What are the highest-paying jobs in South West?

Of the 234 occupations ONS publishes a South West median for, the highest median gross annual pay is £98,216 for Specialist medical practitioners (SOC 2212). These are real ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings figures for full-time employees (ASHE 2025 provisional, April 2025 reference period, ONS, OGL v3).

Is this South West salary data real or estimated?

Real. Every figure is a published ONS regional median gross annual pay for full-time employees in the April 2025 ASHE reference period. ONS suppresses small or unreliable regional cells for disclosure control — those occupations are simply not listed for South West, never estimated.

How many occupations have South West salary data?

ONS published an unsuppressed South West median for 234 occupations this period. They range from £18,267 (Educational support assistants) up to £98,216 (Specialist medical practitioners).

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Highest-Paying Jobs in South West

In South West, the best-paid occupation ONS publishes is Specialist medical practitioners at a median of £98,216 gross per year. This page ranks all 234 South West occupations with real ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings data (ASHE 2025 provisional, April 2025 reference period, ONS, OGL v3).

Quick answer

The highest-paying job in South West (of the 234 occupations with published data) is Specialist medical practitioners at £98,216 median gross annual pay. The lowest published is Educational support assistants at £18,267. Real ONS figures for full-time employees, April 2025 — ASHE 2025 provisional, April 2025 reference period, ONS, OGL v3. For the all-occupations average, see the average salary in South West page.

Top 25 highest-paying jobs in South West

#	Occupation	Median (annual)	vs UK median
1	Specialist medical practitioners	£98,216	+£5,369 (+5.8%)
2	Train and tram drivers	£86,944	+£10,617 (+13.9%)
3	Marketing, sales and advertising directors	£80,529	−£13,606 (−14.5%)
4	IT business analysts, architects and systems designers	£68,115	+£7,827 (+13.0%)
5	Head teachers and principals	£65,774	−£6,418 (−8.9%)
6	Senior police officers	£64,975	−£1,715 (−2.6%)
7	Research and development (R&D) managers	£61,307	+£5,788 (+10.4%)
8	Business, research and administrative professionals n.e.c.	£60,325	+£1,984 (+3.4%)
9	Financial managers and directors	£60,052	−£16,395 (−21.4%)
10	Civil engineers	£58,827	+£7,461 (+14.5%)
11	Sales accounts and business development managers	£57,136	−£489 (−0.8%)
12	Business and financial project management professionals	£55,804	−£4,030 (−6.7%)
13	Health care practice managers	£55,205	+£12,646 (+29.7%)
14	Optometrists	£55,048	+£4,018 (+7.9%)
15	Electrical engineers	£54,986	−£5,317 (−8.8%)
16	Human resource managers and directors	£54,642	−£2,887 (−5.0%)
17	Programmers and software development professionals	£53,438	−£3,476 (−6.1%)
18	Production managers and directors in manufacturing	£53,420	−£5,220 (−8.9%)
19	Higher education teaching professionals	£53,092	+£257 (+0.5%)
20	Management consultants and business analysts	£52,202	−£1,093 (−2.1%)
21	Purchasing managers and directors	£51,698	−£6,307 (−10.9%)
22	Mechanical engineers	£51,657	+£547 (+1.1%)
23	Aircraft maintenance and related trades	£50,794	+£5,015 (+11.0%)
24	Production managers and directors in construction	£50,676	−£5,345 (−9.5%)
25	Medical radiographers	£50,536	+£2,097 (+4.3%)

“vs UK median” compares each occupation’s South West median with the same occupation’s UK-wide median — both are real ONS published figures; the difference is simple arithmetic, never a model.

