employment
Employment by occupation in the Greater West of England, by gender and local authority
This data insight presents occupational employment patterns for the Greater West of England, defined here as Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon and Wiltshire.
The analysis includes differences between female and male workers, variation across local authority areas, and patterns of net in-commuting (people who live outside a city or area travel into it for work) and out-commuting (people who live in a city or area but travel outside it for work) by broad occupation group.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes estimates of employment by occupation based on the UK Standard Occupational Classification (SOC2020). These data provide information on how employment is distributed across occupation groups for different population groups and geographies.
Gender and local authority distributions are shown for 2024. Net commuting patterns are shown for the period July 2024 to June 2025.
Percentages are calculated as proportions of total employment within each category. Net commuting figures represent the difference between inward and outward workplace flows.
7.2%
Female employment in personal service occupations in the Greater West of England, 2024
40.7%
Professional occupation share in Cheltenham (Gloucestershire), 2024
129,000
Professional occupation employment in Bristol, 2024
+62,900
Net in-commuting in managerial and professional occupations, Bristol, Oct 2024 to Sept 2025
Employment by broad occupation group, by sex, Greater West of England, 2024
This visualisation shows the distribution of employment across broad occupation groups for female and male workers in the Greater West of England in 2024.
Female workers recorded higher shares of employment in personal service occupations (7.2% compared with 1.9% for male workers), administrative and secretarial occupations (6.5% compared with 1.7%), and associate professional and technical occupations (9.3% compared with 7.9%).
Male workers recorded higher shares in skilled trades occupations (3.7% compared with 0.7% for female workers), process, plant and machine operative occupations (3.3% compared with 0.5%), and managers and senior officials (6.7% compared with 5.0%).
Shares were more even in professional occupations (16.7% for female workers and 15.5% for male workers), sales and customer service occupations (2.6% and 2.4%), and elementary occupations (5.0% and 3.7%).
Percentages represent proportions of total employment for each gender.
Share of employment by broad occupation group, local authority areas, Greater West of England, 2024
This visualisation shows the percentage of employment in each broad occupation group across local authority areas within the Greater West of England in 2024.
The share of workers employed in professional occupations ranged from 21.0% in North Somerset to 40.7% in Cheltenham (Gloucestershire). Bristol recorded 35.5% and South Gloucestershire 33.1%.
The share employed as managers and senior officials ranged from 8.2% in Bath and North East Somerset and 8.5% in Forest of Dean (Gloucestershire) to 25.4% in Cotswold (Gloucestershire) and 18.2% in Tewkesbury (Gloucestershire).
Employment in associate professional and technical occupations ranged from 7.1% in Cheltenham to 21.5% in Gloucester and 21.3% in Stroud (Gloucestershire).
The share of employment in elementary occupations ranged from close to zero in Cotswold to 13.2% in Forest of Dean. Sales and customer service occupations ranged from 2.5% in Gloucester to 9.5% in North Somerset.
Percentages are calculated as shares of total employment within each local authority area.
Employment by broad occupation group, local authority areas, Greater West of England, 2024
This visualisation shows employment levels by broad occupation group across local authority areas within the Greater West of England in 2024.
Bristol recorded 129,000 workers in professional occupations, 71,600 in associate professional and technical occupations, and 37,100 in managers and senior officials.
Gloucestershire recorded higher totals in several other occupation groups, including 51,200 in associate professional and technical occupations, 27,600 in skilled trades occupations, 27,400 in personal service occupations, and 32,100 in elementary occupations.
Local authority areas with smaller resident or workplace populations recorded lower employment totals across occupation groups.
Figures are presented as employment levels.
Net in-commuting by broad occupation group, local authority areas, Greater West of England, October 2024 to September 2025
This visualisation shows net in-commuting by broad occupation group across local authority areas within the Greater West of England for the period October 2024 to September 2025.
Bristol recorded net in-commuting across all four occupation groupings, with a net inflow of 62,900 in managerial, professional and associate professional and 23,500 in process, plant and machine operative and elementary occupations.
Bath and North East Somerset also recorded net in-commuting across all four occupation groupings.
South Gloucestershire recorded net out-commuting across all four occupation groupings, including -28,500 in managerial, professional and associate professional occupations and -12,000 in process, plant and machine operative and elementary occupations.
North Somerset recorded net out-commuting in three of the four occupation groupings. Gloucestershire recorded net in-commuting in managerial, professional and associate professional occupations and net out-commuting in the remaining groupings.
Net commuting figures represent the difference between inward and outward workplace flows.
