Home to work: Movement of workers in the West of England

A large share of jobs in the West of England, particularly professional roles, are located in Bristol, meaning that many workers travel there from surrounding towns and villages. Commuting patterns within and across the West of England’s local authorities reveal how well job opportunities align with local skills and illustrate the relationship between place of residence and place of work.

Evaluating whether the concentration of jobs in Bristol is optimal for the regional economy is beyond the scope of this article, but there are nevertheless important considerations for policymakers around housing and transport. Without policies that support the development of employment in Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, many people living across the region may continue to work in Bristol, which could reduce weekday spending in their local economies.

Home to work

Across the West of England, 63% of Bristol’s residents work within its local authority area, while the figure is only 34% for South Gloucestershire. Rates for Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) (54%) and North Somerset (49%) sit between the two (see Table 1).

For the three local authorities outside Bristol, travelling to the city for work is the most common commute. Indeed, 10.5% of BANES residents make the journey to Bristol for work, lower than the share from North Somerset (18.5%) or South Gloucestershire (35.1%).

Notably, more of South Gloucestershire’s residents work in Bristol than in the local authority in which they live. Despite bordering BANES and being close to the city of Bath, far fewer of South Gloucestershire residents commute to the BANES local authority area (2.6%). This reflects Bristol’s dominant economic role within the West of England.

Table 1: Place of work distribution of West of England residents, 2024

Source: Authors' calculation based on Annual Population Survey.

The economic pull that Bristol exerts on its neighbouring areas is also reflected when assessing the place of residence of workers in the West of England (see Table 2). Less than half of the people who work in Bristol live in the local authority (48.4%). In contrast, at least 77% of workers in the three other local authority areas live in that area: 77.3% in South Gloucestershire, 82.5% in BANES and 88.6% in North Somerset.

Table 2: Place of residence distribution of West of England workers, 2024

Source: Authors' calculation based on Annual Population Survey.

The pull of Bristol is stronger for graduates than for the workforce overall (see Table 3); 72.6% of those with a degree who live in Bristol work in the area. This is markedly higher than the 63% of total residents who work in the Bristol local authority area. While the city has almost three-quarters of graduates in its job market, South Gloucestershire is an outlier, with only one third. BANES (59.1%) and North Somerset (45.7%) fall in between the two.

The proportion of graduates commuting to work in Bristol from the other local authority areas in the West of England is also higher than for the workforce overall: 12.4% of graduates from BANES, (versus 10.5% of their overall workforce), 38.2% of graduates from South Gloucestershire (versus 35.1%) and 26.2% of graduates from North Somerset (versus 18.5%).

Table 3: Place of work distribution of West of England graduate residents, 2024

Source: Authors' calculation based on Annual Population Survey.

The retention of highly-skilled labour in Bristol means that more than half of the graduates working in Bristol also live there (53.9%). This is compared with less than half of Bristol’s overall workforce (48.4%). Among Bristol’s graduate workforce, 17.9% commute from South Gloucestershire, which rises to almost a quarter (24.3%) for Bristol’s overall workforce. For BANES and North Somerset, the residential distribution of graduates mirrors the workforce overall, with more than 80% of graduates working in these areas also residing there (see Table 4).

Table 4: Place of residence distribution of West of England graduate workers, 2024

Source: Authors' calculation based on Annual Population Survey, 2024

The commuting patterns of residents with lower qualification levels are somewhat different. Residents whose highest qualification is GCSEs follow similar commuting patterns to the overall workforce in South Gloucestershire and North Somerset. For South Gloucestershire, around one third work locally and one third commute to Bristol, with the remainder inactive or working elsewhere. For North Somerset, approximately half of the lower qualified residents work locally, with just under 15% working in Bristol, and the remaining residents working elsewhere or unemployed/inactive. In Bristol and Bath and North East Somerset, a smaller share of residents with lower qualification levels work locally compared with the overall population. This reflects both higher inactivity rates among those with lower qualifications and that for most areas highly-qualified residents are more likely to work in the area where they live (see Table 5).

Table 5: Place of work distribution of West of England residents whose highest qualification is GCSEs, 2024

Source: Authors' calculation based on Annual Population Survey.

Looking at where lower-qualified‑ workers are employed shows that South Gloucestershire and North Somerset have a greater proportion of local residents than in the overall workforce structure. The pattern in Bath and North East Somerset is similar to its overall workforce, while Bristol draws a larger share of lower-qualified‑ workers from South Gloucestershire compared with its overall workforce. This underscores Bristol’s economic pull for workers across the qualification spectrum (see Table 6).

Table 6: Place of residence distribution of West of England workers whose highest qualification is GCSEs, 2024

Source: Authors' calculation based on Annual Population Survey.

Conclusion

Many jobs in the West of England, particularly professional roles, are concentrated in Bristol, meaning that people often commute from nearby cities, towns and villages for work. These commuting patterns offer important policy considerations related to housing and transport.

As the region’s main economic centre, Bristol is likely to continue to outpace the remainder of the region in attracting high-skill and professional jobs, due to the effects of agglomeration and economies of scale. This will continue, and potentially increase, the demand for housing in the city and surrounding areas, placing further pressure on transport links connecting Bristol with neighbouring areas and the wider region.

Without policies in Bath and North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset that encourage the creation of more high-skill jobs in these areas, graduates living across the region may continue to work primarily in Bristol. This could affect local economies as fewer workers spend money in their local areas during the working week.

References

Chrisp, Joe. “How housing affordability is impacting regional growth in the West of England.” The Brunel Centre, 19th March 2026, https://www.thebrunelcentre.co.uk/research/how-housing-affordability-is-impacting-regional-growth-in-the-west-of-england

Gomez, Yadira “Transport satisfaction in the West of England.” The Brunel Centre, 19th March 2026, https://www.thebrunelcentre.co.uk/research/transport-satisfaction-in-the-west-of-england