Average house price compared with resident median annual pay.
Oldham Wages, Employment and Property Affordability
Resident earnings, employment, unemployment and affordability context for reading Oldham prices and rents.
Jan 2025-Dec 2025 / ASHE 2025
Oldham wages, employment and affordability
Resident earnings and labour-market context help explain local affordability, rental pressure and housing demand.
Resident population
251,560
ONS 2024
Median resident annual pay
£35,417
Oldham
Median resident weekly pay
£681
Full-time employees
Employment rate
67.9%
Aged 16-64
Unemployment rate
4.2%
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.
Oldham’s latest ONS/Nomis labour-market profile, based on the Annual Population Survey, shows a resident population of 251,560 in 2024. That gives useful context for the local labour market, because pay and work rates are being measured against a sizeable city population rather than a small sample area.