Household incomes are rising across the UK and in the West Midlands, with official figures showing the poorest households have now recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), published on 2 October, show median household disposable income in the UK rose by 3.5% to £39,200 in the financial year ending March 2025. The ONS adjusts these figures for inflation, meaning the typical household’s spending power grew in real terms.

The gains were felt across the income scale. The median income of the poorest fifth of the population rose by 5.6% to £18,300, bringing it back in line with levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic. The richest fifth saw a 5.0% rise to £77,000, returning to 2020/21 levels after two years of decline.

Inequality also edged down slightly. The Gini coefficient, a widely used measure of inequality, fell by 0.2 percentage points to 32.7%.

Notably, the rise came in a year when households received no cost of living support payments, after the schemes that ran in the two previous years came to an end.

Growth in the West Midlands

The national bulletin does not break its figures down by region, but the ONS’s most recent regional figures, released in August and covering 2024, show household incomes in the West Midlands also moving in the right direction.

Gross disposable household income (GDHI) per head across the West Midlands region rose by 5.8% to £22,064. Once inflation is taken into account, real disposable income per head grew by 2.3%, meaning households had more spending power than the year before. Total household disposable income in the region grew by 7.2% to more than £136 billion.

In the West Midlands Combined Authority area, real disposable income per head grew by 2.1%, with total real household income up 3.5%. Households in the area had a combined £59.8 billion to spend or save in 2024.

Sandwell also recorded growth, with GDHI per head rising by 5.5%.

While incomes are growing, the region still has ground to make up. GDHI per head in the West Midlands Combined Authority area, at £19,688, remains the lowest of England’s 15 mayoral combined authorities and below the UK average of £25,965.

A note on the figures

The ONS has said its household survey sample shrank by 29% this year, from 11,300 to 8,000 households, so some detailed estimates carry greater uncertainty. The regional GDHI figures are official statistics in development, the 2024 estimates are provisional, and the regional real income figures are experimental. Because the two releases use different measures and time periods, the national and regional figures should not be compared directly.