Average house price compared with resident median annual pay.
Sunderland Wages, Employment and Property Affordability
Resident earnings, employment, unemployment and affordability context for reading Sunderland prices and rents.
Jan 2025-Dec 2025 / ASHE 2025
Sunderland wages, employment and affordability
Resident earnings and labour-market context help explain local affordability, rental pressure and housing demand.
Resident population
288,606
ONS 2024
Median resident annual pay
£34,076
Sunderland
Median resident weekly pay
£655
Full-time employees
Employment rate
69.8%
Aged 16-64
Unemployment rate
6.2%
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.
Sunderland’s latest ONS and Nomis labour-market profile, alongside ASHE 2025 earnings data, points to a city with a large resident base and a labour market that sits below the Great Britain average on pay and employment, while showing higher unemployment and inactivity. The resident population was 288,606 in 2024.