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Official ONS earnings · 157 occupations compared

East Midlands vs North West

Typical pay is about 6% higher in North West, but that headline hides a lot: East Midlands pays more for 59 of the 157 occupations measured in both.

East Midlands

£31,587

typical occupation median

Occupations measured
201
Highest paid
£76,175
Lowest paid
£4,030
Full East Midlands report

North West

£33,462

typical occupation median

Occupations measured
226
Highest paid
£83,567
Lowest paid
£4,511
Full North West report
ONS doesn't publish a single average wage per region, so the figures above are the midpoint of each region's published occupation medians. They describe the spread of jobs measured, not the average worker — a region with more high-paying occupations will look higher even if individual jobs pay the same.

Where East Midlands pays more

Biggest proportional gaps in East Midlands's favour.

Vehicle paint technicians

+74.5%

£42,323 in East Midlands · £24,256 in North West

Travel agents

+41%

£35,068 in East Midlands · £24,879 in North West

Groundworkers

+32.4%

£37,664 in East Midlands · £28,452 in North West

Residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors

+28.9%

£47,546 in East Midlands · £36,885 in North West

Pharmacy and optical dispensing assistants

+27.6%

£20,077 in East Midlands · £15,730 in North West

Tyre, exhaust and windscreen fitters

+26.4%

£34,820 in East Midlands · £27,545 in North West

Sheet metal workers

+20.1%

£32,251 in East Midlands · £26,863 in North West

Street cleaners

+18.7%

£27,623 in East Midlands · £23,267 in North West

Where North West pays more

Biggest proportional gaps in North West's favour.

Higher level teaching assistants

+34.4%

£26,315 in North West · £17,257 in East Midlands

Crane drivers

+29.9%

£53,511 in North West · £37,514 in East Midlands

£46,652 in North West · £34,167 in East Midlands

Textile process operatives

+23.6%

£31,321 in North West · £23,930 in East Midlands

£49,821 in North West · £38,181 in East Midlands

£38,479 in North West · £29,782 in East Midlands

Specialist nurses

+21.1%

£45,568 in North West · £35,957 in East Midlands

Early education and childcare practitioners

+18.7%

£20,249 in North West · £16,458 in East Midlands

Jobs that pay the same in both

Where location makes almost no difference to the median.

Occupation East Midlands North West Gap
Science, engineering and production technicians n.e.c. £34,205 £34,235 -0.1%
Business and related research professionals £38,114 £38,029 +0.2%
Production managers and directors in construction £50,059 £50,180 -0.2%
Customer service occupations n.e.c. £24,084 £24,140 -0.2%
Routine inspectors and testers £28,854 £28,945 -0.3%

Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional), Table 15. Comparison covers the 157 four-digit SOC 2020 occupations with a published median in both regions. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.