'Hard-pressed Brummies feel no better off than they did in 2013': Disposable income in city among UK's lowest

Birmingham has been ranked among the UK’s cities with the lowest disposable income, according to new figures from the Centre for Cities, raising fresh concerns about living standards in the region.

The average gross disposable household income per person in Birmingham is £15,620, placing it sixth lowest out of the UK’s 63 largest towns and cities.

The data comes from the Cities Outlook 2026 report, described as an annual health check on local economies across the country.

Disposable household income measures how much people have available to spend or save after taxes and benefits, but before essential costs such as housing, food and energy bills are paid.

So what does this mean for Birmingham?

Dr Steve McCabe, former associate professor at Birmingham City University, said the report underlines a long-running problem for the city.

He said that while the Cities Outlook provides “a wealth of information regional policymakers will pore over”, its core message is clear.

“In order for us to feel better off, there must be economic growth which leads to discernible benefit to all citizens through well-paid jobs and opportunities resulting in an improved standard of living,” he said.

However, Dr McCabe said Birmingham has failed to keep pace with the national picture. Despite what he described as “the undoubted efforts of the City Council and mayors for the West Midlands”, disposable income in the city has fallen compared with the national average over the past 13 years.

He pointed to Centre for Cities data showing that the average Birmingham resident had disposable income of no more than £17,500 in 2023, measured in 2025 prices, and that almost half of households are among the most income-deprived in the country. Worryingly, he added, more than 90 per cent of households classed as most income-deprived in 2010 were still in that category five years later.

“In real terms, once you allow for inflation, the average citizen in Birmingham will feel no better off than they did in 2013,” Dr McCabe said. “That was when we were still reflecting on the glow of the London Olympics. It’s hard to believe this improves the prospects of hard-pressed Brummies.”

The Centre for Cities report argues that places which have improved living standards tend to outperform the national average in three areas: the share of jobs in knowledge-intensive business services, productivity, and workplace wages. Dr McCabe said Birmingham continues to struggle on all three.

He said the city never fully recovered from the decline of manufacturing in the 1980s and that many jobs now available, particularly to younger people, are in low-paid, insecure work such as food delivery and online retail logistics.

“For so many people, often on zero-hours contracts, it’s hard to say their standard of living has increased at all in the last 13 years,” he said, adding that sharp rises in accommodation and food costs have absorbed any gains from higher hourly pay.

Dr McCabe also highlighted ongoing challenges around skills and educational attainment in parts of the city, warning that this makes rapid improvement unlikely. He said he has little confidence that conditions will significantly improve by the time the next Cities Outlook report is published, or even before the next general election expected in 2029.

He warned that persistent economic pressure is feeding political disillusionment. Polling in Birmingham, he said, shows growing scepticism towards mainstream parties, including Labour, which took power in July 2024 promising improvements.

“People who feel they are getting poorer can easily be seduced by those offering radical solutions,” he said, predicting that upcoming local elections could result in a fragmented council made up of independents and Reform UK councillors.

“That kind of political hotchpotch risks creating inertia,” he added. “For all our sakes, I sincerely hope I’m proved wrong.”

The Cities Outlook 2026 figures are based on the latest available data from 2023 and highlight the scale of the challenge facing Birmingham as it seeks to translate economic growth into rising living standards for its residents.