Trades, like plumbing, joining, and decorating have long formed an important part of our infrastructure. At Sanctuary Bathrooms, a lot of our staff are trained tradespeople and our trade accounts and products provide important hardware for those in plumbing, joining, and building industries. We’ve listed our top 10 locations below. We wanted to help out those planning a career in the trades by revealing where the best opportunities are for them in the UK.
We looked into average pay, cost of living, number of tradespeople in the workforce and the ratings local universities have for relevant courses. Each of these factors was given a score, which were totted up to give the following top ten places to live as a tradesperson in the UK.
10. Bristol
Total Score: 308
Percentage of tradespeople in workforce: 6.2%
University course rating: 94.2/100
Cost of living score: 77.17/100
Average wage of tradespeople (based on joiner, plumber, electrician and Painter and decorator): £22,616
Bristol might come in at the bottom of our top ten, but it certainly has its strong points for those working in trade. The city has the lowest percentage of tradespeople in the workforce, at just 6.2%, but it could be a great place to develop your skills. The West of England University offers a Building course with a rating of 94.2 out of 100, great for those looking to start out in the industry.
9. Manchester
Total Score: 331
Percentage of tradespeople in workforce: 7.7%
University course rating: 93.1/100
Cost of living score: 77.63/100
Average wage of tradespeople (based on joiner, plumber, electrician and Painter and decorator): £24,392
Edging in just above Bristol, Manchester has slightly more people working in trade than Bristol, with tradespeople making up 7.7% of the workforce. Nearby Salford University also offer good training opportunities with an average course rating of 93.1. Manchester’s real Achilles heel is its cost of living. The city’s prices are the second highest in our top ten.
8. Cardiff
Total Score: 354
Percentage of tradespeople in workforce: 6.5%
University course rating: 90.3/100
Cost of living score: 69.88/100
Average wage of tradespeople (based on joiner, plumber, electrician and Painter and decorator): £23,000
With a fairly low proportion of the workforce being made up of tradespeople, just 6.5%, Cardiff earnt its position in the top 10 cities for tradespeople through its good balance of wages and cost of living. The city has the second lowest cost of living in the top ten, giving tradespeople more buying power.
7. Nottingham
Total Score: 364
Percentage of tradespeople in workforce: 8.6%
University course rating: 96.1/100
Cost of living score: 73.94/100
Average wage of tradespeople (based on joiner, plumber, electrician and Painter and decorator): £22,723
Nottingham has some serious strong points that secured its position in the top ten. The city has the third highest proportion of tradespeople in the workforce, with the industries making up 8.6% of the working population. Teamed with a Building university course that ranks at 96.1 out of 100, Nottingham is a great place to establish yourself in a trade.
6. Leeds
Total Score: 466
Percentage of tradespeople in workforce: 10.3%
University course rating: 90.6/100
Cost of living score: 73.57/100
Average wage of tradespeople (based on joiner, plumber, electrician and Painter and decorator): £24,211
Tradespeople make up 10.3% of the workforce in Leeds, the highest in our top ten. It is this that pushed the city so high up in the rankings. In addition, Leeds also offers a decent cost of living and average wages, scoring in the middle of our top ten on both points. This means Leeds not only offers plenty of job opportunities for tradespeople but gives a good amount of spending power too.
5. Birmingham
Total Score: 478
Percentage of tradespeople in workforce: 8.8%
University course rating: 91.2/100
Cost of living score: 72.86/100
Average wage of tradespeople (based on joiner, plumber, electrician and Painter and decorator): £23,857
At number five on our list, Birmingham has the second highest proportion of tradespeople in the workforce at 8.8%, just behind Leeds. The two cities are similar in other respects too, but Birmingham just edges ahead of its northern rival in university ratings, cost of living and average wages.
4. London
Total Score: 510
Percentage of tradespeople in workforce: 7.2%
University course rating: 99.2/100
Cost of living score: 89.55/100
Average wage of tradespeople (based on joiner, plumber, electrician and Painter and decorator): £28,175
The capital’s appearance on this list is largely down to its university rankings and average wages for tradespeople. University College London has a course rating of 99.2 out of 100 for its Building degree. The city also has the highest average wages across joiners, plumbers, electricians and painter-decorators in the top ten. For example, joiners can earn an average annual wage of £31,740. This is hampered, however, by the highest cost of living in our top ten, which reduces the real spending power of tradespeople in the city.
3. Glasgow
Total Score: 532
Percentage of tradespeople in workforce: 7.8%
University course rating: 95/100
Cost of living score: 74.19 /100
Average wage of tradespeople (based on joiner, plumber, electrician and Painter and decorator): £25,776
Scotland’s second city boasts the highest average wages for those in trade, when adjusted for cost of living. Glasgow offers the best spending power for those in trades. The city also offers good job opportunities for tradespeople, with 7.8% of the workforce made up of them.
2. Newcastle
Total Score: 553
Percentage of tradespeople in workforce: 8.5%
University course rating: 94/100
Cost of living score: 69.68/100
Average wage of tradespeople (based on joiner, plumber, electrician and Painter and decorator): £24,294
Newcastle does well in all the factors we ranked, performing above average in percentage of workforce in trades, university rankings and average wages for tradespeople. Its stand out performance is in cost of living, which is the lowest of any city in the top ten, making Newcastle an affordable place to live for tradespeople.
1. Liverpool
Total Score: 564
Percentage of tradespeople in workforce: 8%
University course rating: 93.3/100
Cost of living score: 70.77/100
Average wage of tradespeople (based on joiner, plumber, electrician and Painter and decorator): £23,903.75
And the winner is… Liverpool! With strong scores across the board, Liverpool has come out as the best place for tradespeople to live in the UK. The city has a low cost of living and high average wages, including an average annual salary of £29,672 for electricians. Plus, tradespeople make up 8% of the workforce, offering Liverpool-based tradespeople plenty of opportunity and a great quality of life.
Methodology
The overall ranking for each city was calculated by finding percentile scores for the location based on a number of factors. Average hourly and annual wages were calculated for joiners, plumbers, electricians and painter-decorators using job data from Payscale. These individual average wages were then given percentile scores and added together to give an overall percentile score for wages in each city.
This was then added to scores based on university ratings for Building degrees, cost of living and the percentage of the city’s workforce employed in trades. Data was taken from the following sources:
- University rankings: The Complete University Guide
- Cost of living data: ABC Finance
- Workforce information: Office of National Statistics
