Average house price compared with resident median annual pay.
St Helens Wages, Employment and Property Affordability
Resident earnings, employment, unemployment and affordability context for reading St Helens prices and rents.
Apr 2025-Mar 2026 / ASHE 2026
St Helens wages, employment and affordability
Resident earnings and labour-market context help explain local affordability, rental pressure and housing demand.
Resident population
189,890
ONS 2025
Median resident annual pay
£38,886
St Helens
Median resident weekly pay
£748
Full-time employees
Employment rate
75.7%
Aged 16-64
Unemployment rate
3.7%
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.
St Helens has a resident population of 189,890, using the 2025 ONS/Nomis labour-market profile and the 2026 ASHE earnings release. That gives useful context for local housing affordability, because it shows the scale of the resident workforce and the income base available to support day-to-day living costs.