Leeds Metropolitan District is the second largest authority in England with a population of around 715,000. It is the largest employment centre in West Yorkshire, with about 387,000 people in Employment.

The majority are employed in the service sector (Distribution, Catering & Hospitality, Banking, Finance, Insurance, Public Administration, Education and Health) although manufacturing and construction are also large employment areas. The main growth areas continue to be in finance, business and legal services. Leeds has an unemployment level of about 3%.

Leeds has 40 Local Education Authority (LEA) maintained secondary schools, six Specialist Inclusive Learning Centres (SILCs), five independent schools with sixth forms, six further education colleges, one Catholic sixth form college, 34 Work Based Learning providers (WBL), several Entry to Employment (e2e) providers (Lead Partner for e2e is igen Future Pathways). There are also five Family Learning Centres (FLCs) and four City Learning Centres (CLCs). Leeds has two universities and three higher education institutions.