Perth is the most expensive place to live in Scotland comparative to local wages, the Perthshire Advertiser can reveal.
An independent study carried out by ABC Finance has revealed that Perth residents have the least disposable income out of any Scottish city and spend six months of the year at work purely covering their cost of living.
The average salary in the city is £26,811, which is only £3181 more than the Scottish average cost of living per household. This equates to around £265 per month left over after basic living costs are deducted.
The results of the study, which was designed to highlight the cost of living and working in London compared to elsewhere in the UK, were released on Friday.
Inverness, Dundee, Aberdeen, Stirling, Glasgow and Edinburgh all made the shortlist of pricey places to live, but the Fair City topped the Scottish list - and came fifth in the UK-wide analysis.
Perth was alongside the towns of St Asaph in Wales, Ely in Cambridgeshire, Ripon in Yorkshire and Wells in Somerset in the top five most expensive places to live.
In the past, Shire councillors have admitted that the region, while not suffering from high unemployment, does struggle with offering high wages.
Strategic policy and resource committee vice-convenor and former environment, enterprise and infrastructure committee convenor Councillor Colin Stewart admitted there is a problem with low wages in Perthshire, but insists it is an issue the council is keen to fix.
He told the PA: “The general issue is that Perth has employment levels which is higher than the Scottish average, but has is lower than average for wages.
“We’re trying to make sure this is higher and there are a range of things the council is doing to tackle this.
“There will be a boost to economic development in the new budget and we are trying to attract both high quality jobs and training to Perthshire through the Tay Cities Deal and the associated projects.”
The PA contacted Invest in Perth, however they did not respond before yesterday’s deadline.
