Pay Ratio

An alternative perspective in pay differentials is given by comparing the highest to average remuneration levels. It is not possible to show the very highest earnings from sample survey data, but gross annual pay for the 95th percentile of employees in London (5 per cent of employee jobs are paid more than this amount) is around 3.3 times the median pay of £34,990 in 2020.

There are significant differences in definitions within this category, so making comparisons is not straightforward. Across the GLA group, annual pay (including bonuses where they are paid) for the very highest earning and middle earning employees are compared, and there is substantial variation across the group in this ratio. Within the GLA, the ratio is 3.96 – just over the ratio for 95th percentile to median pay London wide – while the TfL difference is much larger.

The median annual gross pay outside London is around £10,000 lower than in London, while the pay at the 95th percentile is more than £50,000 lower, so the ratio between the 95th percentile and median is smaller than within London – around 2.7 for England excluding London.