# Employment rate: highest and lowest councils in North East (March 2026)

North Tyneside had the highest employment rate of North East’s 12 councils in March 2026, at 75.1%.

South Tyneside had the lowest, at 64.6%. The middle council, Redcar and Cleveland, had 72.7%.

| Rank | Area | Employment rate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [North Tyneside](https://openindex.co.uk/north-tyneside) | 75.1% |
| 2 | [County Durham](https://openindex.co.uk/county-durham) | 73.8% |
| 3 | [Darlington](https://openindex.co.uk/darlington) | 73.7% |
| 4 | [Stockton-on-Tees](https://openindex.co.uk/stockton-on-tees) | 73.5% |
| 5 | [Northumberland](https://openindex.co.uk/northumberland) | 72.8% |
| 6 | [Redcar and Cleveland](https://openindex.co.uk/redcar-and-cleveland) | 72.7% |
| 7 | [Gateshead](https://openindex.co.uk/gateshead) | 72.4% |
| 8 | [Newcastle upon Tyne](https://openindex.co.uk/newcastle-upon-tyne) | 72.0% |
| 9 | [Sunderland](https://openindex.co.uk/sunderland) | 70.1% |
| 10 | [Middlesbrough](https://openindex.co.uk/middlesbrough) | 66.0% |
| 11 | [Hartlepool](https://openindex.co.uk/hartlepool) | 65.7% |
| 12 | [South Tyneside](https://openindex.co.uk/south-tyneside) | 64.6% |

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 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)
- [East of England](https://openindex.co.uk/rankings/employment/east-of-england)
- [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/north-east.

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/north-east