Lowest-paid published occupations in South West

Occupation	Median (annual)	vs UK median
Educational support assistants	£18,267	−£3,181 (−14.8%)
Teaching assistants	£19,354	−£1,885 (−8.9%)
Higher level teaching assistants	£21,129	−£4,305 (−16.9%)
Sports and leisure assistants	£21,560	−£5,374 (−20.0%)
Kitchen and catering assistants	£22,338	−£548 (−2.4%)

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South West salary by job — full ranked list (234)

#	Occupation	Median (annual)	vs UK
1	Specialist medical practitioners	£98,216	+5.8%
2	Train and tram drivers	£86,944	+13.9%
3	Marketing, sales and advertising directors	£80,529	−14.5%
4	IT business analysts, architects and systems designers	£68,115	+13.0%
5	Head teachers and principals	£65,774	−8.9%
6	Senior police officers	£64,975	−2.6%
7	Research and development (R&D) managers	£61,307	+10.4%
8	Business, research and administrative professionals n.e.c.	£60,325	+3.4%
9	Financial managers and directors	£60,052	−21.4%
10	Civil engineers	£58,827	+14.5%
11	Sales accounts and business development managers	£57,136	−0.8%
12	Business and financial project management professionals	£55,804	−6.7%
13	Health care practice managers	£55,205	+29.7%
14	Optometrists	£55,048	+7.9%
15	Electrical engineers	£54,986	−8.8%
16	Human resource managers and directors	£54,642	−5.0%
17	Programmers and software development professionals	£53,438	−6.1%
18	Production managers and directors in manufacturing	£53,420	−8.9%
19	Higher education teaching professionals	£53,092	+0.5%
20	Management consultants and business analysts	£52,202	−2.1%
21	Purchasing managers and directors	£51,698	−10.9%
22	Mechanical engineers	£51,657	+1.1%
23	Aircraft maintenance and related trades	£50,794	+11.0%
24	Production managers and directors in construction	£50,676	−9.5%
25	Medical radiographers	£50,536	+4.3%
26	Engineering project managers and project engineers	£48,988	−7.7%
27	Engineering technicians	£48,605	+8.4%
28	IT managers	£48,554	−14.0%
29	Quality assurance and regulatory professionals	£48,267	−3.6%
30	Finance and investment analysts and advisers	£47,551	−5.5%
31	IT network professionals	£47,341	−3.2%
32	Production and process engineers	£47,115	−1.7%
33	Electronics engineers	£46,978	−10.5%
34	Property, housing and estate managers	£46,732	+7.8%
35	Chartered and certified accountants	£46,610	−6.9%
36	Rail travel assistants	£46,476	+0.9%
37	Biochemists and biomedical scientists	£46,327	−3.3%
38	Financial accounts managers	£45,354	−7.4%
39	Secondary education teaching professionals	£45,205	−5.1%
40	Engineering professionals n.e.c.	£44,536	−8.7%
41	Business sales executives	£44,480	+17.3%
42	Nurse practitioners	£44,423	−3.6%
43	Pharmacists	£44,254	−17.7%
44	Road construction operatives	£44,133	+13.6%
45	Electrical and electronic trades n.e.c.	£44,106	−9.2%
46	Business and related research professionals	£43,415	+5.6%
47	Health and safety managers and officers	£43,163	−7.1%
48	Electrical service and maintenance mechanics and repairers	£42,748	+2.6%
49	Public services associate professionals	£42,187	+6.7%
50	Primary education teaching professionals	£42,043	−8.5%
51	Marketing and commercial managers	£41,963	−21.9%
52	Social workers	£41,898	−6.0%
53	Other nursing professionals	£41,660	−1.5%
54	Biological scientists	£41,582	−8.4%
55	Other health professionals n.e.c.	£41,577	−1.2%
56	Managers in transport and distribution	£41,535	−12.6%
57	Authors, writers and translators	£41,400	+4.9%
58	IT quality and testing professionals	£41,186	−12.6%
59	Chartered surveyors	£41,166	−10.9%
60	Specialist nurses	£41,039	−9.1%
61	Water and sewerage plant operatives	£40,975	+3.2%
62	Further education teaching professionals	£40,926	−3.1%
63	Fork-lift truck drivers	£40,846	+30.6%
64	Construction and building trades supervisors	£40,443	−10.2%
65	Skilled metal, electrical and electronic trades supervisors	£40,392	−10.5%
66	Large goods vehicle drivers	£40,128	+0.6%
67	Special needs education teaching professionals	£39,998	−15.7%
68	Welfare professionals n.e.c.	£39,627	−2.4%
69	Communication operators	£39,552	+8.6%
70	Clinical psychologists	£38,760	−33.6%
71	Community nurses	£38,432	−6.0%
