Living in London often feels like a near-permanent drain on your finances. It’s a city full of exciting events, incredible restaurants, and brilliant nightlife – but all of that comes at a cost. As such, we’re always on the lookout for free things to do or trying to find the next spot for fantastic affordable food. And yet, apparently, things could be a lot worse. Despite our (seemingly neverending) monetary woes, it turns out that London is actually the best-paid place in the UK for 2024.
Recent research from an apprenticeships job board, Best Apprenticeships, did a deep dive into salaries on job listings across the UK. They found that if you’re looking for a job in 2024, you’ll want to be in London. That’s because London has the most job listings with higher-than-average salaries.
It makes sense, given that some jobs have chosen to offset the cost of living in the capital with better compensation packages. Now, this by no means suggests that everyone in London is earning huge amounts. Such is clearly not the case (-insert a picture of my payslip here-). Instead, it demonstrates that the inherent potential for high earnings is larger in London.
The best-paid places in the UK
London took the top spot in the rankings, with 21,761 advertised jobs with a salary higher than £30,000. Sitting neatly in second place was Hampshire, with Manchester rounding out the top 3. In Hampshire’s south-eastern cities, high-paying industries included defence and technology. In Manchester, meanwhile, it was the creative and digital sectors that saw the city leading the charge in the north with high-paying opportunities.
The top 10 best-paid UK locations are as follows, with their respective number of high-paying job listings:
- #1. London – 21,761 jobs
- #2. Hampshire – 4,819 jobs
- #3. Manchester – 4,774 jobs
- #4. Kent – 3,867 jobs
- #5. Surrey – 3,646 jobs
- #6. Berkshire – 3,636 jobs
- #7. Essex – 3,527 jobs
- #8. Bristol – 3,493 jobs
- #9. Hertfordshire – 3,034 jobs
- #10. Cambridgeshire – 2,21 jobs
The worst-paid locations
On the other end of the spectrum, these UK spots had the least high-paying job opportunities… Rutland had just 48 available job opportunities offering a salary greater than £30,000.
- #1. Rutland – 48 jobs
- #2. Huntingdonshire – 78 jobs
- #3. Cumberland – 81 jobs
- #4. Humberside – 84 jobs
- #5. Westmorland – 84 jobs
- #6. Cleveland – 93 jobs
- #7. Halton – 107 jobs
- #8. Hartlepool – 148 jobs
- #9. Middlesex – 157 jobs
- #10. Isle of Wight – 157 jobs
How the study was done
The study collated information from job postings that advertised a salary of £30,000 or above. Since this figure is £2,000 higher than the UK average salary, this was the baseline for the ‘best-paid’ jobs. Listings that fulfilled this criteria were then tallied up according to the job’s location.
It’s worth noting that the study only used data from job listings where the employer provided a salary. As we all know, many job listings love to simply say ‘competitive salary’ without even providing a pay range. The study also doesn’t take into account current salaries being paid. It focuses instead on prospective salaries for job openings. These could be higher or lower than current salaries for similar roles.
What do you think? Is it accurate to say that London is the best-paid place in the UK?