FOI reference: FOI-2026-3763
You asked
Please could you provide the following data:
Variables: for each Middle layer Super Output Area (MSOA) in England and National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) category, the following data on hourly wages:
mean hourly wage for workers in this NS-SEC group and working in this MSOA
median hourly wage for workers in this NS-SEC group and working in this MSOA
number of observations of workers in this NS-SEC group and working in this MSOA used in the computation of the above two variables
Years: for each individual year for which the data is available between 2011 and 2019, as well as jointly for all data between 2011 and 2019. Please use 2011 MSOA boundaries.
Please use the standard three-class NS-SEC grouping throughout. If it is not possible to categorise by NS-SEC directly from the underlying data, please use Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) 2010 values if available, mapped to NS-SEC, and state the mapping used.
Please express wages in constant 2011 prices throughout, using the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH) or an alternative stated price index.
If the pooled sample from 2011 to 2019 involves multiple observations of the same individual over time, please only use their first observation in computing the above variables for the total 2011 to 2019 sample.
If disclosure controls restrict the release of these variables for certain NS-SEC and MSOA pairs, please explicitly report this rather than omitting the pair entirely. If the underlying data permits, please also provide the variables using the pooled (2011 to 2019) data at the Lower layer Super Output Area (LSOA)-by-NS-SEC level, using 2011 LSOA boundaries.
Please could you also provide answers to the following:
what is the source of the data?
in the source of the data, what is the description of the variable from which the hourly wage data is being taken?
if you do not hold this information, are there other public bodies that may hold it?
We said
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request regarding earnings data by Middle layer Super Output Area (MSOA), Lower layer Super Output Area (LSOA) and National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC). You have asked us about mean and median hourly earnings and number of observations for small-area geographies and NS-SEC groups for individual years between 2011 and 2019 and for pooled data across this period.
Our Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the UK. ASHE is based on a 1% sample of employee jobs taken from HM Revenue and Customs' Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records.
The hourly wage information is sourced from derived earnings variables within the ASHE. The principal measure we use for hourly earnings excluding overtime is Hourly Earnings Excluding Overtime (HEXO), defined as hourly earnings for the reference period excluding overtime and calculated as gross pay excluding overtime divided by basic paid hours.
ASHE also contains Hourly Earnings (HE), a measure of gross hourly earnings calculated as gross pay divided by total paid hours. Both measures are documented within the ASHE methodology and variable definitions.
Unfortunately, we do not hold the information you have requested. While ASHE contains information on earnings and a range of individual and job characteristics, we do not produce estimates of mean and median hourly earnings of MSOA (or LSOA) or NS-SEC.
The smallest levels of geography we publish are in our Earnings and hours worked, place of work by local authority: ASHE Table 7 dataset and Earnings and hours worked, place of residence by local authority: ASHE Table 8 dataset, which provide median and mean earnings estimates for employees living or working in a specific local authority.
There are also our Earnings and hours worked, place of work by Parliamentary constituency: ASHE Table 9 dataset and Earnings and hours worked, place of residence by Parliamentary constituency: ASHE Table 10 dataset that provide earnings estimates based on Parliamentary constituency.
Additionally, Earnings and hours worked, region by occupation by four-digit SOC: ASHE Table 15 dataset provides earnings estimates by region and four-digit Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 2020). Although occupation is not equivalent to NS-SEC, occupational classifications are closely associated with earnings and may therefore provide a useful alternative where NS-SEC-based earnings estimates are not available.
There is our Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) – Guide to tables, which provides an overview of the full range of ASHE outputs, including earnings estimates by geography, occupation, industry, age and sex.