KEY FIGURES — NORTH EAST (May 2026, year-on-year)
- Payrolled employment: 1,120,931 — down -0.5% year-on-year
- Median pay: £2,486/month — up +4.8% year-on-year
- Real pay growth (CPIH-deflated): +1.8%
- UK median pay: £2,626/month — up +4.6% year-on-year
- UK real pay growth (CPIH-deflated): +1.6%
- UK payrolled employment: 30,253,517 — down -0.4% year-on-year
Pay packets in the North East are up, but employees are down as businesses continue to shed workers as part of a national trend.
Workers in employment in the region took home £2,486 a month in May 2026, up +4.8% on the year — a whisker up on the UK-wide rate of +4.6%.
But after inflation employees in the region saw their real earnings rise by just +1.8%, again slightly ahead of UK workers as a whole (+1.6%). At the same time, the region's payrolled workforce dipped by -0.5% year-on-year to 1,120,931, a steeper fall than the UK average decline of -0.4%.
North East pay in focus The North East's pay performance is running marginally ahead of the national picture on both nominal and real measures. Real wage growth of +1.8% means the region outpaces the UK average of +1.6% a position that, on the snapshot available, holds across most of the twelve towns and cities that make up the region.
North East employment in focus But the employment picture moved in the opposite direction. Ten of the region's twelve towns and cities recorded falling payrolled headcounts over the year, with only Darlington (up +0.4% to 49,523) and Sunderland (up +0.1% to 118,159) registering any growth. The steepest decline in employment was in Middlesbrough, where payrolled workers fell -1.2% year-on-year, alongside nominal pay growth of +4.9% and real growth of +1.9% — both above the regional averages.
Rising pay and shrinking headcount is the consistent story.
At town level, the picture is varied. North Tyneside has the highest median pay in the region at £2,609/month, while Middlesbrough sits at the other end. Workers in the town took home £2,389/month in May, the lowest in the region, yet with one of the stronger growth rates. Redcar and Cleveland had the fastest nominal pay growth in the region at +5.1% and the highest real pay growth at +2.1%. Meanwhile Hartlepool, where nominal growth of +4.0% and real growth of +1.0% are the weakest figures in the region. But there's some caution required here. With a payrolled workforce of just 37,499, it's a small sample, and the median pay figure of £2,417/month should be treated with appropriate care the data can be noisy.
REGIONAL COMPARISON — LOCAL AUTHORITY MEDIAN PAY AND EMPLOYMENT CHANGE (May 2026)
| Authority | Median pay/month | Pay YoY | Real pay YoY | Employment | Employment YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Tyneside | £2,609 | +4.9% | +1.9% | 94,673 | -0.3% |
| Stockton-on-Tees | £2,533 | +4.6% | +1.6% | 86,111 | -0.2% |
| County Durham | £2,497 | +4.6% | +1.6% | 211,110 | -0.5% |
| Gateshead | £2,491 | +4.4% | +1.4% | 86,312 | -0.4% |
| North East (region) | £2,486 | +4.8% | +1.8% | 1,120,931 | -0.5% |
| Darlington | £2,476 | +4.5% | +1.5% | 49,523 | +0.4% |
| South Tyneside | £2,477 | +4.7% | +1.7% | 61,697 | -0.7% |
| Northumberland | £2,461 | +4.8% | +1.7% | 131,957 | -0.5% |
| Sunderland | £2,462 | +4.2% | +1.2% | 118,159 | +0.1% |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | £2,454 | +4.4% | +1.4% | 126,735 | -0.9% |
| Redcar and Cleveland | £2,430 | +5.1% | +2.1% | 53,979 | -0.7% |
| Hartlepool ⚠ | £2,417 | +4.0% | +1.0% | 37,499 | -0.5% |
| Middlesbrough | £2,389 | +4.9% | +1.9% | 63,177 | -1.2% |
| United Kingdom | £2,626 | +4.6% | +1.6% | 30,253,517 | -0.4% |
⚠ Hartlepool: small-sample flag — median pay figure is noisier; treat with caution. Table rows sorted by median pay descending. Regional row shown in band position.
WageSight Director, Paul Hebden, said: "It's hard to draw conclusions off a one month snapshot. But it's worth noting that workers in the region have performed marginally better compared to the same time last year, on wages. But this comes amid a trend we are seeing across the UK at the moment: a bumpy employment situation, amidst a mini wage recovery after years of stagnation and a cost of living crisis. Most analysts are predicting that the cost of essentials will rise in the coming months, as the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz works its way through the economy. However, as of May we have yet to see this pan out."
UK COMPARISON
The North East's median pay of £2,486 per month remains below the UK median of £2,626, a gap that persists despite the region's faster nominal and real pay growth. On employment, the region's year-on-year decline compares with a -0.4% fall nationally — a difference that, across a payrolled workforce of 1,120,931, represents a meaningful number of workers (derived: specific headcount change not stated to avoid compounding rounding).
> About WageSight: WageSight distributes data-led stories to local media across the UK, positioning brands at the centre of the local debate. We ingest millions of official data points a month, applying best-practice data engineering to generate credible, accurate, unique stories for 391 UK places.
WageSight data is absorbed, retrieved, cites and called by AI systems in response to questions asked by the public.
WageSight Grounding is the connector that grounds AI in real local-economy data — reducing inaccuracy and hallucination for organisations that communicate, lobby or research the local economy.
Talk to us about how we can help position your brand in the AI answer space
> For further information, interviews, or media enquiries: > [email protected] | https://campaignsalience.co.uk
Methodology: payrolled employment and median pay derived from HMRC PAYE Real Time Information via ONS. Real pay growth deflated by CPIH. Data: WageSight local export, vintage 2026-06 — May 2026 snapshot; year-on-year figures reflect 12-month change to May 2026. No monthly series is served in this payload; trajectory questions beyond the YoY window cannot be answered from this data.