Jobs and income

Household income

Average income for Jersey households, income inequality and low income

Mean (average) household income

In 2021 / 2022:

  • the mean (average) weekly household income was
    • £1,080 per week before housing costs and
    • £930 per week after housing costs
  • the mean household income after housing costs decreased by 4% since 2019/2020 in real-terms (adjusting for inflation)
  • on average, three-quarters (73%) of household income was from employment earnings, 12% was from pensions, 11% was from unearned income, and 4% from income support, benefits and grants

Median equivalised household income

The distribution of income is unequal (skewed) due to a few households having very high incomes, so the median is a particularly meaningful average measure as it is not influenced by extreme values.

Equivalisation is a way of standardising households to make fair comparisons between households of different types and sizes.

In terms of equivalised household income in 2021 / 2022:

  • median weekly household equivalised income was £860 per week before housing costs and £710 per week after housing costs
  • median equivalised household income after housing costs decreased by 5% in real-terms since 2019/2020 (adjusting for inflation)

Relative low income

A commonly used threshold of relative low income is 60% of the median equivalised income for a jurisdiction.

In Jersey in 2021 / 2022, after housing costs:

  • the relative low income threshold was £520 per week before housing costs and £430 per week after housing costs
  • 24% of households and 21% of individuals were in relative low income
  • one in four (24%) children were in relative low income, a lower proportion than the UK
  • over one in four (28%) pensioners were living in relative low income, a higher proportion than the UK

Data sources and methods

We produce reports on Jersey’s household income distribution approximately every five years, using data from the Living Costs and Household Income Survey. As the 2019 / 2020 survey was cut short due to covid-19, it was restarted as the 2021 / 2022 survey.

Find data and past reports

Find past reports on our release calendar.

We have also published additional information by decile for the four stages of equivalised household income for 2009 / 2010 and 2014 / 2015.

You can find household income data on the open data website.

Explore our statistics