Darlington House Price & Rent to Income Ratios
How do Darlington house prices and rents compare with local wages? Compare the cost of a home with annual pay, and monthly rent with monthly pay, using official source data.
What stands out in Darlington?
- House prices compared with pay: Darlington ranks 12 out of 294 covered English local authorities with comparable data, ordered from the lowest price-to-pay ratio.
- Rent compared with pay: its separate rent-to-pay position is 13 out of 294, ordered from the lowest percentage.
- The type of home makes a difference: flats and maisonettes average 2.5× annual resident pay, compared with 7.1× for detached homes.
- Rental size matters: average rent ranges from 15.3% of one median resident income for one bedroom to 33.8% for four or more bedrooms.
Rankings compare these specific ratios, rather than overall living costs or whether a particular household can afford a home. Equal unrounded ratios share a rank; gaps can be hidden by display rounding.
Darlington house price to income ratio
Average house price divided by annualised median full-time resident pay.
£159,770 ÷ £38,917 = 4.1× annual earnings
The average home in Darlington costs about 4.1 times the annualised gross pay of a typical full-time resident employee. This is also described as a house price to salary, wage or earnings ratio.
Compared with North East England, the price-to-pay ratio is 0.2 ratio points lower. Lower ratios mean prices are closer to local earnings.
This comparison does not predict mortgage approval or the number of years needed to save for a home. Deposits, interest rates, debts, tax and household spending affect what a buyer can afford.
Darlington rent to income ratio
Average monthly rent divided by monthly gross resident pay, shown as a percentage.
£691 ÷ (£38,917 ÷ 12) × 100 = 21%
Average rent in Darlington is equivalent to 21% of one full-time resident employee’s gross monthly pay. This rent-to-salary or rent-to-wages comparison uses pay before income tax and National Insurance.
That is 3.6 percentage points below the North East England comparison.
This is a comparison of area averages, not the percentage actually paid by every renter. A household may have more than one income, while bills, council tax and other costs are additional. Gross-pay and take-home-pay percentages are different; this page does not apply a personal affordability pass or fail threshold.
What explains Darlington’s housing costs relative to pay?
UK HPI: August 2026 · ONS rents: September 2026 · Employment released 20 Oct 2026 · Earnings released 22 Oct 2026
Prices and resident pay
ONS UK House Price Index data put Darlington’s average house price at £159,770 in August 2026, with an annual change of 1.9%. This was 3.5% lower the North East England average; the annual rate of change was 1.3 percentage points lower than the regional rate.
Against the North East England price/pay ratio, Darlington’s ratio was 5.6% lower. The arithmetic decomposition attributes contributions to both housing costs and resident earnings: housing costs were the larger component. Darlington’s resident median annual gross pay was £38,917 in ASHE 2026, 2.2% higher the regional figure. The ratio compares average prices with annualised individual resident pay; it is not a measure of household or mortgage affordability.
Rents and resident pay
ONS private rental price data put Darlington’s average rent at £691 in September 2026, an annual change of 6.2%. This was 12.5% lower the North East England average, although the local annual rate of change was 0.9 percentage points higher than the regional rate.
Darlington’s rent/pay ratio was 14.4% lower the regional ratio. Both housing costs and resident earnings contribute arithmetically to that comparison, with housing costs the larger component. The rent/pay share is 21.3% of gross monthly resident pay; it is not a household affordability measure. ONS rental averages include new and existing tenancies and are not advertised rents or comparisons for an individual property.
Earnings and labour-market context
ASHE resident earnings are gross pay for full-time employees, annualised from weekly pay; the local earnings period is Jul 2025-Jun 2026 / ASHE 2026. Employment, unemployment and economic inactivity estimates are also reported for that survey period: 74.9% employment, 5.7% unemployment and 20.7% economic inactivity. The regional labour-period labels differ, so these local rates should not be treated as like-for-like regional comparisons.
Analysis refreshes with the published source data. ONS housing statistics · UK HPI · Nomis labour statistics
House price to income by property type in Darlington
UK HPI August 2026 prices compared with ASHE 2026 resident pay.
The overall average combines different types of home. This breakdown shows how the price-to-salary comparison changes when looking at a flat, terrace, semi-detached or detached home.
| Property type | Average price | Price / annual pay |
|---|---|---|
| Flats and maisonettes | £97,138 | 2.5× |
| Terraced homes | £130,904 | 3.4× |
| Semi-detached homes | £176,173 | 4.5× |
| Detached homes | £277,876 | 7.1× |
These are averages for each property type across the area. They do not describe a specific street, condition or bedroom count, and the earnings figure is not the income of buyers of that type of home.
