Salaries · United Kingdom · East Midlands
Average salary in East Midlands
Full-time employees working in the East Midlands earn a median of £36,975 a year (ONS ASHE 2026, provisional), 10% below the UK median of £40,911 and the 11th highest of the 12 UK nations and regions. That is up 4% on a year earlier. Full-time workers who live in the East Midlands earn a median of £37,822, about the same as jobs located there pay.
By Dominic Roworth · ONS ASHE 2026 data, checked 31 October 2026
Pay in East Midlands: the key figures
Full-time, before tax, year to April 2026.
| Jobs in East Midlands | People living in East Midlands | United Kingdom | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median pay | £36,975 | £37,822 | £40,911 |
| Average (mean) pay | £43,605 | £45,493 | £52,109 |
| Lowest-paid 10% earn under | £24,100 | £24,447 | £25,288 |
| Lowest-paid 25% earn under | £28,722 | £29,109 | £30,600 |
| Highest-paid 25% earn over | £50,264 | £51,900 | £56,842 |
| Highest-paid 10% earn over | £68,262 | £71,689 | £82,680 |
| Median a week | £731.80 | £753.80 | £811.20 |
| Median an hour | £18.40 | £19.20 | £20.90 |
| Full-time employee jobs (indicative) | 1,247,000 | 1,341,000 | 18,184,000 |
ONS counts jobs, not people.
Take-home pay on the median
On £36,975, a full-time employee keeps about £30,142 a year (£2,512 a month) after income tax and National Insurance, with the standard tax code, no student loan and no pension contributions.
What drives pay in the East Midlands
Jobs in the East Midlands pay a median of £36,975, 9.6% below the UK and second lowest of the 12 nations and regions, and output per hour worked was 14.7% below the UK average in 2023. The region also has the lowest-paid bottom tenth of the 12: £24,100 or less, 4.7% under the UK level.
No part of Great Britain has a bigger share of its jobs in manufacturing: 11.3%, against 7.1% nationally. Transport and storage, which includes warehousing and distribution, provides 6.6% of jobs against 4.9%, also the highest share in Britain, while finance provides just 1.6%, about half the British share (ONS, 2024).
Derby tops the council table at £42,867. Manufacturing is 15.7% of jobs there, and Rolls-Royce says its Derby site has the biggest concentration of its UK employees. The three cities all pay more for jobs than their own residents earn: Derby's residents earn £37,540, Nottingham's £32,391 against £35,730 for its jobs, and Leicester's £33,607 against £35,845. Oadby and Wigston, East Lindsey and Melton have the lowest workplace medians.
The region's residents earn more than its jobs pay (£37,822), and ASHE counts 1.34 million full-time jobs held by East Midlands residents but only 1.25 million located in the region, so many people work elsewhere. Commuter districts show it most: Harborough's residents earn £48,572 against £35,879 for jobs there, and North East Derbyshire's £39,868 against £34,076.
What is changing: pay for jobs here rose 4.0% in 2026, below the UK's 4.5%, while residents' pay rose 4.5%. The economy grew 0.9% in real terms in 2024, but output per person fell 0.2% once population growth is taken into account.
Pay by council
Across the East Midlands's 35 council areas, jobs pay most in Derby (£42,867) and least in Oadby and Wigston (£31,061). Any town or village: local pay lookup.
| Council | Jobs there | People living there | Change on a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Derby | £42,867 | £37,540 | +2.3% |
| Hinckley and Bosworth | £41,510 | £38,858 | +7.4% |
| Erewash | £41,261 | £39,669 | +17.3% |
| Blaby | £39,782 | £38,107* | +2.6% |
| Charnwood | £39,517 | £39,157 | +8.9% |
| South Derbyshire | £39,504* | £40,575 | +0.3% |
| Amber Valley | £38,766 | £39,245 | +7.9% |
| Rushcliffe | £38,693 | £41,870* | +4.8% |
| West Northamptonshire | £38,653 | £40,012 | +0.6% |
| Lincoln | £38,052 | £36,021 | +6.7% |
| West Lindsey | £37,625 | £38,059 | +5.8% |
| North Kesteven | £37,553* | £39,999 | +3.8% |
| Ashfield | £37,121 | £35,231 | +5.6% |
| Chesterfield | £37,113 | £37,354 | -1.9% |
| Newark and Sherwood | £36,979 | £40,306 | +9.6% |
| North West Leicestershire | £36,725 | £39,527 | +7.6% |
| High Peak | £35,918 | £37,432 | +9.0% |
| Harborough | £35,879 | £48,572 | +10.4% |
| Leicester | £35,845 | £33,607 | +6.1% |
| Nottingham | £35,730 | £32,391 | +1.5% |
| North Northamptonshire | £35,412 | £38,577 | -0.6% |
| Bolsover | £35,196 | £35,543 | -2.6% |
| Rutland | £35,034 | £42,732* | -8.3% |
| Boston | £34,849 | £34,910 | +18.5% |
| South Kesteven | £34,384 | £38,350 | +1.8% |
| North East Derbyshire | £34,076 | £39,868 | -2.0% |
| Broxtowe | £33,900 | £39,783 | +5.6% |
| Bassetlaw | £33,628 | £35,553 | +3.5% |
| Gedling | £32,969 | £36,960 | +4.2% |
| South Holland | £32,865 | £35,197 | +8.8% |
| Mansfield | £32,788 | £34,882 | -3.7% |
| Melton | £32,171 | £35,920* | +4.7% |
| East Lindsey | £31,521 | £33,601 | +0.1% |
| Oadby and Wigston | £31,061* | £36,793* | +4.2% |
| Derbyshire Dales | not published | £44,136* |
* Less precise (coefficient of variation over 10%).
