New figures released by C&M Travel Recruitment as part of its Travel Salary Index show wages rose 5.91% to £22,675 up north.
In the meantime southern wages fell 3.43%, although at £25,751 those living in the south still remain better off.
The salary index is created by the recruitment company, in conjunction with sister company C&M Executive Recruitment, surveying all new roles registered throughout the month.
The big drop in the south was also worsened by a lack of top-end executive roles, meaning overall average salaries across the country fell by 2.54% to £24,536.
While this is the lowest average seen in 12 months, it is still 1.36% higher than in August 2014.
Barbara Kolosinska, director of both companies, said: “The gap between wages in the north and the south has been gradually closing over the past couple of years, but last month saw salaries narrow to their closest level in some time.
“Whether this trend will continue is unclear, but we are certainly seeing more travel companies looking to base some of their higher-paid positions in areas outside of London.
“Having said that, there has been a slowdown this summer in the number of top-end executive roles being made available across the county, with positions carrying salaries in excess of £70,000 being particularly rare.”
Kolosinska added despite August being a traditionally quiet period in the recruitment calendar, the number of candidates registering for new roles increased at its fastest rate since January.
This was mirrored by the number of new travel roles released also being considerably up year on year.
Kolosinska said: “August is usually one of the quietest months of the year for travel recruitment, but 2015 was an exception.
“The number of new travel jobs being created and the volume of candidates looking for new roles were both way up compared to last August, which is a very promising sign for the autumn period.”
