The main employment in the village in the past was coal mining, farming, and forestry. Today with the mines closed, there is very little employment now in the village, although there are three garages and several shops. Bream is one of the largest villages in the Forest of Dean District with a population of 2,600 in January 2000. It is just one of a number of settlements which make up the Forest Ring of settlements on the fringes of the statutory Royal Forest. Positioned on the southern edge of the forest core between the towns of Lydney and Coleford, the village is set on a ridge of high ground, falling away on three sides.