Skip to content

Official ONS earnings · 120 occupations compared

Wales vs Yorkshire and The Humber

Typical pay is about 2% higher in Wales, but that headline hides a lot: Yorkshire and The Humber pays more for 58 of the 120 occupations measured in both.

Wales

£32,489

typical occupation median

Occupations measured
167
Highest paid
£86,152
Lowest paid
£10,404
Full Wales report

Yorkshire and The Humber

£31,735

typical occupation median

Occupations measured
190
Highest paid
£87,240
Lowest paid
£4,311
Full Yorkshire and The Humber 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 Wales pays more

Biggest proportional gaps in Wales's favour.

Social services managers and directors

+53%

£51,651 in Wales · £33,769 in Yorkshire and The Humber

Assemblers and routine operatives n.e.c.

+34.6%

£35,251 in Wales · £26,193 in Yorkshire and The Humber

Metal making and treating process operatives

+32.6%

£37,233 in Wales · £28,076 in Yorkshire and The Humber

Packers, bottlers, canners and fillers

+30.7%

£30,254 in Wales · £23,146 in Yorkshire and The Humber

£32,303 in Wales · £26,428 in Yorkshire and The Humber

Secondary education teaching professionals

+22%

£48,006 in Wales · £39,352 in Yorkshire and The Humber

£41,924 in Wales · £34,867 in Yorkshire and The Humber

Buyers and procurement officers

+19.4%

£38,961 in Wales · £32,619 in Yorkshire and The Humber

Where Yorkshire and The Humber pays more

Biggest proportional gaps in Yorkshire and The Humber's favour.

£42,285 in Yorkshire and The Humber · £30,404 in Wales

Nurse practitioners

+24.7%

£41,478 in Yorkshire and The Humber · £31,244 in Wales

Electrical and electronic trades n.e.c.

+23.1%

£56,587 in Yorkshire and The Humber · £43,522 in Wales

Metal machining setters and setter-operators

+21.9%

£36,476 in Yorkshire and The Humber · £28,496 in Wales

Purchasing managers and directors

+20.3%

£60,189 in Yorkshire and The Humber · £47,971 in Wales

Elementary storage supervisors

+19%

£34,379 in Yorkshire and The Humber · £27,858 in Wales

Floorers and wall tilers

+18.2%

£36,002 in Yorkshire and The Humber · £29,459 in Wales

Printers

+18.1%

£32,949 in Yorkshire and The Humber · £26,970 in Wales

Jobs that pay the same in both

Where location makes almost no difference to the median.

Occupation Wales Yorkshire and The Humber Gap
Business and related research professionals £37,038 £37,054 -0%
Dental nurses £23,019 £23,075 -0.2%
Police officers (sergeant and below) £46,768 £46,540 +0.5%
Sales and retail assistants £14,568 £14,657 -0.6%
Quality control and planning engineers £40,307 £40,033 +0.7%

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