What are the highest-paying jobs in Wales?

Of the 200 occupations ONS publishes a Wales median for, the highest median gross annual pay is £79,040 for Head teachers and principals (SOC 2321). 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 Wales 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 Wales, never estimated.

How many occupations have Wales salary data?

ONS published an unsuppressed Wales median for 200 occupations this period. They range from £18,035 (Retail cashiers and check-out operators) up to £79,040 (Head teachers and principals).

GeraJobs / Salary by region / Wales

Highest-Paying Jobs in Wales

In Wales, the best-paid occupation ONS publishes is Head teachers and principals at a median of £79,040 gross per year. This page ranks all 200 Wales 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 Wales (of the 200 occupations with published data) is Head teachers and principals at £79,040 median gross annual pay. The lowest published is Retail cashiers and check-out operators at £18,035. 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 Wales page.

Top 25 highest-paying jobs in Wales

#	Occupation	Median (annual)	vs UK median
1	Head teachers and principals	£79,040	+£6,848 (+9.5%)
2	Train and tram drivers	£65,470	−£10,857 (−14.2%)
3	Functional managers and directors n.e.c.	£65,418	−£10,293 (−13.6%)
4	Marketing and commercial managers	£57,791	+£4,088 (+7.6%)
5	Business and financial project management professionals	£54,067	−£5,767 (−9.6%)
6	Quantity surveyors	£53,752	+£1,215 (+2.3%)
7	Pharmacists	£53,260	−£512 (−1.0%)
8	Sales accounts and business development managers	£53,007	−£4,618 (−8.0%)
9	Social services managers and directors	£51,651	+£3,102 (+6.4%)
10	IT business analysts, architects and systems designers	£51,237	−£9,051 (−15.0%)
11	Higher education teaching professionals	£51,213	−£1,622 (−3.1%)
12	Production managers and directors in manufacturing	£51,120	−£7,520 (−12.8%)
13	Midwifery nurses	£49,914	+£2,924 (+6.2%)
14	Database administrators and web content technicians	£48,890	+£10,895 (+28.7%)
15	Secondary education teaching professionals	£48,859	+£1,227 (+2.6%)
16	Primary education teaching professionals	£48,859	+£2,920 (+6.4%)
17	Programmers and software development professionals	£48,346	−£8,568 (−15.1%)
18	IT managers	£47,980	−£8,458 (−15.0%)
19	Purchasing managers and directors	£47,971	−£10,034 (−17.3%)
20	Paramedics	£47,521	−£6,297 (−11.7%)
21	Human resource managers and directors	£47,231	−£10,298 (−17.9%)
22	Production and process engineers	£47,097	−£849 (−1.8%)
23	Communication operators	£46,974	+£10,559 (+29.0%)
24	Health care practice managers	£46,706	+£4,147 (+9.7%)
25	Engineering project managers and project engineers	£46,626	−£6,438 (−12.1%)

“vs UK median” compares each occupation’s Wales 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 Wales

Occupation	Median (annual)	vs UK median
Retail cashiers and check-out operators	£18,035	−£6,587 (−26.8%)
Cooks	£20,568	−£3,660 (−15.1%)
Hairdressers and barbers	£20,658	−£3,621 (−14.9%)
Teaching assistants	£20,853	−£386 (−1.8%)
Waiters and waitresses	£21,340	−£1,596 (−7.0%)

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Wales salary by job — full ranked list (200)

