Average house price compared with resident median annual pay.
West Midlands Employment Rate
Employment, unemployment and population indicators for reading West Midlands property prices and rents in wider labour-market context.
Employment rate
73.3%
Aged 16-64
Unemployment rate
5.3%
Economically active
Economic inactivity
22.5%
Aged 16-64
Resident population
6,187,204
ONS 2024
Feb 2026-Apr 2026 / ASHE 2025
West Midlands labour-market context
Employment data does not predict house prices by itself, but it helps frame affordability and local economic context.
Resident population
6,187,204
ONS 2024
Median resident annual pay
£38,012
West Midlands
Median resident weekly pay
£731
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.
West Midlands has a resident population of 6.2 million, based on the 2024 ONS estimate. That large population gives the region a broad labour market and a wide mix of household incomes.
For property affordability, that scale matters because it supports demand across very different price points, from lower-cost homes to more expensive family housing.