Typical full-time pay for Portsmouth residents is below the England figure

In April 2026, the median was £39,779 before tax for full-time employees living in Portsmouth, compared with £41,140 in England. For jobs located in Portsmouth it was £40,482, compared with £41,198 in England. The figures are provisional survey estimates and exclude part-time employees and self-employed people.

Aerial view of Portsmouth International Port: cross-Channel ferries at their berths, link-span ramps and lorry trailers, with the naval base and harbour beyond — Portsmouth International Port from the air. Photo: Tim Sheerman-Chase, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Full-time pay where people live

Median gross annual pay · April 2026 · provisional
Place	Pay
Portsmouth	£39,779
Southampton	£38,319
Winchester district	£47,354
London	£49,789
England	£41,140
Chichester district	£37,522

ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, full-time employees by residence. Estimates are uncertain, particularly in smaller areas; differences do not establish living standards after housing costs. ONS pay source ↗

Residents and jobs located in Portsmouth

Median gross annual pay for full-time employees · April 2026 · provisional, same ONS release
Place	Living in the area	Working in the area
Portsmouth	£39,779	£40,482
Southampton	£38,319	£40,081
England	£41,140	£41,198

Employees who live in the area, wherever they work (includes people commuting out). Employees whose job is located in the area, wherever they live (includes people commuting in). The two groups overlap, so the difference between them is not a measure of commuting alone. ONS workplace pay (Table 7) ↗ · ONS resident pay (Table 8) ↗

Adults in work

People aged 16–64 in employment

2004 to 2023

Portsmouth council area · %

Reviewed figures: 2004 to 2023.

Shown on this chart: From 2004 to 2023, people aged 16–64 in employment rose by 8.3 percentage points in Portsmouth council area and rose by 3.2 percentage points in England.

Both places compared over 2004 to 2023, using matching published dates.

Compared areas: Portsmouth council area; England.

Actual values

Portsmouth council areaEngland

Each line joins consecutive published observations for that place. Missing dates remain gaps.

Annual Population Survey estimates, 2004–2023. ONS has paused updates to this indicator pending reweighting in 2027. Survey uncertainty can be substantial, especially for local areas; comparisons should not be treated as precise rankings.

Official source and methods ↗

See the full comparison data

People aged 16–64 in employment · %
Period	Portsmouth	Southampton	Chichester district	England
2004	72.1	73.4	74.8	72.8
2005	74.8	69.2	76.6	72.9
2006	74.5	69.5	73.8	72.6
2007	71.6	71.6	72.4	72.6
2008	72.8	73.5	77.9	72.3
2009	70.7	69	75.9	70.8
2010	71.9	67.8	79.4	70.3
2011	70.7	70.4	73.1	70
2012	72.1	68.2	78.4	70.8
2013	71.9	69.7	79.5	71.5
2014	69.7	69.2	81.9	72.5
2015	70.6	76.2	81	73.8
2016	72.4	71.4	77.4	74.2
2017	73.7	73.9	81.5	75.1
2018	74	73.5	82.1	75.4
2019	70.8	75	85.2	76
2020	74.5	76.9	73.1	75.6
2021	76.1	74.2	71.2	75.1
2022	74.1	76.1	63.1	75.8
2023	80.4	75.9	65.5	76

Compare pay with living costs →

Figures and sources

More local evidence

Typical full-time annual pay for residents

Survey-based evidence£36,022

a year · Portsmouth · resident median full-time pay, 2025

Residents’ pay is lower than pay for jobs located in the city.

The median for jobs located in Portsmouth was £38,815 in 2025, £2,793 higher. Workplace and resident estimates cover different groups and are subject to survey uncertainty. In the newer April 2026 provisional release, the median was £40,482 for jobs located in Portsmouth and £39,779 for full-time employees living there.

Why this matters and what could help →

What Portsmouth residents earn, against what jobs in the city pay. Portsmouth residents (not workplaces).

Show the workings

Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings · 2025

Full-time employees living in Portsmouth, including residents who work outside the city.

The middle gross annual employee pay is estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. It describes employees by home address, not all household income or self-employed earnings. The preserved official source is the Nomis Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings page.

Median gross annual pay, full-time residents ↗ · checked 2026-09-23
Preserved live record work.pay_resident

Typical full-time annual pay for jobs in the city

Survey-based evidence£38,815

a year · Portsmouth · 2025 (provisional)

This includes commuters who live elsewhere.

The median for full-time employees living in Portsmouth was £36,022 in 2025. Workplace and resident estimates cover different groups and are subject to survey uncertainty. In the newer April 2026 provisional release, the median was £40,482 for jobs located in Portsmouth and £39,779 for full-time employees living there.

Why this matters and what could help →

Median gross annual pay of full-time employees working in Portsmouth (workplace-based), ASHE.

Show the workings

Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings · 2025 (provisional)

Full-time employees working in Portsmouth, including commuters who live outside the city.

The middle gross annual employee pay is estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. It describes jobs in the city, not only its residents. Survey sampling uncertainty applies; provisional estimates can change. The preserved official source names the survey.

Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings ↗ · checked 2026-09-23
Preserved live record work.pay_workplace

University of Portsmouth students, full-time equivalent

20,731

full-time equivalent students · University of Portsmouth · 2024/25

This measures the university’s teaching scale, not the number living inside the city.

Why this matters and what could help →

Provider-wide student full-time equivalents, not headcount or the number living within the city. May include provision delivered outside the city. Rounded by OfS.

Show the workings

Office for Students: University of Portsmouth — higher education students (FTE) ↗ · checked 2026-10-03 · published 2026-09-16
Table 1a, I216; provider B216; Retained original SHA256 523a3c7e34d91f0cf1416340b669c81c0d71d9a330c2e3b63a2bd52cd98abf0d; Preserved live record portsmouth.students.university-of-portsmouth

Full evidence collections and historical data →

More work and pay trends

Claimant count rate

January 2016 to August 2026

Portsmouth · %

Reviewed figures: January 2016 to August 2026.

Compare with

Change dates and range

From To

Shown on this chart: From January 2016 to August 2026, claimant count rate rose by 3 percentage points in Portsmouth and rose by 2.3 percentage points in England.

Both places compared over January 2016 to August 2026, using matching published dates.

Compared areas: Portsmouth; England.

Actual values

PortsmouthEngland

Each line joins consecutive published observations for that place. Missing dates remain gaps.

Same-release observations. Each area has its own population.

Official source ↗

Full published comparison table

Claimant count rate · % of residents aged 16–64
Period	Southampton	Portsmouth	England
January 2016	1.5	1.5	1.7
February 2016	1.5	1.6	1.8
March 2016	1.6	1.6	1.8
April 2016	1.6	1.5	1.8
May 2016	1.5	1.4	1.8
June 2016	1.4	1.4	1.7
July 2016	1.4	1.4	1.7
August 2016	1.4	1.4	1.8
September 2016	1.4	1.4	1.7
October 2016	1.4	1.4	1.7
November 2016	1.3	1.4	1.7
December 2016	1.3	1.4	1.7
January 2017	1.3	1.5	1.8
February 2017	1.4	1.6	1.8
March 2017	1.4	1.6	1.9
April 2017	1.4	1.7	1.9
May 2017	1.5	1.7	1.9
June 2017	1.6	1.7	1.8
July 2017	1.7	1.6	1.8
August 2017	1.9	1.5	1.8
September 2017	2	1.5	1.8
October 2017	2.1	1.6	1.8
November 2017	2.1	1.6	1.8
December 2017	2.2	1.6	1.8
January 2018	2.2	1.7	1.9
February 2018	2.4	1.8	2
March 2018	2.5	1.8	2
April 2018	2.8	1.7	2.1
May 2018	2.6	1.7	2.1
June 2018	2.6	1.7	2.1
July 2018	2.6	1.7	2.1
August 2018	2.6	1.7	2.1
September 2018	2.6	1.7	2.1
October 2018	2.6	1.7	2.2
November 2018	2.7	1.7	2.2
December 2018	2.8	1.8	2.3
January 2019	2.8	2	2.3
February 2019	3	2.1	2.5
March 2019	2.9	2.2	2.5
April 2019	2.9	2.3	2.6
May 2019	2.9	2.4	2.6
June 2019	3	2.5	2.7
July 2019	3	2.5	2.7
August 2019	3.1	2.6	2.7
September 2019	3	2.7	2.7
October 2019	3.1	2.8	2.8
November 2019	3.1	2.9	2.8
December 2019	3.1	3	2.8
January 2020	3.1	3.1	2.9
February 2020	3.3	3.2	3
March 2020	3.3	3.2	3
April 2020	5.6	5.7	5
May 2020	7	7.4	6.4
June 2020	6.8	7	6.2
July 2020	6.9	7.1	6.3
August 2020	7	7.3	6.4
September 2020	6.9	7.1	6.4
October 2020	6.8	6.9	6.2
November 2020	6.9	7.1	6.3
December 2020	6.8	7	6.2
January 2021	6.8	7	6.1
February 2021	7.1	7.4	6.4
March 2021	7.2	7.4	6.4
April 2021	7.1	7.3	6.3
May 2021	6.6	6.8	5.9
June 2021	6.1	6.4	5.5
July 2021	6	6.2	5.4
August 2021	5.7	6	5.2
September 2021	5.4	5.6	4.9
October 2021	5.2	5.4	4.7
November 2021	5	5.3	4.5
December 2021	4.9	5.2	4.4
January 2022	4.7	5.1	4.2
February 2022	4.7	5	4.2
March 2022	4.6	4.9	4.1
April 2022	4.4	4.7	3.9
May 2022	4.2	4.5	3.8
June 2022	4.2	4.4	3.7
July 2022	4	4.3	3.7
August 2022	4	4.4	3.6
September 2022	3.8	4.3	3.6
October 2022	3.8	4.3	3.6
November 2022	3.9	4.4	3.6
December 2022	3.9	4.4	3.6
January 2023	3.8	4.3	3.6
February 2023	3.9	4.3	3.6
March 2023	3.9	4.4	3.7
April 2023	3.9	4.3	3.7
May 2023	3.8	4.2	3.6
June 2023	3.9	4.3	3.6
July 2023	3.9	4.3	3.7
August 2023	3.9	4.3	3.6
September 2023	3.9	4.3	3.6
October 2023	3.8	4.3	3.6
November 2023	3.9	4.3	3.7
December 2023	3.9	4.4	3.7
January 2024	3.9	4.5	3.7
February 2024	4.1	4.6	3.8
March 2024	4.1	4.6	3.8
April 2024	4.1	4.6	3.8
May 2024	4.1	4.6	3.8
June 2024	4.2	4.6	3.9
July 2024	4.3	5	4.2
August 2024	4.3	4.9	4.2
September 2024	4.3	4.9	4.2
October 2024	4.3	4.8	4.2
November 2024	4.2	4.8	4.1
December 2024	4.1	4.6	4
January 2025	4.2	4.6	4
February 2025	4.4	4.7	4.2
March 2025	4.3	4.8	4.1
April 2025	4.2	4.7	4.1
May 2025	4.2	4.7	4
June 2025	4.1	4.6	4
July 2025	4	4.5	4
August 2025	4	4.5	4
September 2025	4	4.5	3.9
October 2025	4	4.5	3.9
November 2025	4	4.5	3.9
December 2025	4	4.5	3.9
January 2026	4.1	4.5	3.9
February 2026	4.2	4.6	4
March 2026	4.2	4.6	4
April 2026	4.2	4.6	4
May 2026	4.1	4.5	4
June 2026	4.1	4.5	4
July 2026	4.1	4.4	3.9
August 2026	4.2	4.5	4

