Earnings of young people aged 25 to 29 years
Published:
18 December 2025
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Data on the average earnings of 25 to 29 year olds in the UK, by socio-economic background.
Summary main findings
In 2024, young people aged 25 to 29 earned £17.10 an hour on average.
Young people’s socio-economic background was strongly related to their level of earnings. Young people from lower working class backgrounds earned £14.50 an hour on average, compared with £19.10 for those from higher professional backgrounds.
Over the last 10 years, the difference in earnings between 25 to 29 year olds from different socio-economic backgrounds has remained constant, with the class gaps remaining similar over time. The increase in earnings over this period has been small – mean hourly earnings went up by £1.44 for young people from lower working class backgrounds, and by £1.02 for those from higher professional backgrounds.
Data for 2014 to 2024 combined shows that, across all socio-economic backgrounds:
- young men earned more than young women – this earnings gap was the same across all socio-economic backgrounds
- 25 to 29 year olds from Black African, Chinese and Indian ethnic backgrounds earned significantly more than White British young people
- 25 to 29 year olds with a disability earned significantly less than those without a disability
By socio-economic background
Visualisation
Mean hourly earnings of people aged 25 to 29 years, by socio-economic background (UK, 2024)
Data
| Socio-economic background | Mean hourly earnings (£) |
|---|---|
| Higher professional | 19.05 |
| Lower professional | 17.50 |
| Intermediate | 17.05 |
| Higher working | 16.47 |
| Lower working | 14.52 |
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Changes over time
Visualisation
Hourly earnings of young people aged 25 to 29 years, adjusted for inflation, by socio-economic background (UK, 2014 to 2024, 3-year averages)
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Data
| Year | Lower working (£) | Higher working (£) | Intermediate (£) | Lower professional (£) | Higher professional (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 to 2024 | 14.24 | 15.77 | 17.08 | 18.01 | 19.50 |
| 2021 to 2023 | 14.31 | 15.34 | 16.90 | 18.45 | 19.77 |
| 2020 to 2022 | 14.70 | 15.64 | 16.60 | 18.45 | 19.68 |
| 2019 to 2021 | 14.49 | 15.47 | 16.61 | 18.09 | 20.14 |
| 2018 to 2020 | 13.85 | 15.27 | 16.29 | 17.73 | 19.90 |
| 2017 to 2019 | 13.17 | 14.81 | 15.93 | 17.39 | 19.48 |
| 2016 to 2018 | 12.99 | 14.21 | 15.16 | 17.33 | 18.88 |
| 2015 to 2017 | 12.84 | 14.37 | 14.90 | 17.17 | 18.26 |
| 2014 to 2016 | 12.80 | 13.98 | 14.54 | 17.00 | 18.48 |
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By sex
Visualisation
Mean hourly earnings of people aged 25 to 29 years, by socio-economic background and sex (UK, 2014 to 2024 combined)
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Data
| Socio-economic background | Men (£) | Women (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Higher professional | 20.30 | 18.32 |
| Lower professional | 18.55 | 16.69 |
| Intermediate | 16.64 | 15.23 |
| Higher working | 15.49 | 14.29 |
| Lower working | 14.46 | 12.77 |
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By ethnicity
Visualisation
Mean hourly earnings of people aged 25 to 29 years, by socio-economic background and ethnicity (UK, 2014 to 2024 combined)
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Data
| Ethnicity | Lower working (£) | Higher professional (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Bangladeshi | 10.95 | 15.11 |
| Chinese | 14.66 | 20.22 |
| Indian | 13.74 | 18.95 |
| Pakistani | 12.18 | 16.80 |
| Black African | 14.08 | 19.42 |
| Black Caribbean | 12.84 | 17.71 |
| Mixed | 13.61 | 18.78 |
| White British | 13.27 | 18.30 |
| White other | 13.39 | 18.47 |
| Other | 13.11 | 18.09 |
Download
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By disability status
Visualisation
Mean hourly earnings of people aged 25 to 29 years, by socio-economic background and disability (UK, 2014 to 2024 combined)
Click or tap on legend items to toggle visibility
Data
| Socio-economic background | Disabled (£) | Not disabled (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Higher professional | 16.58 | 19.72 |
| Lower professional | 15.85 | 17.86 |
| Intermediate | 15.09 | 16.07 |
| Higher working | 13.20 | 15.13 |
| Lower working | 12.96 | 13.75 |
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By area
Visualisation
Difference in weekly earnings of 25 to 29 year olds, compared to the national average (UK, 2018 to 2024 combined)
41 regions in the UK are ranked from the lowest to highest values. They are then divided into 5 equally-sized groups (‘quintiles’), from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest).
