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

Crawley had the highest employment rate of South East’s 64 councils in March 2026, at 90.0%.

Gravesham had the lowest, at 59.7%. The middle council, Rother, had 79.6%.

| Rank | Area | Employment rate | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Crawley](https://openindex.co.uk/crawley) | 90.0% | – |
| 2 | [Surrey Heath](https://openindex.co.uk/surrey-heath) | 89.9% | – |
| 3 | [Worthing](https://openindex.co.uk/worthing) | 88.8% | – |
| 4 | [Horsham](https://openindex.co.uk/horsham) | 88.7% | – |
| 5 | [West Oxfordshire](https://openindex.co.uk/west-oxfordshire) | 88.1% | – |
| 6 | [Fareham](https://openindex.co.uk/fareham) | 87.6% | – |
| 7 | [Cherwell](https://openindex.co.uk/cherwell) | 86.0% | – |
| 8 | [Mole Valley](https://openindex.co.uk/mole-valley) | 85.1% | – |
| 9 | [Woking](https://openindex.co.uk/woking) | 83.9% | – |
| 10 | [South Oxfordshire](https://openindex.co.uk/south-oxfordshire) | 83.7% | – |
| 11 | [Lewes](https://openindex.co.uk/lewes) | 83.5% | – |
| 12 | [Chichester](https://openindex.co.uk/chichester) | 83.4% | – |
| 13 | [Maidstone](https://openindex.co.uk/maidstone) | 82.8% | – |
| 14 | [Guildford](https://openindex.co.uk/guildford) | 82.5% | – |
| 15 | [Havant](https://openindex.co.uk/havant) | 82.4% | – |
| 16 | [Rushmoor](https://openindex.co.uk/rushmoor) | 82.0% | – |
| 17 | [Oxford](https://openindex.co.uk/oxford) | 81.7% | – |
| =18 | [Adur](https://openindex.co.uk/adur) | 81.5% | 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. |
| =18 | [West Berkshire](https://openindex.co.uk/west-berkshire) | 81.5% | – |
| 20 | [Bracknell Forest](https://openindex.co.uk/bracknell-forest) | 81.4% | – |
| 21 | [Reading](https://openindex.co.uk/reading) | 81.2% | – |
| 22 | [Medway](https://openindex.co.uk/medway) | 81.0% | – |
| 23 | [Eastleigh](https://openindex.co.uk/eastleigh) | 80.7% | – |
| 24 | [Buckinghamshire](https://openindex.co.uk/buckinghamshire) | 80.6% | – |
| 25 | [Wealden](https://openindex.co.uk/wealden) | 80.5% | – |
| =26 | [Basingstoke and Deane](https://openindex.co.uk/basingstoke-and-deane) | 80.2% | – |
| =26 | [Dartford](https://openindex.co.uk/dartford) | 80.2% | 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. |
| 28 | [Epsom and Ewell](https://openindex.co.uk/epsom-and-ewell) | 79.9% | 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. |
| =29 | [New Forest](https://openindex.co.uk/new-forest) | 79.8% | – |
| =29 | [Runnymede](https://openindex.co.uk/runnymede) | 79.8% | 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. |
| =31 | [Reigate and Banstead](https://openindex.co.uk/reigate-and-banstead) | 79.6% | – |
| =31 | [Rother](https://openindex.co.uk/rother) | 79.6% | 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. |
| 33 | [Mid Sussex](https://openindex.co.uk/mid-sussex) | 79.4% | – |
| =34 | [Vale of White Horse](https://openindex.co.uk/vale-of-white-horse) | 79.3% | – |
| =34 | [Winchester](https://openindex.co.uk/winchester) | 79.3% | – |
| 36 | [Windsor and Maidenhead](https://openindex.co.uk/windsor-and-maidenhead) | 78.9% | – |
| 37 | [Wokingham](https://openindex.co.uk/wokingham) | 78.8% | – |
| 38 | [Spelthorne](https://openindex.co.uk/spelthorne) | 78.7% | 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 | [East Hampshire](https://openindex.co.uk/east-hampshire) | 78.5% | – |
| 40 | [Arun](https://openindex.co.uk/arun) | 78.4% | – |
| 41 | [Hart](https://openindex.co.uk/hart) | 78.3% | – |
| 42 | [Milton Keynes](https://openindex.co.uk/milton-keynes) | 78.1% | – |
| 43 | [Swale](https://openindex.co.uk/swale) | 78.0% | – |
| 44 | [Portsmouth](https://openindex.co.uk/portsmouth) | 77.8% | – |
| =45 | [Brighton and Hove](https://openindex.co.uk/brighton-and-hove) | 76.9% | – |
| =45 | [Test Valley](https://openindex.co.uk/test-valley) | 76.9% | – |
| =45 | [Tunbridge Wells](https://openindex.co.uk/tunbridge-wells) | 76.9% | – |
| 48 | [Dover](https://openindex.co.uk/dover) | 76.2% | – |
| 49 | [Tandridge](https://openindex.co.uk/tandridge) | 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. |
| 50 | [Elmbridge](https://openindex.co.uk/elmbridge) | 75.9% | – |
| 51 | [Waverley](https://openindex.co.uk/waverley) | 75.6% | – |
| 52 | [Slough](https://openindex.co.uk/slough) | 74.9% | – |
| 53 | [Ashford](https://openindex.co.uk/ashford) | 74.7% | – |
| 54 | [Sevenoaks](https://openindex.co.uk/sevenoaks) | 73.9% | 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. |
| 55 | [Gosport](https://openindex.co.uk/gosport) | 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. |
| 56 | [Isle of Wight](https://openindex.co.uk/isle-of-wight) | 73.6% | – |
| 57 | [Southampton](https://openindex.co.uk/southampton) | 73.3% | – |
| 58 | [Tonbridge and Malling](https://openindex.co.uk/tonbridge-and-malling) | 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. |
| 59 | [Thanet](https://openindex.co.uk/thanet) | 72.5% | – |
| 60 | [Folkestone and Hythe](https://openindex.co.uk/folkestone-and-hythe) | 70.6% | 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. |
| 61 | [Canterbury](https://openindex.co.uk/canterbury) | 69.4% | – |
| 62 | [Eastbourne](https://openindex.co.uk/eastbourne) | 69.3% | 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. |
| 63 | [Hastings](https://openindex.co.uk/hastings) | 61.7% | 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. |
| 64 | [Gravesham](https://openindex.co.uk/gravesham) | 59.7% | 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. |

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