Photo: Jim Osley · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Newton Abbot earn less than those in 61% of UK towns
Of the residents who travel to work, 45% go under 3 miles. Measured against other UK towns, jobs and pay in Newton Abbot rate C+, #14 of 47 in Devon.
The work figures that set Newton Abbot apart
More jobs than the typical town
14,972 jobs are based in Newton Abbot for 14,658 working residents; the typical UK town has 0.7 jobs per resident in work. Shops, hospitals and health care and restaurants, cafés and pubs make up 26% of them. Jobs based here ↓
As many come in to work as leave
6,522 people come in to work and 6,013 residents go out, so Newton Abbot gains about 509 workers a day. Paignton sends the most (1,151). The daily tide ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 and BRES, DWP claimant counts via Nomis, and ONS household income.
Newton Abbot grades C+ for jobs and income
Taken together, its four measures make it better than 41% of UK towns: #14 of 47 in Devon.
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.
14,972 jobs, one in eight in manufacturing
1 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 (15,127). 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 Newton Abbot (employees and working owners, ONS Business Register and Employment Survey 2024).
As many come into Newton Abbot to work as leave
14,658 residents were in work at the 2021 Census; 15,127 people worked in Newton Abbot.
33% 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.
Newton Abbot’s workers come from Paignton to Plymouth
- Paignton1,151
- Torquay1,113
- Kingsteignton799
- Countryside577
- Teignmouth353
- Plymouth241
- Exeter197
- Kingskerswell194
- Dawlish188
- Bovey Tracey157
- Exeter969
- Countryside846
- Paignton823
- Torquay587
- Kingsteignton481
- Bovey Tracey361
- Plymouth191
- Teignmouth175
- Totnes137
- Heathfield119
Paignton, 6 miles away, sends 1,151 people, more than any other town; in all, 43% of the people who work in Newton Abbot live outside it. Going the other way, Exeter is the biggest single destination (969).
The ten places that send the most workers into Newton Abbot, and the ten where its residents most often work (Census 2021, by home and workplace). Line width is the number of people.
The average household in Newton Abbot has £50,783 a year
Higher than 44% of UK towns of 2,500+; the typical town is £52,385. The whole council area of Teignbridge averages £51,983.
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).
Household incomes across Newton Abbot: £40K to £61K
Mean household income before tax in each of the 5 neighbourhoods (MSOAs) mostly inside the town: the highest is 1.5 times the lowest.
Each dot is a neighbourhood (MSOA, about 8,000 people) mostly inside Newton Abbot; 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.
19% of people travelling to work from Newton Abbot walk, cycle or take the bus or train
Median journey 6.1 km; typical UK town 8.4 km.
Newton Abbot grades A− 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).
Jobless claims in the Teignbridge council area have run below England and Wales every month since 2015
Teignbridge’s rate was about 1.5% in 2019, peaked at 5.3% in May 2020 and has averaged 2.2% 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 Teignbridge, which Nomis publishes monthly; the figures above the line are for Newton Abbot’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).
In work, studying or retired: 60% of Newton Abbot’s adults work
Compared with England’s towns, 4% are full-time students (against 7%) and 24% 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.
Among UK towns of 21,000 to 40,000, Newton Abbot ranks 112th of 227 for 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | Golborne Greater Manchester | 25,563 | 0.8 | 15% | 2.6% | £47K | C+ |
| 111 | Kempston Bedfordshire | 22,779 | 1.1 | 23% | 4.1% | £56K | C+ |
| 112 | Newton Abbot Devon | 29,650 | 1 | 33% | 2.5% | £51K | C+ |
| 113 | Truro Cornwall | 23,060 | 2.7 | 54% | 3% | £53K | C+ |
| 114 | Ossett West Yorkshire | 21,854 | 0.7 | 16% | 3% | £47K | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | Exmouth Devon | 35,502 | 0.6 | 43% | 2.6% | £51K | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 182 | Barnstaple Devon | 31,271 | 1.5 | 65% | 3.6% | £45K | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 227 | 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 Newton Abbot, and others in Devon.
Work in the places around Newton Abbot
| Town | People | Jobs | Work in own town | Claimants | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newton Abbot | 29,650 | 14,972 | 33% | 2.5% | C+ |
| Abbotskerswell | 1,182 | 561 | 4% | 1.7% | B+ |
| Kingsteignton | 11,945 | 3,824 | 13% | 1.8% | B |
| Kingskerswell | 3,761 | 580 | 3% | 2.1% | B− |
| Denbury | 1,482 | 568 | 7% | 1.6% | B |
| Ipplepen | 2,150 | 426 | 7% | 1.2% | B |
| Heathfield | 1,496 | 1,250 | 8% | 2% | C+ |
| Bishopsteignton | 2,271 | 270 | 5% | 1.6% | 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. Newton Abbot 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 Teignbridge as a whole; the claimant rate elsewhere on this page is Newton Abbot’s built-up area, from small areas.
Questions about work in Newton Abbot
Where do people in Newton Abbot work?
At the 2021 Census, 33% of Newton Abbot’s residents who travelled to work worked in the town itself; the most common other places were Exeter (969), Paignton (823) and Torquay (587). 39% 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 Newton Abbot?
6,522 people who lived elsewhere worked in Newton Abbot at the 2021 Census, 43% of its 15,127 workers. The most came from Paignton (1,151), Torquay (1,113) and Kingsteignton (799). 6,013 residents travelled out the other way.
How many jobs are there in Newton Abbot?
About 14,950 jobs (employees and working owners) were based in Newton Abbot in 2024, on ONS’s Business Register and Employment Survey: 1 for every resident in work, against 0.7 in the typical UK town. The biggest kinds of work are shops (about 1,720), hospitals and health care (about 1,160) and restaurants, cafés and pubs (about 1,130).
Is Newton Abbot a good place to find work?
Newton Abbot earns a C+ for jobs and income, better than 41% of UK towns on household income, the claimant rate, employment deprivation and access to jobs together. Mean household income £50,783; 2.5% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
How do people in Newton Abbot get to work?
78% of commuters go by car or van, 14% walk, 2% cycle and 4% take the bus or train; 45% travel under 5 km. Census 2021, taken during lockdown.
What is the average household income in Newton Abbot?
Mean household income before tax was £50,783 in the year to March 2023 (ONS), against £52,385 in the typical UK town. By neighbourhood it runs from £40,466 in Newton Abbot, Town Centre to £61,304 in Ogwell, Mile End & Teigngrace.
How does Newton Abbot compare with Plymouth for jobs?
Newton Abbot has 1 jobs per working resident against Plymouth’s 1, a 2.5% claimant rate against 3.6%, and mean household income of £50,783 against £48,927.
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.