Average salaries have increased across the UK, but they’re failing to keep up with inflation.
Full-time employees earn an average of £33,000 before tax in the UK in 2022, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
That’s an increase of 5.7% compared to 2021.
However, separate figures show that inflation is at 10.1%, meaning that wages have actually shrunk in real terms.
Workers in Blackpool earn less than people anywhere else in the country.
The average full-time worker in the seaside town earns £24,571 a year.
That’s actually an 8.4% increase on the previous year. While it’s above the national average, it’s still behind inflation.
Boston in the East Midlands, meanwhile, has an average salary of £25,819, the next lowest of any local authority in the country, which works out as a 5.0% increase.
That’s followed by Pendle (£25,828), Kingston upon Hull (£26,409), Redditch (£26,851), Ryedale (£26,923) and Nottingham (£27,016).
At the other end of the scale is the London borough of Wandsworth.
The average full-time worker there takes home £47,901 a year before tax.
St Albans has the next highest average at £46,551, followed by Richmond upon Thames (£45,448), East Hertfordshire (£45,355) and Westminster (£44,964).
The average London worker earns more than their equivalent in any other part of the country.
The average salary in the capital, before tax, is £39,391 a year.
In the South East it’s £35,658 a year.
In the East of England it stands at £34,347, and in the South West it’s £31,726.
Average workers in the West Midlands earn £31,399 a year, and in the East Midlands £30,900 a year.
In Yorkshire and The Humber , however, the average salary is £30,501 a year.
In the North West it’s £30,822, and in the North East it falls as low as £29,764.
People in Wales fare better at £30,821 a year, while the average full-time worker in Scotland gets £33,311 a year.
Not all local authorities have seen an increase in earnings.
The average salary in Kensington and Chelsea has actually fallen by a massive 19.0% according to the ONS figures to £40,868 a year.
In Barrow-in-Furness, the average has fallen by 11.7% to £30,513 a year.
The largest increase, meanwhile, was in Orkney Islands, with salaries going up by 34.0% to £36,132.
In Forest of Dean they rose by 32.8% to 39,132 a year.