#	Occupation	Median (annual)	vs UK
1	Head teachers and principals	£79,040	+9.5%
2	Train and tram drivers	£65,470	−14.2%
3	Functional managers and directors n.e.c.	£65,418	−13.6%
4	Marketing and commercial managers	£57,791	+7.6%
5	Business and financial project management professionals	£54,067	−9.6%
6	Quantity surveyors	£53,752	+2.3%
7	Pharmacists	£53,260	−1.0%
8	Sales accounts and business development managers	£53,007	−8.0%
9	Social services managers and directors	£51,651	+6.4%
10	IT business analysts, architects and systems designers	£51,237	−15.0%
11	Higher education teaching professionals	£51,213	−3.1%
12	Production managers and directors in manufacturing	£51,120	−12.8%
13	Midwifery nurses	£49,914	+6.2%
14	Database administrators and web content technicians	£48,890	+28.7%
15	Secondary education teaching professionals	£48,859	+2.6%
16	Primary education teaching professionals	£48,859	+6.4%
17	Programmers and software development professionals	£48,346	−15.1%
18	IT managers	£47,980	−15.0%
19	Purchasing managers and directors	£47,971	−17.3%
20	Paramedics	£47,521	−11.7%
21	Human resource managers and directors	£47,231	−17.9%
22	Production and process engineers	£47,097	−1.8%
23	Communication operators	£46,974	+29.0%
24	Health care practice managers	£46,706	+9.7%
25	Engineering project managers and project engineers	£46,626	−12.1%
26	Business, research and administrative professionals n.e.c.	£46,514	−20.3%
27	Rail travel assistants	£46,385	+0.7%
28	Electrical service and maintenance mechanics and repairers	£46,121	+10.7%
29	Further education teaching professionals	£46,029	+9.0%
30	Occupational therapists	£45,912	+4.3%
31	Special needs education teaching professionals	£45,462	−4.2%
32	Aircraft maintenance and related trades	£44,547	−2.7%
33	Financial accounts managers	£44,418	−9.3%
34	Mechanical engineers	£44,386	−13.2%
35	Skilled metal, electrical and electronic trades supervisors	£44,340	−1.8%
36	Residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors	£44,143	+3.4%
37	Community nurses	£43,852	+7.2%
38	Specialist nurses	£43,812	−2.9%
39	Production, factory and assembly supervisors	£43,711	+18.9%
40	Social workers	£43,693	−1.9%
41	Electrical and electronic trades n.e.c.	£43,522	−10.4%
42	Advertising accounts managers and creative directors	£43,144	−11.9%
43	Information technology professionals n.e.c.	£43,074	−20.4%
44	Engineering professionals n.e.c.	£42,995	−11.9%
45	Actuaries, economists and statisticians	£41,924	−21.4%
46	Quality assurance and regulatory professionals	£41,808	−16.5%
47	Civil engineers	£41,581	−19.0%
48	Research and development (R&D) managers	£40,919	−26.3%
49	Managers and proprietors in other services n.e.c.	£40,911	−11.6%
50	Business and related research professionals	£40,757	−0.9%
51	Physiotherapists	£40,649	−6.6%
52	Other nursing professionals	£40,493	−4.3%
53	Chartered and certified accountants	£40,413	−19.3%
54	Quality control and planning engineers	£40,307	−7.5%
55	Fire service officers (watch manager and below)	£40,234	−8.6%
56	Public services associate professionals	£40,191	+1.7%
57	Other health professionals n.e.c.	£40,091	−4.7%
58	Sales related occupations n.e.c.	£40,049	+27.2%
59	Engineering technicians	£39,905	−11.0%
60	Telecoms and related network installers and repairers	£39,806	−0.5%
61	Office managers	£39,296	+1.7%
62	Nurse practitioners	£39,199	−14.9%
63	Construction and building trades supervisors	£39,106	−13.1%
64	Buyers and procurement officers	£38,961	+4.4%
65	Large goods vehicle drivers	£38,658	−3.1%
66	Biochemists and biomedical scientists	£38,536	−19.5%
67	Plumbers & heating and ventilating installers and repairers	£38,433	+1.5%
68	Metal working production and maintenance fitters	£38,432	−5.7%
69	Mental health nurses	£38,416	−10.0%
70	Chartered surveyors	£38,279	−17.1%
