Ipswich has more jobs but fewer new homes than most cities

And people in the town have seen their incomes fall more than the national average since the credit crunch hit in 2010.

The annual report suggests that in many categories Ipswich is the the middle of the league table of the 63 largest urban centres that are recorded in the report.

But with 83.1% of working-age adults in a job, Ipswich is at the top of the British league table in this category - the national average is 75.6%.

Ipswich is growing slower than most urban centres, as its population rose by just 2.6% between 2012 and 2022. The UK average was 6.1% and Cambridge grew by a massive 17.9% to overtake Ipswich in its population.

The figures also show that the growth in income in Ipswich between 2010 and 2022 was much slower than it had been over the previous 12 years - that was a feature of most cities in the UK.

But on housing, Ipswich appears to have done worse than other places. As well as the overall growth of the town, the number of new homes is also near the bottom of the league table.

This contributed to house prices rising faster than in most other cities between 2022 and 2023 - 3%  - but the average price of a house in Ipswich, £255,000, is still lower than the national average of £329,000.

Ipswich council leader Neil MacDonald (Image: Paul Geater)

Ipswich borough council leader Neil MacDonald said: "On individual statistics, I was pleased to see that Ipswich has the highest employment rate of the 63 cities and large towns in the survey.

"Also, we have the fifth highest number of new business start-ups.  Unfortunately, our skills and wages are average.  

"The Towns Fund projects have provided a Net Zero Tech centre at the College and Integrated Care Academy at the University, which will raise skills in those areas. 

"More concerning is the house price increase, which means that the average Ipswich property now cost 8.4 times average earnings."