The Scottish Borders has been named the area of Scotland with the lowest hourly pay, according to new analysis by resource management software company Retain. The company scored 350 local authorities across Great Britain out of 100 using four measures: weekly working hours, overtime, gross hourly pay, and changes in working hours in 2025.
Gross hourly pay in the Scottish Borders was found to be £18.56. Compared to the National Living Wage of £12.71 for those aged 21 and over, employees in the local authority earn just £5.85 more on average per hour.
Longest hours for least pay
Retain said workers in the Scottish Borders also work the longest hours for the least pay. The area ranks first for Scotland when comparing longer working hours against lower pay. Employees in the Borders put in an above-average 32.1 hours a week, while earning almost £3 below the £21.50 average for Great Britain.
Angus was found to have the second-lowest hourly wage in Scotland at £19.26, which is just £6.55 higher than the National Living Wage. East Ayrshire placed third for Scotland with a gross hourly pay of £19.71, which is £7 above the National Living Wage for Great Britain.
Scotland's working week and pay averages
East Ayrshire also places second when it comes to the areas of Scotland where people work the longest hours for the least payment, with 31.1 hours worked a week on average for £19.71 of pay. Elsewhere, Angus, Dumfries and Galloway, and North Ayrshire round out the top five.
Scotland has the shortest average basic working week in Great Britain overall according to Retain with 30.9 hours, compared to 31.4 in Wales and 32 in England. Scotland was also found to have the highest average gross hourly pay across its authorities, at £22.01. The average was £21.58 in England and £19.78 in Wales.
Full list of the 10 Scottish local authorities with the lowest hourly pay
A spokesperson for Retain commented: "With the average Brit working nearly 32 hours a week and clocking an extra 48 minutes of overtime on top, it's clear that many of us are giving more of our time to work than our contracts suggest."
"Weekly hours have also risen in more than a third of local authorities over the past year, so this isn't a one-off. When workloads keep creeping up, businesses need a clear picture of how their people's time is being spent, so that stretched teams don't become the norm."
The full list of the 10 Scottish local authorities with the lowest hourly pay according to Retain is: Scottish Borders, Angus, East Ayrshire, Inverclyde, Dumfries and Galloway, Moray, East Lothian, Orkney Islands, North Lanarkshire, and West Dunbartonshire.
