Indexed gross hourly pay in London and England (2002-2024)
Last updated: December 2024
Next update: December 2025
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows how hourly pay for Londoners’ in employment (before tax, adjusted for inflation) has changed over time, using 2008 as a baseline.
We can use it to see how yearly pay has changed for the average Londoner, as well as for higher earners (those at the 90th percentile) and lower earners (those at the 10th percentile). Further down the page, a chart shows how annual pay has changed in the last year, 5 years and 10 years for different income groups in London.
What does it tell us?
On average, Londoners are paid 4.9% less per-hour (as of 2024) than in 2008. But this is different across different income groups.
Low-income Londoners are paid significantly more per-hour than in 2014
Hourly pay for lower earning Londoners at the 10th income percentile has grown significantly since 2014. Londoners in this group are paid 18.2% more per-hour (as of 2024) than they were in 2008. This rise is even more extreme in the rest of England, where those at the 10th income percentile earn 25.6% more per hour than they did in 2008.
This rise is likely driven by increases in the minimum and Living Wages. However, when we look at weekly and yearly pay - instead of hourly - we don’t see the same increase in earnings for those on lower incomes.
Hourly pay for higher earners
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a large decline in hourly gross pay (in real terms) for higher earners, with drops in the median and 90th percentile. Over the same time period, real-terms pay increased for low earners (10th percentile). The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have had a greater economic impact on those who aren’t protected by the increase in minimum and living wages as the jobs at the bottom percentiles are.
Change in real hourly gross pay by job pay percentile in London (2024)
When looking at the change in hourly earnings within the last 10 years (in real terms) hourly earnings have increased for all income groups shown here. The same is true when looking within the last year. However, when looking at the change in hourly earnings within the last 5 years (in real terms), hourly earnings have increased for the lowest half of income groups shown here, but have decreased for the highest half.
Learn more about how Londoners' pay has changed over time.
Want to know more?
If you want to explore this data in more depth, check the 'data source and notes' button on the above charts. This will tell you where the data comes from, where you may be able to dig deeper.