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Official ONS earnings · 118 occupations compared

North East vs South East

Typical pay is about 12% higher in South East, but that headline hides a lot: North East pays more for 41 of the 118 occupations measured in both.

North East

£30,758

typical occupation median

Occupations measured
142
Highest paid
£72,472
Lowest paid
£10,408
Full North East report

South East

£34,801

typical occupation median

Occupations measured
237
Highest paid
£95,391
Lowest paid
£3,432
Full South East 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 North East pays more

Biggest proportional gaps in North East's favour.

Construction project managers and related professionals

+49.5%

£55,195 in North East · £36,909 in South East

Process operatives n.e.c.

+25.5%

£33,202 in North East · £26,457 in South East

Assemblers (vehicles and metal goods)

+23.3%

£36,191 in North East · £29,344 in South East

Teaching assistants

+22.7%

£20,256 in North East · £16,505 in South East

Medical radiographers

+21.7%

£45,791 in North East · £37,639 in South East

Construction and building trades n.e.c.

+18.8%

£37,952 in North East · £31,935 in South East

Specialist nurses

+18.3%

£48,666 in North East · £41,140 in South East

Research and development (R&D) managers

+14.1%

£60,883 in North East · £53,364 in South East

Where South East pays more

Biggest proportional gaps in South East's favour.

Natural and social science professionals n.e.c.

+39%

£44,778 in South East · £27,300 in North East

Functional managers and directors n.e.c.

+34.8%

£76,511 in South East · £49,877 in North East

Estimators, valuers and assessors

+34.7%

£43,813 in South East · £28,605 in North East

Elementary storage occupations n.e.c.

+31.5%

£39,285 in South East · £26,916 in North East

Transport and distribution clerks and assistants

+29.1%

£34,360 in South East · £24,367 in North East

Quality control and planning engineers

+28.7%

£51,647 in South East · £36,813 in North East

Housing officers

+27.3%

£35,382 in South East · £25,709 in North East

IT business analysts, architects and systems designers

+27.2%

£67,902 in South East · £49,429 in North East

Jobs that pay the same in both

Where location makes almost no difference to the median.

Occupation North East South East Gap
Marketing associate professionals £30,320 £30,363 -0.1%
Child and early years officers £28,660 £28,566 +0.3%
Carpenters and joiners £34,950 £34,819 +0.4%
Chefs £27,236 £27,113 +0.5%
Nursing auxiliaries and assistants £23,575 £23,719 -0.6%

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