The lines either side of the dots represent confidence intervals – the range of values that the 'true' value for each region is highly likely to be within. In many cases the confidence intervals overlap. This suggests differences between specific regions may not be statistically significant.
The regional estimates have a large margin of error – do not rank or compare specific regions. See the composite indices for more precise estimates and to understand overall regional patterns.
Data
| Region | Difference compared to average (£) |
|---|---|
| Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire | 1.22 |
| Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | 1.72 |
| Cheshire | -0.71 |
| Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | -0.59 |
| Cumbria | 0.04 |
| Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire | -0.68 |
| Devon | -0.08 |
| Dorset and Somerset | 0.73 |
| East Anglia | -0.75 |
| East Wales | -0.49 |
| East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire | -0.93 |
| Eastern Scotland | -1.85 |
| Essex | 0.24 |
| Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bath/Bristol area | -0.66 |
| Greater Manchester | -0.87 |
| Hampshire and Isle of Wight | 0.77 |
| Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire | 1.73 |
| Highlands and Islands | -0.68 |
| Inner London - East | 1.78 |
| Inner London - West | 0.62 |
| Kent | -0.29 |
| Lancashire | -1.00 |
| Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire | 1.15 |
| Lincolnshire | -2.06 |
| Merseyside | -0.76 |
| North Eastern Scotland | 0.39 |
| North Yorkshire | 0.26 |
| Northern Ireland | -1.63 |
| Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear | -1.09 |
| Outer London - East and North East | 3.13 |
| Outer London - South | 2.03 |
| Outer London - West and North West | 3.24 |
| Shropshire and Staffordshire | 0.16 |
| South Yorkshire | -1.32 |
| Southern Scotland | -0.66 |
| Surrey, East and West Sussex | 1.41 |
| Tees Valley and Durham | -1.80 |
| West Central Scotland | 0.80 |
| West Midlands | -0.90 |
| West Wales and The Valleys | -0.79 |
| West Yorkshire | -0.81 |
Download
For the full download file, see Download the data.
About the data
Data source
Office for National Statistics, Labour Force Survey (LFS)
Time period
- 2024 (By socio-economic background)
- 2014 to 2024, 3-year averages (Changes over time)
- 2014 to 2024 combined (By sex, by ethnicity, by disability status)
- 2018 to 2024 combined (By area)
Geographic area
UK
What the data measures
The data show the mean (average) earnings of people aged 25 to 29 in the UK, by socio-economic background.
Things you need to know
Self-employed respondents and those without earnings are excluded. Earnings have been adjusted for inflation with a base year of 2024.
This year’s data is not directly comparable to last year’s. This is due to changes in the inflation base year.
Data is weighted using the LFS person weights.
The error bars show 95% confidence intervals. Read more about confidence intervals.
Data by sex, ethnicity and disability status from 2014 to 2024 is combined to get more accurate estimates. Data by area from 2018 to 2024 is combined.
For the over time analysis, we use a 3-year moving average. The first data point covers 2014 to 2016, and the final data point covers 2022 to 2024. A formal test was conducted for differences in the socio-economic background gap between 2014 and 2024. This was not significant.
For data by ethnicity, the percentages shown are those for men. Percentages are shown only for those with lower working-class and higher professional-class backgrounds for comparison, but all socio-economic backgrounds were included in the analysis.
For data by disability status, respondents were asked if they had a health condition or illness lasting 12 months or more, and if that condition reduced their ability to carry out day-to-day activities. This is consistent with the definition of disability in the Equality Act 2010. Among people with a disability, those in work are a more selective group because their inactivity rate is higher.
Type of data
Survey data
Full report
Read more in State of the Nation 2025 on GOV.UK.
Download the data
Download full dataset (CSV, 29KB)
This file contains the following variables:
- Measure code
- Measure title
- Chart type
- Area code
- Area type
- Area name
- Primary split type
- Primary split value
- Secondary split type
- Secondary split value
- Tertiary split type
- Tertiary split value
- Time period
- Value
- Lower confidence interval
- Upper confidence interval
- Sample size
- Unit
- Value note
Page history
Publication release date:
18 December 2025