Bolton workers earn almost 10k less than the rest of the country. 

Figures from Plumpot.co.uk say the average salary for the area is £27,400, with the national average sitting at £36,600. 

Employees in the town also fare significantly worse than those in Bury and Blackburn with Darwen, who earn 33k and 34.5k respectively. 

Andrea Egan, Joint Branch Secretary for Unison Bolton, said: “We have managed to secure the living wage within Bolton Council and several big employers like Bolton at Home and the college. 

“We find that the care sector is massively underpaid, we get a lot of people asking us if they’re being paid the right amount and often they’re not. 

“After austerity, we’ve seen care contracts sent private and the first thing that gets cut is the wages, most people are on the absolute minimum wage possible.” 

The figures come from the gross average income in 2018 for full-time employees who have been in the same job for at least a year. 

All estimates include incentive payments given to encourage high quality work from employees.

Medium figures, those which show the wage directly in the centre of the spread, still put Bolton below the national level. 

The medium wage in the town sits at just under £25,000, with the national medium just under £30,000. 

Things are even worse for those living in the town centre, with an average household income of just £17,600 a year. 

Those living in the BL1 area, which covers Egerton and North West Bromley Cross, have the best deal, taking home just over 41k for each household. 

Ms Egan advises anyone concerned about their wages to join a trade union. 

She said: “I know it sounds old fashioned but you should be in a trade union, especially in care. 

“You need that protection and research shows that those in a union get better wages and health and safety at work.

“We recently helped a team of people fight an employer who tried to take away paid breaks but make people stay on-site and they won – unions are very important.” 

A previous report by The Bolton News revealed that national employment rates suffered their sharpest drop in over four years in the quarter to August this year. 

The country’s unemployment rate hit 3.9 per cent, after a 45-year low was reported in July. 

There are currently 5.3 per cent of people in the town out of employment.