Highest and lowest paid places in South West (2025)
Forest of Dean was the highest paid of South West’s 26 councils in 2025 (median full-time pay £42,326).
North Devon was the lowest paid (£32,682). The middle council, Stroud, had £38,608.
1 council has no figure, and it is listed at the end with the reason.
See it on the map| Rank | Council | Value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forest of Dean | £42,326 |
| 2 | Cheltenham | £41,399 |
| 3 | Cotswold ONS says to use this figure with caution because its sampling error is large (coefficient of variation over 10%). | £41,267 |
| 4 | South Gloucestershire | £40,731 |
| 5 | Bath and North East Somerset | £40,448 |
| 6 | East Devon | £40,087 |
| 7 | North Somerset | £39,969 |
| 8 | Bristol | £39,509 |
| 9 | Tewkesbury | £39,236 |
| 10 | Swindon | £38,900 |
| =11 | South Hams | £38,638 |
| =11 | West Devon ONS says to use this figure with caution because its sampling error is large (coefficient of variation over 10%). | £38,638 |
| 13 | Stroud | £38,608 |
| 14 | Wiltshire | £37,811 |
| 15 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | £37,493 |
| 16 | Dorset | £37,462 |
| 17 | Mid Devon | £36,994 |
| 18 | Somerset | £36,279 |
| 19 | Teignbridge | £35,410 |
| 20 | Plymouth | £35,186 |
| 21 | Cornwall | £35,002 |
| 22 | Gloucester | £34,617 |
| 23 | Exeter | £34,514 |
| 24 | Torridge | £34,425 |
| 25 | Torbay | £33,493 |
| 26 | North Devon | £32,682 |
| – | Isles of Scilly ONS suppresses this figure as statistically unreliable. | No figure |