FOI reference: FOI-2026-3771
You asked
Please could you provide the following data from ASHE:
Variables: for each Middle Layer Super Output Area (MSOA) in England and National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) category, the following data on gross annual earnings:
Mean gross annual earnings for workers in this NS-SEC group and working in this MSOA
Median gross annual earnings 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 SOC2010 values mapped to NS-SEC, and state the mapping used. Please express gross annual earnings in constant 2011 prices throughout, using the CPIH or an alternative stated price index. If the pooled sample from 2011-2019 involves multiple observations of the same individual over time, please only use their first observation in computing the above variables for the total 2011-2019 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 (2011-2019) data at the LSOA-by-NS-SEC level, using 2011 LSOA boundaries.
Please could you also provide answers to the following:
In the source of the data, what is the description of the variable from which the annual earnings 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 gross annual 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.
The 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 annual earnings data are sourced from the AGP (Annual Gross Pay) variable in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). AGP records an employee's gross annual earnings paid for the tax year ending 5 April of the reference year and is used to produce ASHE annual earnings estimates.
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 ASHE Table 7: place of work by local authority and ASHE Table 8: place of residence by local authority, which provide median and mean earnings estimates for employees living in or working in a specific local authority. There are also ASHE Table 9: place of work by Parliamentary constituency and ASHE Table 10: place of residence by Parliamentary constituency that provide earnings estimates based on Parliamentary constituency.
Additionally, ASHE Table 15: region by occupation by four-digit SOC 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 a published 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.