72	Physiotherapists	£38,270	−12.1%
73	Occupational therapists	£38,229	−13.2%
74	Residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors	£38,216	−10.5%
75	Newspaper and periodical editors	£38,154	−10.1%
76	Groundworkers	£38,140	+0.6%
77	Routine inspectors and testers	£38,119	+10.9%
78	Midwifery nurses	£38,052	−19.0%
79	Managers and proprietors in agriculture and horticulture	£37,893	−0.8%
80	Shopkeepers and owners - retail and wholesale	£37,807	+4.1%
81	Metal machining setters and setter-operators	£37,494	+5.0%
82	Managers in logistics	£37,408	−18.9%
83	Printing machine assistants	£37,294	+24.6%
84	Farmers	£37,196	+5.4%
85	Mobile machine drivers and operatives n.e.c.	£37,193	−1.8%
86	Vehicle technicians, mechanics and electricians	£37,145	−0.8%
87	Managers and directors in retail and wholesale	£37,030	−3.7%
88	Electricians and electrical fitters	£37,030	−6.6%
89	Carpenters and joiners	£36,685	+7.9%
90	National government administrative occupations	£36,622	+11.0%
91	Managers in storage and warehousing	£36,609	−2.3%
92	Data analysts	£36,588	−5.1%
93	CAD, drawing and architectural technicians	£36,543	+3.8%
94	Quality control and planning engineers	£36,335	−16.6%
95	Database administrators and web content technicians	£35,973	−5.3%
96	Office managers	£35,928	−7.0%
97	Metal working production and maintenance fitters	£35,872	−12.0%
98	Plumbers & heating and ventilating installers and repairers	£35,769	−5.6%
99	Buyers and procurement officers	£35,560	−4.7%
100	Planning, process and production technicians	£35,193	−4.6%
101	Inspectors of standards and regulations	£35,129	−9.8%
102	Transport and distribution clerks and assistants	£34,686	+3.5%
103	Police community support officers	£34,639	−3.1%
104	Interior designers	£34,608	−5.1%
105	Estimators, valuers and assessors	£34,480	−13.0%
106	Metal working machine operatives	£34,304	+8.9%
107	Boat and ship builders and repairers	£34,233	+1.0%
108	Tool makers, tool fitters and markers-out	£34,223	−14.2%
109	Customer service managers	£34,197	−8.9%
110	Other vocational and industrial trainers	£33,991	−6.5%
111	Stonemasons and related trades	£33,888	−0.1%
112	Construction operatives n.e.c.	£33,780	+4.1%
113	Natural and social science professionals n.e.c.	£33,698	−22.3%
114	Environment professionals	£33,035	−23.8%
115	Vehicle body builders and repairers	£32,992	−5.7%
116	Bus and coach drivers	£32,912	−9.4%
117	Paper and wood machine operatives	£32,892	+8.3%
118	Project support officers	£32,864	−8.1%
119	Business associate professionals n.e.c.	£32,688	−7.2%
120	Security guards and related occupations	£32,677	−3.4%
121	Youth and community workers	£32,669	+0.0%
122	Science, engineering and production technicians n.e.c.	£32,640	−9.6%
123	Social and humanities scientists	£32,610	−18.3%
124	IT operations technicians	£32,475	−7.9%
125	Marketing associate professionals	£32,368	−3.1%
126	Environmental health professionals	£32,301	−22.6%
127	Customer service supervisors	£32,288	−9.6%
128	Undertakers, mortuary and crematorium assistants	£32,285	+4.5%
129	Printers	£32,258	−2.3%
130	Office supervisors	£32,153	−3.1%
131	Houseparents and residential wardens	£32,052	+0.6%
132	IT user support technicians	£31,831	−9.4%
133	Graphic and multimedia designers	£31,830	−2.1%
134	Precision instrument makers and repairers	£31,730	−20.8%
135	Security system installers and repairers	£31,652	−18.8%
136	Quality assurance technicians	£31,615	−6.9%
137	Clergy	£31,583	+1.3%
138	Electrical and electronics technicians	£31,540	−10.2%
139	Catering and bar managers	£31,462	+5.6%
140	Public relations professionals	£31,460	−16.2%
141	Production, factory and assembly supervisors	£31,156	−15.3%
142	Leisure and sports managers	£31,131	−13.6%
143	Sales related occupations n.e.c.	£31,094	−1.2%
144	Archivists and curators	£31,042	−9.3%
145	Elementary storage occupations n.e.c.	£30,977	−13.6%
146	Advertising accounts managers and creative directors	£30,910	−36.9%
147	Child and early years officers	£30,647	−1.1%
148	Human resources and industrial relations officers	£30,603	−13.0%
149	Pharmaceutical technicians	£30,466	−1.9%
150	Local government administrative occupations	£30,444	−1.4%