71	Data analysts	£37,901	−1.7%
72	Health and safety managers and officers	£37,704	−18.8%
73	Metal making and treating process operatives	£37,233	+13.3%
74	Transport and distribution clerks and assistants	£36,862	+10.0%
75	Assemblers (vehicles and metal goods)	£36,804	+15.3%
76	Welding trades	£36,742	+4.0%
77	Estate agents and auctioneers	£36,535	+19.2%
78	Mobile machine drivers and operatives n.e.c.	£36,456	−3.7%
79	Chartered architectural technologists, planning officers and consultants	£36,214	−0.7%
80	Education advisers and school inspectors	£36,116	−18.9%
81	Road construction operatives	£36,060	−7.1%
82	Planning, process and production technicians	£35,695	−3.3%
83	Business sales executives	£35,610	−6.1%
84	Construction and building trades n.e.c.	£35,272	+1.3%
85	Assemblers and routine operatives n.e.c.	£35,251	+26.1%
86	Customer service managers	£35,107	−6.5%
87	Tyre, exhaust and windscreen fitters	£35,085	+15.0%
88	Natural and social science professionals n.e.c.	£34,830	−19.7%
89	Taxation experts	£34,817	−30.2%
90	Electricians and electrical fitters	£34,733	−12.4%
91	Housing officers	£34,587	−0.3%
92	Human resources and industrial relations officers	£34,439	−2.1%
93	Conservation professionals	£34,190	−14.7%
94	Office supervisors	£33,955	+2.4%
95	Vehicle technicians, mechanics and electricians	£33,626	−10.2%
96	Events managers and organisers	£33,353	+3.7%
97	Managers in storage and warehousing	£33,248	−11.3%
98	Data entry administrators	£33,201	+17.3%
99	Police community support officers	£33,020	−7.6%
100	Other vocational and industrial trainers	£32,788	−9.8%
101	Quality assurance technicians	£32,768	−3.5%
102	IT user support technicians	£32,654	−7.0%
103	Groundworkers	£32,531	−14.2%
104	Estimators, valuers and assessors	£32,489	−18.0%
105	Security guards and related occupations	£32,309	−4.5%
106	Graphic and multimedia designers	£32,303	−0.6%
107	Managers and directors in retail and wholesale	£32,249	−16.1%
108	Finance and investment analysts and advisers	£31,987	−36.4%
109	Science, engineering and production technicians n.e.c.	£31,962	−11.5%
110	Vehicle and parts salespersons and advisers	£31,708	−0.4%
111	Process operatives n.e.c.	£31,684	−0.1%
112	Book-keepers, payroll managers and wages clerks	£31,593	+0.1%
113	Metal working machine operatives	£31,546	+0.1%
114	Bus and coach drivers	£31,314	−13.8%
115	National government administrative occupations	£31,209	−5.4%
116	Local government administrative occupations	£31,166	+0.9%
117	Youth and community workers	£31,067	−4.9%
118	Carpenters and joiners	£30,661	−9.9%
119	Stock control clerks and assistants	£30,596	+2.0%
120	Finance officers	£30,521	−4.5%
121	Personal assistants and other secretaries	£30,486	−12.8%
122	Water and sewerage plant operatives	£30,413	−23.4%
123	Elementary storage supervisors	£30,393	−2.0%
124	Packers, bottlers, canners and fillers	£30,254	+15.7%
125	Construction operatives n.e.c.	£30,212	−6.9%
126	Undertakers, mortuary and crematorium assistants	£30,210	−2.2%
127	Sports and leisure assistants	£30,182	+12.1%
128	Cleaning and housekeeping managers and supervisors	£30,150	+5.4%
129	Arts officers, producers and directors	£30,099	−33.9%
130	Postal workers, mail sorters and messengers	£29,981	−5.4%
131	Sales administrators	£29,813	+3.7%
132	Floorers and wall tilers	£29,722	−9.6%
133	Nursing auxiliaries and assistants	£29,602	+1.8%
134	Routine inspectors and testers	£29,550	−14.0%
135	Business associate professionals n.e.c.	£29,400	−16.5%
136	Computer system and equipment installers and servicers	£29,233	−14.6%
137	Medical secretaries	£29,182	+8.2%
138	Refuse and salvage occupations	£29,173	+4.7%
139	Painters and decorators	£29,122	−11.1%
140	Road transport drivers n.e.c.	£28,949	−12.0%
