Average house price compared with resident median annual pay.
Southampton Wages, Employment and Property Affordability
Resident earnings, employment, unemployment and affordability context for reading Southampton prices and rents.
Apr 2025-Mar 2026 / ASHE 2026
Southampton wages, employment and affordability
Resident earnings and labour-market context help explain local affordability, rental pressure and housing demand.
Resident population
259,230
ONS 2025
Median resident annual pay
£37,669
Southampton
Median resident weekly pay
£724
Full-time employees
Employment rate
73.3%
Aged 16-64
Unemployment rate
5.3%
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.
Southampton’s latest ONS/Nomis labour-market picture shows a city with a sizeable resident base and a mixed affordability backdrop. The resident population was 259,230 in 2025.
That gives the local earnings data useful context, but it also means a broad and varied labour market rather than a single, uniform income profile.