Wales

Powys: house prices, jobs and local statistics

Powys is a principal council area in Wales, home to 133,169 people at the 2021 census. The average house price was £237,762 in July 2026, up 3.8% on a year earlier and up 17.4% on five years before. On the ONS figure for July 2026 it had the 216th highest average price of 360 council areas. 2.7% of residents aged 16 to 64 were claiming unemployment-related benefits in August 2026, against 3.9% across the UK. Median full-time pay for people living here was £35,909 a year in 2025 (UK: £39,039). The biggest employing sector is health & social care, with 16.2% of the 49,250 employee jobs counted in 2024.

The health and education indicators shown for English councils are published for England only.

Powys house prices

Average price, July 2026

£237,762

Wales: £215,037

Change over 1 year

+3.8%

Wales: +2.6%

Change over 5 years

+17.4%

Since July 2021

Detached: £327,233
Semi-detached: £214,762
Terraced: £173,392
Flat or maisonette: £95,721
First-time buyers: £197,194

UK House Price Index, July 2026: HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, Land and Property Services NI and the ONS. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. About the index.

Ten years of prices and sales in the house price explorer

Jobs, pay and unemployment in Powys

Claimant rate, August 2026

2.7%

2,020 people aged 16 to 64. UK: 3.9%

Employment rate, Apr 2025-Mar 2026

76.3%

UK: 75.4% · Annual Population Survey

Economically inactive

20.6%

UK: 21.0%

Median full-time pay, 2025

£35,909 a year

UK: £39,039

Median weekly pay, 2025

£705

UK: £767

The claimant count is people claiming unemployment-related benefits as a share of residents aged 16 to 64; the unemployment rate is the survey measure of people out of work and looking. Pay is for full-time employees who live in the area.

Claimant count, Annual Population Survey and Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (resident analysis), via Nomis. Source: Office for National Statistics, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Two years of claimant counts and ten of pay in the jobs explorer

What Powys does for a living

Employee jobs, 2024

49,250

50,625 in 2019

Businesses, 2026

8,780

Largest sectors by share of employee jobs, 2024
Sector	Share of jobs	Great Britain
Health & social care	16.2%	14.1%
Retail, wholesale & motor trade	14.2%	13.6%
Manufacturing	12.2%	7.2%
Hotels, pubs & restaurants	10.2%	7.8%
Farming, forestry & fishing	7.1%	0.6%
Education	7.1%	8.6%

Business Register and Employment Survey 2024 (Great Britain only). UK Business Counts 2026. Both via Nomis. Source: Office for National Statistics, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Every sector and business size in the industries explorer

How Powys has changed

Residents
119,703 in 1991 → 135,059 in 2024 (+12.8%)
Wales over the same years: +10.9%
Average house price
£146,167 in 2005 → £237,762 in 2026 (+62.7%)
Wales over the same years: +75.1%
Median weekly pay
£305 in 2008 → £597 in 2025 (+95.9%)
Wales over the same years: +73.1%
Employment rate
73.2% in 2004 → 75.1% in 2023 (+2.6%)
Wales over the same years: +6.9%
Claimant count
2.0% in 2001 → 2.6% in 2025 (+30.0%)
Wales over the same years: +13.8%
Disposable income per head
£9,257 in 1997 → £23,047 in 2024 (+149.0%)
Wales over the same years: +131.7%

ONS Explore local statistics, each series from its official producer; Office for National Statistics content licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Money figures are in cash terms, not adjusted for inflation.

Every series, charted, in the trends explorer

Who lives in Powys

Residents, 2021

133,169

People per km², 2021

England and Wales: 395

Aged 65 and over

27.9%

England and Wales: 18.4%

Aged under 15

14.5%

England and Wales: 17.3%

Homes owned

67.6%

England and Wales: 61.5%

Homes rented privately

17.9%

England and Wales: 20.3%

Homes socially rented

14.1%

England and Wales: 17.1%

Degree or higher (16+)

31.9%

England and Wales: 33.8%

No qualifications (16+)

18.9%

England and Wales: 18.2%

Good or very good health

79.0%

England and Wales: 82.0%

Born in the UK

95.2%

England and Wales: 83.2%

Census 2021 topic summaries (TS001, TS006, TS007A, TS054, TS067, TS037, TS004), via Nomis. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0.

Any neighbourhood's census profile in the census explorer

How Powys ranks among UK councils

33 official indicators are published for Powys; 26 of them have a better and a worse direction and are ranked here. A rank of 1st is the best (lowest unemployment, highest pay, and so on).

Where it ranks best

Home gas use · Environment8,705 kWh (2024/25) · 44th lowest of 347
Public EV chargers · Connectivity & access270.3 per 100,000 (mid-2026) · 45th highest of 361
Healthy life expectancy, men · Health & wellbeing64.2 years (2022 to 2024) · 28th highest of 195
Three-year business survival · Economy & work61.5% (2021) · 65th highest of 374

Where it ranks worst

Productivity · Economy & work£26.8 per hour (2023) · 360th highest of 361
New homes · Housing1.0 per 1,000 (2024/25) · 22nd highest of 22
Gigabit broadband · Connectivity & access62.1% (January 2026) · 349th highest of 361
4G coverage · Connectivity & access95.5% (January 2026) · 349th highest of 361

ONS Explore local statistics, latest figure for each indicator, ranked among council areas with a published figure; Office for National Statistics content licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, each indicator’s producer named on its linked ONS page.

All 33 indicators in the area scorecard

About these figures

Powys (W06000023) is a principal council area in Wales, one of 361 council areas this site covers. Every figure on this page is read from the official source named beneath it and carries its own date; the page is rebuilt at most once a day. Survey figures carry sampling error, so small differences between neighbouring councils are often noise. For a single street or neighbourhood rather than the whole council area, search a postcode on the dashboard.

Sources

HM Land Registry UK House Price Index (landregistry.data.gov.uk). Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right, OGL v3.0.
Office for National Statistics via Nomis (nomisweb.co.uk): claimant count, Annual Population Survey, ASHE, BRES, UK Business Counts and Census 2021. Source: Office for National Statistics, OGL v3.0.
ONS Explore local statistics (ons.gov.uk/explore-local-statistics), OGL v3.0.
Council area names and codes: mySociety, UK local authority names and codes (CC BY 4.0), from the ONS Register of Geographic Codes.