151	Book-keepers, payroll managers and wages clerks	£30,427	−3.6%
152	Tyre, exhaust and windscreen fitters	£30,296	−0.7%
153	Postal workers, mail sorters and messengers	£30,232	−4.6%
154	Merchandisers	£30,230	−6.0%
155	Personal assistants and other secretaries	£30,144	−13.8%
156	Assemblers and routine operatives n.e.c.	£30,129	+7.7%
157	Gardeners and landscape gardeners	£30,017	+5.2%
158	Newspaper and periodical journalists and reporters	£29,922	−32.8%
159	Bakers and flour confectioners	£29,805	+2.4%
160	Road transport drivers n.e.c.	£29,681	−9.8%
161	Senior care workers	£29,674	+1.0%
162	Medical and dental technicians	£29,465	−1.6%
163	Glaziers, window fabricators and fitters	£29,083	−1.2%
164	Call and contact centre occupations	£28,925	+7.0%
165	Plant and machine operatives n.e.c.	£28,804	−1.6%
166	Butchers	£28,744	−0.4%
167	Nursing auxiliaries and assistants	£28,690	−1.4%
168	Hairdressers and barbers	£28,614	+17.9%
169	Beauticians and related occupations	£28,589	+18.5%
170	Elementary storage supervisors	£28,471	−8.2%
171	Warehouse operatives	£28,453	+2.2%
172	Customer service occupations n.e.c.	£28,349	+1.8%
173	Roofers, roof tilers and slaters	£28,310	−11.3%
174	Painters and decorators	£28,216	−13.9%
175	Financial administrative occupations n.e.c.	£28,208	−2.7%
176	Textile process operatives	£28,180	+0.9%
177	Sales administrators	£27,995	−2.6%
178	Delivery operatives	£27,894	−3.0%
179	Elementary construction occupations n.e.c.	£27,865	−2.5%
180	Pensions and insurance clerks and assistants	£27,825	−8.1%
181	Assemblers (vehicles and metal goods)	£27,707	−13.2%
182	Groundsmen and greenkeepers	£27,537	−2.7%
183	Stock control clerks and assistants	£27,505	−8.3%
184	Elementary administration occupations n.e.c.	£27,505	+3.3%
185	Refuse and salvage occupations	£27,438	−1.5%
186	Counsellors	£27,401	−12.0%
187	Legal secretaries	£27,310	+1.3%
188	Ambulance staff (excluding paramedics)	£27,249	−18.6%
189	Food, drink and tobacco process operatives	£27,237	−3.6%
190	Dispensing opticians	£27,214	−4.7%
191	Cleaning and housekeeping managers and supervisors	£27,195	−4.9%
192	Records clerks and assistants	£27,178	−5.2%
193	Delivery drivers and couriers	£27,150	−2.5%
194	Care workers and home carers	£27,061	−1.5%
195	Retail cashiers and check-out operators	£27,036	+9.8%
196	Sales supervisors - retail and wholesale	£27,002	−7.4%
197	Chefs	£26,994	−10.0%
198	Sheet metal workers	£26,949	−16.3%
199	Other administrative occupations n.e.c.	£26,889	−5.0%
200	Debt, rent and other cash collectors	£26,853	−7.7%
201	Agricultural and fishing trades n.e.c.	£26,734	−11.1%
202	Parking and civil enforcement occupations	£26,711	−9.6%
203	Steel erectors	£26,702	−25.5%
204	Travel agents	£26,503	−7.8%
205	Credit controllers	£26,460	−7.3%
206	Dental nurses	£26,381	+2.5%
207	Industrial cleaning process occupations	£26,367	−3.4%
208	Veterinary nurses	£26,251	−9.1%
209	Air travel assistants	£26,211	−8.8%
210	Early education and childcare services managers	£26,168	−13.2%
211	Welfare and housing associate professionals n.e.c.	£25,948	−13.8%
212	Estate agents and auctioneers	£25,908	−15.5%
213	Packers, bottlers, canners and fillers	£25,771	−1.5%
214	Medical secretaries	£25,470	−5.5%
215	Human resources administrative occupations	£25,350	−5.6%
216	Health associate professionals n.e.c.	£25,338	−17.1%
217	Vehicle valeters and cleaners	£25,111	−5.6%
218	Bar and catering supervisors	£25,004	−3.9%
219	Early education and childcare assistants	£24,760	+0.1%
220	Sales and retail assistants	£24,691	−1.5%
221	Sewing machinists	£24,619	−0.8%
222	Caretakers	£24,352	−15.9%
223	Bar staff	£24,255	+4.6%
224	Housekeepers and related occupations	£23,529	−7.1%
225	Receptionists	£23,527	−4.7%
226	Pharmacy and optical dispensing assistants	£23,473	−1.3%
227	Early education and childcare practitioners	£23,455	−1.1%
228	Cleaners and domestics	£23,104	−4.3%
229	Library clerks and assistants	£23,093	−17.9%
230	Kitchen and catering assistants	£22,338	−2.4%
231	Sports and leisure assistants	£21,560	−20.0%
232	Higher level teaching assistants	£21,129	−16.9%
233	Teaching assistants	£19,354	−8.9%
234	Educational support assistants	£18,267	−14.8%

