WAGE DIVIDE: Devon wages among worst in UK  

Devon is home to some of the UK’s worst paid areas, new research can reveal. 

Of the UK’s top 15 worst paid areas, a fifth are in Devon. West Devon has the lowest pay in Devon and the third worst pay in the UK. Residents of West Devon earn just £386 a week – half the weekly wage of the UK best paid area: Westminster in London. 

Torridge has the second lowest pay in Devon and the fourth lowest in the UK. In Torridge, workers earn £393 a week, well below the UK average of £504 a week, and nearly half what Westminster, the UK’s highest paid area, earns (£771). North Devon also has some of the worst pay in the country, with residents banking just £419 a week. 

The research, by employment experts Digital ID, analysed ONS data on gross weekly wages in every local authority in the UK to discover which areas have the highest and lowest salaries. 

Top 15 UK areas with the lowest wages 

Top 15 UK areas with the highest wages 

Richmondshire in Yorkshire has the lowest pay in the entire UK. Residents of Richmondshire earn an average of just £377.30 a week – nearly £400 less than Westminster, which boasts the highest weekly pay in the UK, and over £100 less than the UK average pay (£504 a week).

Gwynedd in Wales has the second lowest wages in the UK. In Gwynedd, workers earn an average of £386.40 a week – half the weekly salary of workers in the UK’s highest paid area: Westminster.

The research, by employment experts Digital ID, analysed ONS data on wages in every local authority in the UK to discover which areas have the highest and lowest weekly salaries.  

Pendle in Lancashire, North Norfolk and Craven in Yorkshire also have some of the lowest weekly wages in the UK, with the areas earning £398.60, £399.30 and £399.40 a week, compared with the UK average wage of £504.

At the other end of the scale, Westminster enjoys the highest pay in the UK, with workers bringing in £771 on average a month  - nearly £300 more than the UK average, and double the weekly wages of the UK’s worst paid area: Richmondshire.

Kensington and Chelsea have the UK’s second highest wages, with residents earning an average weekly salary of £767 a month. Wandsworth, Hammersmith and Fulham and Richmond Upon Thames also enjoy some of the highest wages in the UK, with residents bringing in £746.70, £714.50 and £669.50 a week respectively.

A spokesperson for Digital ID commented on the findings:

“With inflation soaring to the highest point in 30 years and National Insurance on the rise, Devon is experiencing a serious cost of living crisis. The average household, saddled with enormous utility bills, will find it particularly hard to manage soaring costs, especially with the obvious pay divide across the UK. The fact in some areas of Devon, people earn less than half of what workers earn in the country’s richest areas, shows we have a long way to go towards instigating equal pay and quality of life”