Average house price compared with resident median annual pay.
Preston Wages, Employment and Property Affordability
Resident earnings, employment, unemployment and affordability context for reading Preston prices and rents.
Jan 2025-Dec 2025 / ASHE 2025
Preston wages, employment and affordability
Resident earnings and labour-market context help explain local affordability, rental pressure and housing demand.
Resident population
162,864
ONS 2024
Median resident annual pay
£37,565
Preston
Median resident weekly pay
£722
Full-time employees
Employment rate
75.4%
Aged 16-64
Unemployment rate
4.8%
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.
Preston’s latest ONS/Nomis labour market profile shows a resident population of 162,864. That gives useful context for the local jobs picture.
It is a sizeable city, but still much smaller than the national labour market, so local figures can move around more than the Great Britain average.