If you’re looking to start work, develop your skills or grow your career, Stockport is the place to be.

Located between the Peak District, the Cheshire Plain and the UK’s fastest growing city, Stockport is one of ten boroughs in Greater Manchester. It’s a place of contrasts, where modern office, housing and leisure developments meet heritage sites, independent traders and award-winning local parks.

Accessible and connected, Stockport is an exciting place to live, study and work.

With a population of 295,000 and home to an estimated 14,000 businesses, Stockport is a major economic player in the North West.

Amongst our residents, 61% are of working age (that’s people aged between 16 and 64) and 83% of that group are classed as ‘economically active’ (which means working or actively seeking work). Exceeding the averages for the North West and England as a whole, that gives Stockport the 3rd largest workforce in the Greater Manchester region.


Stockport Population


Local Businesses


Working Age Population

Because of our diverse economy, Stockport is able to be competitive across a number of different industry sectors.

Stockport – a Town of Culture

In recent years Stockport has been widely celebrated as an emerging hub of creative activity, being dubbed the ‘new Berlin’ by DJ Luke Unabomber, and in 2023, Stockport was awarded Greater Manchester’s Town of Culture.

It coincides with major public redevelopments and investment in the town – including the refurbishment of our iconic Hat Works Museum, cutting edge digital arts opportunities to be opened up through the £2.6m Stockport Creative Campus Cultural Fund and the development of the £14m Future High Street Stockroom discovery centre. From vibrant street art (like La Boca to La Stocka) to crowd-drawing events (like Stockport’s Krazy Races and Foodie Friday), it’s no surprise that many high-quality TV and film productions have chosen to use the borough as a backdrop with 197 shoot days and an estimated production spend of £3.5 million since 2018.

Today, our major employment sectors in Stockport are in wholesale and retail, health and social care, and in admin and support services.

There are 137,900 people working in Stockport’s businesses. 15.3% of those are in the wholesale and retail trade, and 13.9% are in the health and social care sector. 14,000 people are employed in professional, technical and scientific industries and 10,000 work in manufacturing.

  • 1. Wholesale and retail – 21,000 (15.3%)
  • 2. Health and social care – 19,000 (13.9%)
  • 3. Admin and support services – 17,00 (12.4%)
  • 4. Professional, scientific and technical – 14,000 (10.2%)
  • 5. Manufacturing – 10,000 (7.3%)
  • 6. Education – 10,000 (7.3%)
  • 7. Hospitality & Leisure – 9,000 (6.6%)
  • 8. Construction – 8,000 (5.8%)
  • 9. IT & Digital – 6,000 (4.4%)
  • 10. Financial & Insurance – 5,000 (3.6%)

Looking to the future, Stockport has ambitious plans for growth and is attracting new investment.

By 2035, major planned developments will lead to the creation of new jobs across a range of sectors.

7,000

New Jobs

2,300

New Jobs

1,500

New Jobs

Stockport employer insights

Day-in-the-Life Videos

Hear from Stockport employees talking about their job roles, career routes, and what they love about the work they do for a range of Stockport businesses.

One Stockport, One Future.

Over the last decade, Stockport has seized the opportunity to modernise with ongoing efforts to regenerate the town centre and revitalise the whole Borough. It’s a really ambitious place undergoing spectacular transformation. Looking to the future, Stockport aims to be a place where anything is possible – a place that everyone can be proud of.

It sets out a vision for Stockport for 2030, to create a place that works for everyone – businesses, residents, community organisations and charities. This includes a commitment to creating good jobs and employment opportunities by bringing 1500 new businesses to Stockport and creating at least 6500 new jobs.

Find out more about One Stockport