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Official ONS earnings · 122 occupations compared

London vs Wales

Typical pay is about 23% higher in London, but that headline hides a lot: Wales pays more for 11 of the 122 occupations measured in both.

London

£40,110

typical occupation median

Occupations measured
219
Highest paid
£123,796
Lowest paid
£5,711
Full London report

Wales

£32,489

typical occupation median

Occupations measured
167
Highest paid
£86,152
Lowest paid
£10,404
Full Wales 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 London pays more

Biggest proportional gaps in London's favour.

Finance and investment analysts and advisers

+110.5%

£63,994 in London · £30,404 in Wales

Chartered and certified accountants

+65.2%

£61,747 in London · £37,375 in Wales

Nurse practitioners

+62.4%

£50,746 in London · £31,244 in Wales

Programmers and software development professionals

+61.7%

£74,284 in London · £45,942 in Wales

Production managers and directors in manufacturing

+60%

£76,710 in London · £47,944 in Wales

Actuaries, economists and statisticians

+58.3%

£66,364 in London · £41,924 in Wales

Human resource managers and directors

+57%

£66,725 in London · £42,497 in Wales

Debt, rent and other cash collectors

+55.3%

£37,312 in London · £24,029 in Wales

Where Wales pays more

Biggest proportional gaps in Wales's favour.

Residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors

+27.2%

£44,143 in Wales · £32,134 in London

Dental nurses

+10.8%

£23,019 in Wales · £20,540 in London

Housekeepers and related occupations

+9.2%

£22,085 in Wales · £20,047 in London

Care workers and home carers

+8.8%

£22,622 in Wales · £20,635 in London

Social services managers and directors

+8.5%

£51,651 in Wales · £47,284 in London

Managers and proprietors in other services n.e.c.

+8.2%

£40,911 in Wales · £37,557 in London

Head teachers and principals

+6.6%

£76,119 in Wales · £71,111 in London

Call and contact centre occupations

+6.2%

£25,609 in Wales · £24,014 in London

Jobs that pay the same in both

Where location makes almost no difference to the median.

Occupation London Wales Gap
Higher education teaching professionals £48,841 £48,809 +0.1%
Primary education teaching professionals £46,393 £46,291 +0.2%
Youth and community workers £30,484 £30,564 -0.3%
Specialist medical practitioners £86,528 £86,152 +0.4%
Secondary education teaching professionals £48,408 £48,006 +0.8%

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 122 four-digit SOC 2020 occupations with a published median in both regions. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.