# Employment rate: highest and lowest councils in East of England (March 2026) Dacorum had the highest employment rate of East of England’s 45 councils in March 2026, at 87.5%. Luton had the lowest, at 66.1%. The middle council, Huntingdonshire, had 78.1%. | Rank | Area | Employment rate | Note | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | [Dacorum](https://openindex.co.uk/dacorum) | 87.5% | – | | 2 | [East Cambridgeshire](https://openindex.co.uk/east-cambridgeshire) | 85.6% | – | | 3 | [Central Bedfordshire](https://openindex.co.uk/central-bedfordshire) | 85.4% | – | | 4 | [Broadland](https://openindex.co.uk/broadland) | 84.8% | – | | 5 | [North Hertfordshire](https://openindex.co.uk/north-hertfordshire) | 84.2% | – | | 6 | [East Suffolk](https://openindex.co.uk/east-suffolk) | 83.4% | – | | 7 | [Broxbourne](https://openindex.co.uk/broxbourne) | 83.3% | ONS rates this figure as uncertain. The survey sample in this council is small, so the margin of error is wide (more than 7.5 percentage points either way) or ONS does not publish one. | | 8 | [Castle Point](https://openindex.co.uk/castle-point) | 82.7% | ONS rates this figure as uncertain. The survey sample in this council is small, so the margin of error is wide (more than 7.5 percentage points either way) or ONS does not publish one. | | 9 | [Three Rivers](https://openindex.co.uk/three-rivers) | 82.5% | ONS rates this figure as uncertain. The survey sample in this council is small, so the margin of error is wide (more than 7.5 percentage points either way) or ONS does not publish one. | | 10 | [South Cambridgeshire](https://openindex.co.uk/south-cambridgeshire) | 82.3% | – | | 11 | [Epping Forest](https://openindex.co.uk/epping-forest) | 81.9% | – | | 12 | [Bedford](https://openindex.co.uk/bedford) | 81.7% | – | | 13 | [South Norfolk](https://openindex.co.uk/south-norfolk) | 81.5% | – | | 14 | [Harlow](https://openindex.co.uk/harlow) | 81.0% | ONS rates this figure as uncertain. The survey sample in this council is small, so the margin of error is wide (more than 7.5 percentage points either way) or ONS does not publish one. | | =15 | [East Hertfordshire](https://openindex.co.uk/east-hertfordshire) | 79.6% | – | | =15 | [Uttlesford](https://openindex.co.uk/uttlesford) | 79.6% | – | | 17 | [Mid Suffolk](https://openindex.co.uk/mid-suffolk) | 79.5% | – | | =18 | [Basildon](https://openindex.co.uk/basildon) | 79.4% | – | | =18 | [Cambridge](https://openindex.co.uk/cambridge) | 79.4% | – | | 20 | [Braintree](https://openindex.co.uk/braintree) | 79.3% | – | | 21 | [Southend-on-Sea](https://openindex.co.uk/southend-on-sea) | 79.2% | – | | 22 | [Breckland](https://openindex.co.uk/breckland) | 79.0% | – | | =23 | [Huntingdonshire](https://openindex.co.uk/huntingdonshire) | 78.1% | – | | =23 | [Peterborough](https://openindex.co.uk/peterborough) | 78.1% | – | | 25 | [St Albans](https://openindex.co.uk/st-albans) | 77.9% | – | | 26 | [Fenland](https://openindex.co.uk/fenland) | 77.8% | – | | =27 | [King's Lynn and West Norfolk](https://openindex.co.uk/kings-lynn-and-west-norfolk) | 77.2% | – | | =27 | [Thurrock](https://openindex.co.uk/thurrock) | 77.2% | – | | 29 | [West Suffolk](https://openindex.co.uk/west-suffolk) | 77.0% | – | | 30 | [Welwyn Hatfield](https://openindex.co.uk/welwyn-hatfield) | 76.7% | – | | 31 | [Ipswich](https://openindex.co.uk/ipswich) | 76.3% | ONS rates this figure as uncertain. The survey sample in this council is small, so the margin of error is wide (more than 7.5 percentage points either way) or ONS does not publish one. | | 32 | [Stevenage](https://openindex.co.uk/stevenage) | 76.0% | ONS rates this figure as uncertain. The survey sample in this council is small, so the margin of error is wide (more than 7.5 percentage points either way) or ONS does not publish one. | | =33 | [Babergh](https://openindex.co.uk/babergh) | 75.4% | ONS rates this figure as uncertain. The survey sample in this council is small, so the margin of error is wide (more than 7.5 percentage points either way) or ONS does not publish one. | | =33 | [Rochford](https://openindex.co.uk/rochford) | 