Average house price compared with resident median annual pay.
Sandwell Wages, Employment and Property Affordability
Resident earnings, employment, unemployment and affordability context for reading Sandwell prices and rents.
Jan 2025-Dec 2025 / ASHE 2025
Sandwell wages, employment and affordability
Resident earnings and labour-market context help explain local affordability, rental pressure and housing demand.
Resident population
353,860
ONS 2024
Median resident annual pay
£34,882
Sandwell
Median resident weekly pay
£671
Full-time employees
Employment rate
64.6%
Aged 16-64
Unemployment rate
10.6%
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.
Sandwell had a resident population of 353,860 in 2024. That is a large local labour market, and it gives useful context for how many households are earning, looking for work, or out of the labour market altogether.