THE areas of the country where Scots can expect to earn the most have been revealed in a new report.
East Renfrewshire has the highest typical hourly pay rate last year at £20.87, based on where people live, according to a research briefing published by the Scottish Parliament.
East Dunbartonshire, Renfrewshire, Edinburgh and South Lanarkshire were also in the top five, reflecting a high number of commuters living in these areas.
In contrast, Moray had the lowest pay rate based on place of residence, at an average of £11.83 per hour.
The report is based on the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) survey, which provides both figures on pay by local authority for those who live in the area, and those who work in the area, excluding overtime.
The first figure represents average hourly pay for those who live in the area (residents) while the second is the figure for those who work in the area (workplace)
When it comes to looking at pay based on the place of work, cities in Scotland tended to have the highest rates.
East Ayrshire topped the table at £16.92 per hour, with Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling and Aberdeen making up the rest of the top five.
Dumfries and Galloway had the lowest rate at £12.28 per hour.
The report found that in April 2020, the typical salary for all employees in Scotland was £26,007 - just above the UK-wide figure of £25,971 and the third highest in the UK.
London had the highest typical salary at £34,439 while the lowest was in the North East of England at £23,151.
READ MORE: Scottish wage growth 'slumps far behind UK average as London booms'
The report noted that interpreting the ASHE data has been more complicated because of the impact of the pandemic, such as the furlough scheme, insecurity in low-paid jobs and a decreased response to the survey.
The highest paid industries in Scotland were utilities - such as electricity and gas - with a median hourly pay of £21.83, followed by information and communication, and financial and insurance
Accommodation and food service has the lowest pay of industries in Scotland at £8.91 per hour, followed by wholesale and retail trade and administrative.
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