If you earn less than £30,000 a year in the West Midlands, you’re not alone, two-thirds of employees in the region are on wages below this level.
Across the West Midlands, 1.3m employees were on wages below £30,000 last year.
That’s 68.4% of all workers.
If you want the best chance of earning more than £30,000, take a job in the information and communication sector - just 42.4% of employees in that industry earn less than £30,000 a year.
Public administration and defence is another industry where people are less likely to earn under £30,000 a year, with 44.8% earning below this level.
The employees in the region most likely to be earning less than £30,000 were in accommodation and food service - 88% of this group was on less the £30,000 a year.
Working in arts, entertainment and recreation was also likely to be low paid, 83.9% of employees in this group earned less than £30,000 last year.
Figures are based on gross annual pay for employee jobs held for at least a year reported in the Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE).
ASHE is based on a 1% sample of jobs taken from HM Revenue and Customs' Pay As You Earn (PAYE) records.
Consequently, individuals with more than one job may appear in the sample more than once.
Across the UK, 14.2m employees earned less than £30,000 in 2017.
This was 64.7% of all workers.
People who work in financial and insurance activities in London were the least likely to be earning less than £30,000 a year - just 12.4% of people in the sector were earning less than this level.
This was followed by the 22.5% of employees in the information and communication sector in London who earned less than £30,000.
In comparison, 98.1% of people in accommodation and food service sector in Wales earn less than £30,000 a year.