141	Welfare and housing associate professionals n.e.c.	£28,945	−3.8%
142	Restaurant and catering establishment managers and proprietors	£28,899	−8.8%
143	Clergy	£28,878	−7.4%
144	Chefs	£28,864	−3.8%
145	Ambulance staff (excluding paramedics)	£28,746	−14.1%
146	Glaziers, window fabricators and fitters	£28,674	−2.6%
147	Bank and post office clerks	£28,673	−5.3%
148	Elementary construction occupations n.e.c.	£28,633	+0.1%
149	Metal machining setters and setter-operators	£28,496	−20.2%
150	Marketing associate professionals	£28,488	−14.7%
151	Elementary process plant occupations n.e.c.	£28,463	−3.9%
152	Printers	£28,431	−13.9%
153	Senior care workers	£28,421	−3.3%
154	Authors, writers and translators	£28,384	−28.1%
155	Photographers, audio-visual and broadcasting equipment operators	£28,366	−13.1%
156	Records clerks and assistants	£28,153	−1.8%
157	Butchers	£27,942	−3.2%
158	Catering and bar managers	£27,926	−6.3%
159	Insurance underwriters	£27,575	−33.7%
160	Warehouse operatives	£27,422	−1.5%
161	Care workers and home carers	£27,249	−0.8%
162	Debt, rent and other cash collectors	£27,142	−6.7%
163	Food, drink and tobacco process operatives	£27,114	−4.0%
164	Bakers and flour confectioners	£27,101	−6.9%
165	Customer service occupations n.e.c.	£26,968	−3.2%
166	Other administrative occupations n.e.c.	£26,928	−4.8%
167	Pensions and insurance clerks and assistants	£26,696	−11.8%
168	Sales supervisors - retail and wholesale	£26,518	−9.1%
169	Groundsmen and greenkeepers	£26,449	−6.5%
170	Call and contact centre occupations	£26,288	−2.8%
171	Child and early years officers	£26,240	−15.4%
172	Laboratory technicians	£26,092	−7.5%
173	Housekeepers and related occupations	£26,080	+2.9%
174	Financial administrative occupations n.e.c.	£26,034	−10.2%
175	School secretaries	£25,928	−2.0%
176	Assemblers (electrical and electronic products)	£25,818	−9.8%
177	Elementary administration occupations n.e.c.	£25,630	−3.8%
178	Industrial cleaning process occupations	£25,593	−6.3%
179	Delivery drivers and couriers	£25,584	−8.1%
180	Printing machine assistants	£25,530	−14.7%
181	Street cleaners	£25,331	−8.3%
182	Gardeners and landscape gardeners	£25,165	−11.8%
183	Caretakers	£24,841	−14.2%
184	Higher level teaching assistants	£24,713	−2.8%
185	Receptionists	£24,628	−0.2%
186	Dental nurses	£24,574	−4.5%
187	Sales and retail assistants	£24,480	−2.3%
188	Vehicle valeters and cleaners	£24,390	−8.3%
189	Cleaners and domestics	£24,312	+0.8%
190	Sewing machinists	£24,141	−2.7%
191	Educational support assistants	£23,710	+10.5%
192	Pharmacy and optical dispensing assistants	£23,317	−2.0%
193	Bar and catering supervisors	£23,142	−11.1%
194	Animal care services occupations n.e.c.	£22,925	−8.5%
195	Kitchen and catering assistants	£22,531	−1.6%
196	Waiters and waitresses	£21,340	−7.0%
197	Teaching assistants	£20,853	−1.8%
198	Hairdressers and barbers	£20,658	−14.9%
199	Cooks	£20,568	−15.1%
200	Retail cashiers and check-out operators	£18,035	−26.8%

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

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Salaries in Wales — frequently asked questions

What are the highest-paying jobs in Wales?: Of the 200 occupations ONS publishes a Wales median for, the highest median gross annual pay is £79,040 for Head teachers and principals (SOC 2321). 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 Wales 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 Wales, never estimated.
How many occupations have Wales salary data?: ONS published an unsuppressed Wales median for 200 occupations this period. They range from £18,035 (Retail cashiers and check-out operators) up to £79,040 (Head teachers and principals).

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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.