Only occupations ONS published an unsuppressed South West median for are listed. Suppressed cells (small or unreliable samples) are omitted, never estimated.

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Salaries in South West — frequently asked questions

What are the highest-paying jobs in South West?: Of the 234 occupations ONS publishes a South West median for, the highest median gross annual pay is £98,216 for Specialist medical practitioners (SOC 2212). These are real ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings figures for full-time employees (ASHE 2025 provisional, April 2025 reference period, ONS, OGL v3).
Is this South West salary data real or estimated?: Real. Every figure is a published ONS regional median gross annual pay for full-time employees in the April 2025 ASHE reference period. ONS suppresses small or unreliable regional cells for disclosure control — those occupations are simply not listed for South West, never estimated.
How many occupations have South West salary data?: ONS published an unsuppressed South West median for 234 occupations this period. They range from £18,267 (Educational support assistants) up to £98,216 (Specialist medical practitioners).

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Source: Office for National Statistics — Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Table 14.7a (occupation 4-digit SOC) + Table 15 (4).7a (region by occupation), Full-Time sheet. Figures are Median gross annual pay (GBP), full-time employees, April 2025 reference period (ASHE 2025 provisional, April 2025 reference period, ONS, OGL v3). Released 2025-10-23, corrected 2025-12-19. Licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 (OGL v3). No figure is modelled or interpolated.