Facts and figures

Workforce

• Plymouth has a resident population of 248,100 with a further 100,000 in its travel-to-work area.
• The unemployment rate for the Plymouth Unitary Authority area for May 2008 is 2.1 per cent compared to a national rate of 2.2 per cent (JSA Claimant Count Figures Source: NOMIS)

Transport

• Plymouth is on the main rail network from London Paddington to Penzance, offering 15 daily trains to London with the fastest journey time being three hours.
• Plymouth City Airport and Air South West offer flights to Bristol, Cork, Dublin, Glasgow, Jersey, Leeds Bradford, London Gatwick, Manchester and Newcastle, with flights to London Gatwick lasting just 1 hour 40 minutes.
• Brittany Ferries provide roll-on/roll-off car and freight services to Roscoff in France and Santander in northern Spain.

House prices

According to the HM Land Registry Residential Property Price Report, the average house price in Plymouth across all house types is 50 per cent of the cost of similar accommodation in Greater London.

Quality of life

Plymouth is located in an area of outstanding natural beauty and surrounded by Dartmoor National Park to the north, the natural harbour of Plymouth Sound to the south, Cornwall to the west, and Devon to the east.

Education

• There are many higher education facilities in the city, including the University of Plymouth, Peninsula Medical School, City College Plymouth, Plymouth College of Art and Design and the College of St. Mark and St. John.
• There are 27,000 students at the University of Plymouth with a further 6,000 at partner colleges.
• The Peninsula Academy of Radiology, one of just three new Academies of Radiology in England, is now open and training radiology specialist registrars.
• The Peninsula Dental School is a new initiative created by the Peninsula Medical School that will train 64 dentists a year. The four-year undergraduate programme commenced in September 2007.

Crime

In 2006/2007, the South West rate of recorded crime per 1,000 population was 86 per 1,000 population whilst the figure for Devon and Cornwall was even lower at 77 compared with a national average of 100 for England and Wales. Further figures may be found on the Home Office website.

[Back to top]