Stoke-on-Trent Wages, Employment and Property Affordability

Resident earnings, employment, unemployment and affordability context for reading Stoke-on-Trent prices and rents.

Last updated 19 Aug 2026HPI June 2026Rents July 2026Sold prices May 2026
Apr 2025-Mar 2026 / ASHE 2026

Stoke-on-Trent wages, employment and affordability

Resident earnings and labour-market context help explain local affordability, rental pressure and housing demand.

Resident population
272,282
ONS 2025
Median resident annual pay
£33,847
Stoke-on-Trent
Median resident weekly pay
£651
Full-time employees
Employment rate
74.5%
Aged 16-64
Unemployment rate
5.0%
Economically active
House price affordability4.4x earnings

Average house price compared with resident median annual pay.

Rent affordability25% of monthly earnings

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.

Wages and employment commentary · Last updated August 2026

Stoke-on-Trent’s latest ONS/Nomis labour-market profile points to a city with a large resident base and a pay level below the Great Britain average. The resident population was 272,282 in 2025.

That matters because local earnings and employment conditions are being spread across a sizeable urban market, not a small commuter settlement.

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.