The highest-paid jobs in the East Midlands
For jobs located in the East Midlands, where the estimate is precise (coefficient of variation up to 10%).
| Job | Median a year | Change on a year |
|---|---|---|
| Business and financial project management professionals | £61,061 | +19.3% |
| Programmers and software development professionals | £53,111 | +6.5% |
| Sales accounts and business development managers | £52,803 | +3.3% |
| Police officers (sergeant and below) | £50,090 | +3.7% |
| Higher education teaching professionals | £47,995 | -5.3% |
| Secondary education teaching professionals | £46,920 | +2.5% |
| Managers and directors in retail and wholesale | £43,531 | +11.6% |
| Other nursing professionals | £43,334 | +10.3% |
| Primary education teaching professionals | £43,202 | +5.1% |
| Large goods vehicle drivers | £43,198 | +5.9% |
| Metal working production and maintenance fitters | £41,838 | -0.5% |
| Business sales executives | £40,591 | +7.1% |
The most common full-time jobs in the East Midlands
| Job | Jobs (indicative) | Median a year |
|---|---|---|
| Warehouse operatives | 44,000 | £29,142 |
| Care workers and home carers | 29,000 | £27,278 |
| Secondary education teaching professionals | 28,000 | £46,920 |
| Other nursing professionals | 26,000 | £43,334 |
| Sales accounts and business development managers | 24,000 | £52,803 |
| Production managers and directors in manufacturing | 23,000 | £55,157* |
| Other administrative occupations (other) | 23,000 | £27,930 |
| Food, drink and tobacco process operatives | 21,000 | £30,213 |
| Nursing auxiliaries and assistants | 20,000 | £29,292 |
| Programmers and software development professionals | 19,000 | £53,111 |
| Managers and directors in retail and wholesale | 18,000 | £43,531 |
| Large goods vehicle drivers | 17,000 | £43,198 |
* Less precise.
East Midlands and its neighbours
| Jobs there | People living there | Change on a year | |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | £36,975 | £37,822 | +4% |
| West Midlands | £38,628 | £38,750 | +4.3% |
| East of England | £40,531 | £43,254 | +4.5% |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | £37,519 | £37,676 | +5.2% |
Limits
ASHE covers employee jobs, not the self-employed; the 2026 figures are provisional and ONS revises them a year later. Annual pay is for employees in the same job for at least a year. More in our methodology.
Sources
- ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2026, provisional, Table 7: place of work by local authority
- ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2026, provisional, Table 8: place of residence by local authority
- ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2026, provisional, Table 15: region by occupation
- Take-home pay: Paygrade's 2026/27 UK tax engine, see the methodology.
- ONS, Regional and subregional labour productivity, UK: 2023, 19 June 2025
- ONS Business Register and Employment Survey 2024 (provisional), employment by industry, via Nomis, 28 October 2025
- ONS, Regional gross value added (balanced) by industry: all ITL regions, Table 1c, 23 September 2026
- Rolls-Royce, Our UK story: Sites and investment, accessed 31 October 2026 (page undated)
- ONS, Regional economic activity by gross domestic product, UK: 1998 to 2024 (Tables 1 and 2), 23 September 2026
Related
- Salaries in the United Kingdom: pay for every career we cover
- Local pay lookup: any UK town or village
- NHS pay bands 2026/27
- Am I underpaid? Check your pay against the official figures