Lancashire wage divide revealed as Preston pay jumps 10% while other towns lag behind

Workers in Preston have seen median hourly wages rise by more than 10% in a year, considerably outpacing several other locations across Lancashire.

A ranking by PEO Metrics compared median hourly wages across 70 UK locations between 2024 and 2025.

Preston ranked sixth nationally, with median hourly pay increasing from £15.74 to £17.32, a rise of 10.04%.

This was considerably stronger than Blackpool, where hourly earnings increased by 7.55%, from £13.78 to £14.82.

Blackburn recorded an even smaller rise of 3.58%, taking median hourly wages from £14.82 to £15.35.

Burnley experienced one of the smallest increases in the study, with hourly wages climbing by just 2.04%, from £15.18 to £15.49.

Lancaster itself was not included in the ranking, meaning the research does not provide a directly comparable figure for the city.

Where UK wages are rising fastest

Westminster topped the national ranking with a 13.14% increase, followed by Norwich at 12.24% and Swansea at 11.56%.

Middlesbrough and Watford completed the top five, with increases of 11.03% and 10.75%.

Preston followed in sixth place, ahead of Reading and Newport.

At the opposite end, Southend-on-Sea recorded the largest decrease at 4.10%, followed by Portsmouth at 3.63%.

The findings highlight considerable differences in pay growth across Lancashire, with Preston recording double-digit growth while Blackburn and Burnley experienced much smaller increases.