% | £84K | A+ |
| 3 | Chandler's Ford Hampshire | 31,965 | 1 | 18% | 1.6% | £72K | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Wilmslow Cheshire | 25,716 | 1.6 | 18% | 1.9% | £64K | A |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | Lancing and Sompting West Sussex | 27,924 | 0.7 | 19% | 3.2% | £50K | C+ |
| 111 | Brighouse West Yorkshire | 33,159 | 1.1 | 25% | 3.1% | £50K | C+ |
| 112 | Congleton Cheshire | 30,001 | 0.8 | 30% | 2.7% | £52K | C+ |
| 113 | Burntwood Staffordshire | 27,891 | 0.6 | 19% | 2.5% | £49K | C+ |
| 114 | Westhoughton Greater Manchester | 21,969 | 0.3 | 9% | 3.1% | £50K | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 206 | Winsford Cheshire | 32,522 | 0.9 | 39% | 3.3% | £44K | D |
| … | |||||||
| 233 | Bridlington East Riding of Yorkshire | 34,831 | 0.7 | 46% | 5% | £33K | D− |
Jobs & income letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
Ordered by Jobs & income Grade: the top three, the towns either side of Congleton, and others in Cheshire.
The places around Congleton, side by side
| Town | People | Jobs | Work in own town | Claimants | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congleton | 30,001 | 11,617 | 30% | 2.7% | C+ |
| Biddulph | 17,490 | 2,923 | 15% | 2.8% | C |
| Scholar Green | 2,095 | 242 | 3% | 2% | B− |
| Biddulph Moor | 1,286 | 206 | 3% | 1.3% | B |
| Harriseahead, Mow Cop and Newchapel | 3,637 | 449 | 2% | 1.6% | B |
| Rode Heath | 1,901 | 224 | 2% | 2% | B− |
| Kidsgrove | 15,598 | 2,531 | 12% | 3.2% | C |
| Alsager | 15,504 | 3,610 | 13% | 2% | B |
Jobs based in each place, commuters who stay in their own town, and the claimant rate.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in lockdown. Census day was 21 March 2021, during the third national lockdown: many people were furloughed or working from home, so fewer travelled to work, and journeys were shorter, than before the pandemic or since. The flows on this page show where people worked that spring.
- At home and no fixed place are one figure. In the workplace flows, ONS puts people who mainly worked at home and people with no fixed workplace (drivers, builders, care workers on rounds) at their home address, so the two can’t be told apart there.
- Towns are built-up areas. Congleton here is ONS’s built-up area: the town as built, not its council district. A workplace on an estate or farm outside every built-up area counts as “outside any built-up area”.
- Jobs are counted where they are. BRES counts jobs at each workplace (employees and working owners, rounded by ONS), so a town with a hospital, university or big employer can have more jobs than working residents. Small areas are shared out to towns by where their Census workers were based.
- The benefits chart is the council area. Nomis publishes the claimant count monthly for councils back to 2013, so the line is Cheshire East as a whole; the claimant rate elsewhere on this page is Congleton’s built-up area, from small areas.
Questions about work in Congleton
Where do people in Congleton work?
At the 2021 Census, 30% of Congleton’s residents who travelled to work worked in the town itself; the most common other places were Macclesfield (1,242), Crewe (441) and Stoke-on-Trent (383). 46% of working residents worked mainly at home or had no fixed workplace; the Census was taken in lockdown, so home working was unusually high.
How many people commute into Congleton?
4,201 people who lived elsewhere worked in Congleton at the 2021 Census, 32% of its 13,166 workers. The most came from Biddulph (682), Stoke-on-Trent (402) and Macclesfield (315). 5,376 residents travelled out the other way.
How many jobs are there in Congleton?
About 11,600 jobs (employees and working owners) were based in Congleton in 2024, on ONS’s Business Register and Employment Survey: 0.8 for every resident in work, against 0.7 in the typical UK town. The biggest kinds of work are shops (about 1,140), aerospace, rail and ships (about 1,000) and restaurants, cafés and pubs (about 920).
Is Congleton a good place to find work?
Congleton earns a C+ for jobs and income, better than 42% of UK towns on household income, the claimant rate, employment deprivation and access to jobs together. Mean household income £51,760; 2.7% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
How do people in Congleton get to work?
84% of commuters go by car or van, 11% walk, 1% cycle and 2% take the bus or train; 33% travel under 5 km. Census 2021, taken during lockdown.
What is the average household income in Congleton?
Mean household income before tax was £51,760 in the year to March 2023 (ONS), against £52,385 in the typical UK town. By neighbourhood it runs from £47,005 in Buglawton to £57,109 in Hightown, Mossley & Timbersbrook.
How does Congleton compare with Warrington for jobs?
Congleton has 0.8 jobs per working resident against Warrington’s 1.6, a 2.7% claimant rate against 2.8%, and mean household income of £51,760 against £50,319.
Sources: ONS Census 2021 origin-destination data, place of work (ODWP01EW), output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · ONS Census 2021 tables TS058 (distance), TS061 (method of travel), TS063 (occupation) and TS066 (economic activity) · ONS Business Register and Employment Survey via Nomis (open access), by industry division · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023); House of Commons Library MSOA names · DWP claimant count via Nomis (towns January to August 2026; councils, regions and England and Wales monthly since January 2015) · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025 · DfT Transport Connectivity Metric (employment) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.