London heads the UK wages league

The wealthiest boroughs are in London and the south east

Residents of the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea enjoy the UK's highest average weekly earnings, a Halifax bank survey suggests.

Average earnings in the borough are £1,252, more than four times the wages in Berwick-upon-Tweed, the local authority with the lowest incomes.

Overall, the survey underlines the existence of a north-south wage divide.

Nearly all of the 50 local authorities with the highest-average earnings are in southern England.

See the UK's highest and lowest-earning local authorities

Out of the 50 highest-earning local authorities, 15 were in London, 21 in the south east and 10 in the east of England.

"Earnings are highest in London and the south east while the lowest earnings are in the north of England and the south west," Tim Crawford, Halifax group economist, said.

Among the fifty local authorities with the lowest incomes, more than half were in the north east, north west and Wales.

However, Halifax said that smaller wage packets were partly offset by lower living costs.

"While there are clear areas of below-average earnings, the cost of living in these places is often lower. In fact, housing affordability was 30% better in the lowest-paid areas relative to the highest-paid areas," Mr Crawford added.

Local authorities with highest-average earnings
Local authority	Region	Average weekly pay
Kensington and Chelsea	London	£1,252
City of London	London	£1,107
Westminster	London	£934
Elmbridge	South East	£906
Richmond-upon-Thames	London	£813
Islington	London	£803
Camden	London	£776
Hammersmith and Fulham	London	£775
Chiltern	South East	£772
St Albans	South East	£767
Source: Halifax (wage figures are gross)

Local authorities with the lowest-average earnings
Local authority	Region	Average weekly pay
Berwick-upon-Tweed	North East	£302
Blaenau Gwent	Wales	£373
Restormel	South West	£375
Boston	East Midlands	£376
Hyndburn	North West	£378
Torbay	South West	£379
Hull	Yorkshire	£382
Blackpool	North West	£383
Stoke-on-Trent	West Midlands	£385
Easington	North East	£387
Source: Halifax (Wage figures are gross)

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