Average house price compared with resident median annual pay.
Oxford Wages, Employment and Property Affordability
Resident earnings, employment, unemployment and affordability context for reading Oxford prices and rents.
Jan 2025-Dec 2025 / ASHE 2025
Oxford wages, employment and affordability
Resident earnings and labour-market context help explain local affordability, rental pressure and housing demand.
Resident population
166,034
ONS 2024
Median resident annual pay
£43,020
Oxford
Median resident weekly pay
£827
Full-time employees
Employment rate
77.4%
Aged 16-64
Unemployment rate
4.0%
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.
Oxford’s labour market sits above the Great Britain average on several key measures, based on ONS and Nomis data from the Annual Population Survey, with earnings from ASHE. The city’s resident population was 166,034 in 2024.