Employment falls in North and West Norfolk as pay rises to £2,398 a month
WageSight Wire · Aug 2026
- Employment
- 97,369 workers (July 2026)
- Monthly change
- -0.2% (-178 workers)
- Annual change
- -1.0% (-945 workers)
- Median pay
- £2,398/month (YoY: +4.9%, £112 more in cash terms)
- Total pay bill
- +4.8% on the year
- Real pay vs Feb 2022
- +£97 better off in real terms
Payrolled employment in North and West Norfolk fell 1% over the year to July 2026, 945 fewer workers, with a further monthly dip of 0.2% sustaining the downward pressure.
Across the East of England, payrolled employment was broadly flat, down 0.2% over the year to July 2026. North and West Norfolk ranked 17th of 17 sub-regional areas in the East of England by employment change over the past year.
The median pay packet for workers in North and West Norfolk stood at £2,398 in July 2026, up 4.9% over the past year and ahead of inflation at 3.03%. After a period of sharp inflation from 2022 that eroded real earnings, wages have been recovering. Workers in North and West Norfolk are now £97 a month better off in real terms than in February 2022, when median earnings stood at £1,827 a month. The total pay bill in North and West Norfolk rose 4.8% over the year, faster than headcount, suggesting average earnings per worker are improving.
North and West Norfolk's performance lagged behind the UK as a whole, where payrolled employment edged down 0.3% over the year to July 2026. Across the UK, 580,736 workers entered payrolled employment in June 2026, the most recently available flow data, while 594,229 left, a net loss of 13,493 workers.
“The data for North and West Norfolk is below the national average on employment and pay, and that gap matters. Sustained underperformance relative to the rest of the country doesn’t resolve itself, it requires deliberate policy attention.”
— Paul Hebden, Director, Campaign Salience
East of England — employment and pay
| # | Area | Workers | Jobs (yr) | Median pay | Pay (yr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luton | 108,575 | +0.6% | £2,514 | +5.4% |
| 2 | Thurrock | 85,596 | +0.2% | £2,801 | +4.1% |
| 3 | Essex Haven Gateway | 217,118 | +0.1% | £2,617 | +4.8% |
| 4 | Bedford | 89,230 | +0.0% | £2,712 | +4.3% |
| 5 | Central Bedfordshire | 142,908 | -0.1% | £2,903 | +4.3% |
| 6 | Peterborough | 103,729 | -0.1% | £2,486 | +5.2% |
| 7 | Breckland and South Norfolk | 123,482 | -0.1% | £2,561 | +4.5% |
| 8 | Essex Thames Gateway | 163,581 | -0.1% | £2,804 | +4.8% |
| 9 | West Suffolk | 78,525 | -0.2% | £2,613 | +4.5% |
| 10 | Norwich and East Norfolk | 165,370 | -0.2% | £2,443 | +4.5% |
| 11 | West Essex | 149,933 | -0.4% | £2,839 | +4.6% |
| 12 | Heart of Essex | 152,414 | -0.4% | £2,953 | +4.8% |
| 13 | Cambridgeshire CC | 321,140 | -0.5% | £2,874 | +4.2% |
| 14 | East Suffolk | 97,943 | -0.6% | £2,425 | +4.8% |
| 15 | Southend | 79,648 | -0.6% | £2,719 | +5.3% |
| 16 | Ipswich | 67,053 | -0.8% | £2,467 | +4.2% |
| 17 | North and West Norfolk | 97,369 | -1.0% | £2,398 | +4.9% |
Notes to editors
Figures from WageSight, derived from ONS / HMRC PAYE Real Time Information. Full method at wagesight.com/methodology.
WageSight's newswire places sourced local economic stories — with expert comment — in front of news desks across the UK. To discuss providing commentary for stories in your area or sector, contact [email protected].