Rent to income by number of bedrooms in Darlington
ONS average monthly rents for September 2026.
A single overall rent can hide the difference between smaller and larger homes. Compare each bedroom category with one median resident income, then with an illustrative household earning twice that amount.
| Bedrooms | Monthly rent | One median income | Two median incomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| One bedroom | £497 | 15.3% | 7.7% |
| Two bedrooms | £631 | 19.5% | 9.7% |
| Three bedrooms | £769 | 23.7% | 11.9% |
| Four or more bedrooms | £1,095 | 33.8% | 16.9% |
The two-income column assumes two people each earning £38,917 gross annually. This is an example, not a measured median household income. A family may have one earner, different pay levels or other costs. ONS average rents cover the rental stock and are not a quote for currently advertised homes.
What would the average Darlington rent mean for different incomes?
Using the area’s £691 average monthly rent, these examples show how the share changes at different gross annual income levels. The income amounts are illustrative, rather than local salary percentiles.
| Annual income | Monthly equivalent | Rent share |
|---|---|---|
| £25,000 | £2,083 | 33.2% |
| £35,000 | £2,917 | 23.7% |
| £50,000 | £4,167 | 16.6% |
These percentages use pay before deductions. They do not calculate take-home pay, household bills, benefit entitlement or a landlord’s referencing decision.
Compare Darlington with other areas
All rows use the same source periods and calculation. Regional and UK figures use their own official price, rent and pay series; they are not averages of the local ratios.
| Area | House price | Monthly rent | Annualised pay | Price / pay | Rent / pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darlington | £159,770 | £691 | £38,917 | 4.1× | 21% |
| North East England | £165,640 | £790 | £38,090 | 4.3× | 25% |
| United Kingdom | £273,037 | £1,406 | £42,182 | 6.5× | 40% |
Similar price-to-pay ratios in North East England
These areas are selected by their price-to-pay ratio within the same region, rather than by distance or neighbourhood similarity.
| Area | House price | Monthly rent | Annualised pay | Price / pay | Rent / pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gateshead | £156,036 | £808 | £38,251 | 4.1× | 25% |
| Sunderland | £147,763 | £710 | £35,370 | 4.2× | 24% |
| Middlesbrough | £142,868 | £699 | £37,128 | 3.8× | 23% |
| Stockton-on-Tees | £172,698 | £736 | £39,562 | 4.4× | 22% |
| County Durham | £140,788 | £653 | £36,821 | 3.8× | 21% |
Questions about prices, rents and pay in Darlington
What is the house price to salary ratio in Darlington?
The average house price is £159,770, equivalent to 4.1 times annualised median resident pay of £38,917. “Income”, “salary”, “wages” and “earnings” here all refer to this same gross full-time employee pay measure.
What percentage of salary goes on the average rent in Darlington?
Average rent of £691 is 21.3% of the monthly equivalent of one median resident income. This compares two area statistics; it does not measure what every renter actually spends.
Does a lower house price to income ratio make buying cheaper than renting?
It shows a lower purchase price relative to earnings. A buy-versus-rent decision also needs deposit, mortgage interest, maintenance, fees and the time spent in the home. The purchase multiple and rental percentage measure different things and cannot decide that question by themselves.
Why might another website show a different affordability figure?
Check the boundary, source dates, average versus median prices, and whether the denominator is individual or household income. This page uses the local-authority boundary, UK HPI average prices and gross resident employee pay. The source definitions below explain those choices.
Source dates, definitions and changes over time
House prices are UK HPI mix-adjusted average prices for August 2026. Rents are ONS average private rents for September 2026. Pay is the median gross weekly earnings of full-time employees living in the area, annualised by the source pipeline, from ASHE 2026.
The boundary is Darlington local authority (E06000005), not a postcode district or a wider city region. Individuals’ earnings are not the same as total household income.
Our house-price comparison differs from the official ONS median-price-to-earnings series. The ONS private-rental affordability statistic uses private-renting household income; this page uses individual resident pay. Those measures should not be compared as though their denominators were identical.
Prices and rents refresh monthly; earnings typically update annually. A true historical ratio needs earnings for each historical period. We do not divide historical prices by today’s pay and present that as historical affordability.
- Source 1: gov.uk — UK House Price Index
- Source 2: ons.gov.uk — private rents
- Source 3: nomisweb.co.uk — resident earnings
- Source 4: ons.gov.uk — ONS data and methodology
- Source 5: ons.gov.uk — ONS data and methodology
- Source 6: nomisweb.co.uk — resident earnings
- Source 7: ons.gov.uk — ONS data and methodology
ONS housing affordability definition · ONS rental affordability methodology