Average house price compared with resident median annual pay.
Somerset Wages, Employment and Property Affordability
Resident earnings, employment, unemployment and affordability context for reading Somerset prices and rents.
Jan 2025-Dec 2025 / ASHE 2025
Somerset wages, employment and affordability
Resident earnings and labour-market context help explain local affordability, rental pressure and housing demand.
Resident population
588,328
ONS 2024
Median resident annual pay
£36,951
Somerset
Median resident weekly pay
£711
Full-time employees
Employment rate
77.2%
Aged 16-64
Unemployment rate
3.6%
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.
Somerset’s labour market picture in the latest ONS and Nomis data is broadly steady, with some signs of resilience but also a meaningful share of residents outside work. The county had a resident population of 588,328 in 2024, which gives the labour figures useful local scale.