‘Milestone’ rising wage levels in Sheffield with city salary levels above Leeds and Liverpool
Typical pay levels in the South Yorkshire city are now above those elsewhere in the north
Figures showing that wage levels in Sheffield has risen above both Leeds and Liverpool have been greeted as a “really important milestone”.
Government figures show that the median (midpoint) weekly full-time wage for women living in Sheffield increased in 2024 by 15% and for men by 8%.
The figures were supplied by the government Office of National Statistics’ Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. They give an indication of typical pay for employed people who live in Sheffield, which the median figures say stood at just over £700 a week in 2024.
A report to a meeting of Sheffield City Council’s finance and performance policy committee yesterday (March 17) said: “Sheffield now has the second highest median full time weekly wages of core cities, moving ahead of Leeds and Liverpool in 2024.”
Only Bristol had higher wage levels than Sheffield. Leeds came third, Newcastle fourth, Liverpool fifth, Manchester sixth, Birmingham seventh and Nottingham eighth.
Coun Elle Dodd said it “feels like a really important milestone for us, both because it’s a sign that there are more good jobs with decent pay and that we’re narrowing the gap between what men earn and what women earn across the city, which feels like a fantastic sign of the economic success that we’re having as a city, but that’s also being felt by the median earner in the city”.
She said that figures showing increases in school attendance and attainment mean that more young people will be able to benefit from good jobs in the future. Coun Dodd asked what industry sectors have contributed.
James Ford, council assistant director for performance and insight, replied that the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Tinsley plus a recent influx of government departments to the city are believed to have played a part in the shift.