75.4% | ONS rates this figure as uncertain. The survey sample in this council is small, so the margin of error is wide (more than 7.5 percentage points either way) or ONS does not publish one. | | 35 | [Great Yarmouth](https://openindex.co.uk/great-yarmouth) | 74.8% | ONS rates this figure as uncertain. The survey sample in this council is small, so the margin of error is wide (more than 7.5 percentage points either way) or ONS does not publish one. | | 36 | [Colchester](https://openindex.co.uk/colchester) | 74.3% | – | | 37 | [Chelmsford](https://openindex.co.uk/chelmsford) | 74.2% | – | | 38 | [Brentwood](https://openindex.co.uk/brentwood) | 73.7% | ONS rates this figure as uncertain. The survey sample in this council is small, so the margin of error is wide (more than 7.5 percentage points either way) or ONS does not publish one. | | 39 | [Hertsmere](https://openindex.co.uk/hertsmere) | 73.3% | ONS rates this figure as uncertain. The survey sample in this council is small, so the margin of error is wide (more than 7.5 percentage points either way) or ONS does not publish one. | | 40 | [North Norfolk](https://openindex.co.uk/north-norfolk) | 72.8% | ONS rates this figure as uncertain. The survey sample in this council is small, so the margin of error is wide (more than 7.5 percentage points either way) or ONS does not publish one. | | 41 | [Watford](https://openindex.co.uk/watford) | 72.6% | ONS rates this figure as uncertain. The survey sample in this council is small, so the margin of error is wide (more than 7.5 percentage points either way) or ONS does not publish one. | | 42 | [Norwich](https://openindex.co.uk/norwich) | 72.4% | – | | 43 | [Maldon](https://openindex.co.uk/maldon) | 71.4% | ONS rates this figure as uncertain. The survey sample in this council is small, so the margin of error is wide (more than 7.5 percentage points either way) or ONS does not publish one. | | 44 | [Tendring](https://openindex.co.uk/tendring) | 67.0% | ONS rates this figure as uncertain. The survey sample in this council is small, so the margin of error is wide (more than 7.5 percentage points either way) or ONS does not publish one. | | 45 | [Luton](https://openindex.co.uk/luton) | 66.1% | – | Source: Annual Population Survey, ONS population survey. Covers Great Britain. Period: March 2026. Period: March 2026. ## Other rankings of this measure - [Great Britain](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/employment/uk) - [England](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/employment/england) - [Scotland](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/employment/scotland) - [Wales](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/employment/wales) - [North East](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/employment/north-east) - [North West](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/employment/north-west) - [Yorkshire and The Humber](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/employment/yorkshire-and-the-humber) - [East Midlands](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/employment/east-midlands) - [West Midlands](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/employment/west-midlands) - [London](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/employment/london) - [South East](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/employment/south-east) - [South West](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/employment/south-west) - [The map](https://openindex.co.uk/map/employment) - [Source and method](https://openindex.co.uk/sources/employment) ## How to cite Source: Open Index, openindex.co.uk. Link to this page, https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/employment/east-of-england. Open Index's own text and the figures it works out are licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Source data keeps its publishers' licences, named with each figure. Give each figure's period and source with it. Snapshot 2026.10.11. The HTML page: https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/employment/east-of-england