All the data in this topic

The retained source collection contains 9 records for this topic, including comparison areas and older releases. Each record keeps its own period and source date. Current findings above may use newer releases; a later page update does not refresh every record.

Browse 7 measures and their sources

Median gross annual pay, full-time residents

Median gross annual pay, full-time residents · retained published records
Area and period	Figure	Definition, source and limits
Portsmouth resident median full-time pay, 2025	£36,022	What Portsmouth residents earn, against what jobs in the city pay. Portsmouth residents (not workplaces). ONS ASHE ↗Source retrieved 2026-09-23

Public administration and defence share of employee jobs

Public administration and defence share of employee jobs · retained published records
Area and period	Figure	Definition, source and limits
Portsmouth of employee jobs, 2024	7.7%	Share of city jobs in public administration and defence. Portsmouth local authority. ONS BRES ↗Source retrieved 2026-09-23

People claiming unemployment-related benefits

People claiming unemployment-related benefits · retained published records
Area and period	Figure	Definition, source and limits
Portsmouth August 2026	6,455Provisional	Not a measure of unemployment: some claimants are in low-paid work. ONS / DWP ↗Source retrieved 2026-09-23

Claimant rate

Claimant rate · retained published records
Area and period	Figure	Definition, source and limits
Portsmouth August 2026	4.5%Provisional	Claimant count as a percentage of residents aged 16 to 64. ONS / DWP ↗Source retrieved 2026-09-23

Employment rate, 16–64

Employment rate, 16–64 · retained published records
Area and period	Figure	Definition, source and limits
Portsmouth April 2025 to March 2026	77.8%	Survey-based; local estimates carry wide confidence intervals. ONS ↗Source retrieved 2026-09-23

Median full-time pay for jobs in Portsmouth

Median full-time pay for jobs in Portsmouth · retained published records
Area and period	Figure	Definition, source and limits
Portsmouth 2025 (provisional)	£38,815Provisional	Median gross annual pay of full-time employees working in Portsmouth (workplace-based), ASHE. ONS ↗Source retrieved 2026-09-23

Claimant count rate

Claimant count rate · retained published records
Area and period	Figure	Definition, source and limits
Southampton August 2026	4.2%	Not seasonally adjusted. Claimant count is not the unemployment rate. Universal Credit rollout affects the longer series. ONS / Nomis ↗Source retrieved 2026-10-03
Portsmouth August 2026	4.5%	Not seasonally adjusted. Claimant count is not the unemployment rate. Universal Credit rollout affects the longer series. ONS / Nomis ↗Source retrieved 2026-10-03
England August 2026	4.0%	Not seasonally adjusted. Claimant count is not the unemployment rate. Universal Credit rollout affects the longer series. ONS / Nomis ↗Source retrieved 2026-10-03

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Life in Portsmouth

Opportunity and wellbeing

Our city

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Official action

Ideas and decisions

Public money

Typical full-time pay for Portsmouth residents is below the England figure

Full-time pay where people live

Residents and jobs located in Portsmouth

Adults in work

2004 to 2023

More local evidence

Typical full-time annual pay for residents

Typical full-time annual pay for jobs in the city

University of Portsmouth students, full-time equivalent

More work and pay trends

January 2016 to August 2026

All the data in this topic