Average house price compared with resident median annual pay.
Derby Wages, Employment and Property Affordability
Resident earnings, employment, unemployment and affordability context for reading Derby prices and rents.
Jan 2025-Dec 2025 / ASHE 2025
Derby wages, employment and affordability
Resident earnings and labour-market context help explain local affordability, rental pressure and housing demand.
Resident population
274,149
ONS 2024
Median resident annual pay
£38,142
Derby
Median resident weekly pay
£734
Full-time employees
Employment rate
72.7%
Aged 16-64
Unemployment rate
5.8%
Economically active
Average monthly rent compared with estimated monthly earnings.
Labour market rates are from the ONS Annual Population Survey profile shown by Nomis. Where the local APS unemployment value is suppressed, the ONS model-based unemployment estimate is used. Earnings are ONS ASHE resident-analysis median full-time employee earnings. Annual pay is annualised from weekly pay for display context.
Incomes Explain Affordability Pressure
Wage and employment data does not predict house prices by itself. It gives demand-side context: how average prices and rents compare with resident earnings, whether employment conditions support demand, and where affordability pressure may limit the buyer or renter pool.
Derby’s labour market picture suggests a city with a sizeable working-age base and a pay level that sits a little below the Great Britain benchmark. The resident population was 274,149 in 2024, which gives some scale to the local labour pool and to household demand for homes and services.