Salary Calculator UK

Because taxes are complicated and vary greatly based on personal circumstances, we've made a few assumptions to make this salary calculator for the UK easy to use. These include that you're not married and have no dependents. Once all personal circumstances and deductions have been accounted for, you may owe more or less in taxes than the estimated amount.

If you reside in Scotland or are required to make payments towards your student loan, please review the advanced options available in the calculator form.

For a gross annual income of £33,176, our UK tax calculator projects a tax liability of £549 per month, approximately 20% of your paycheck. The table below breaks down the taxes and contributions levied on these employment earnings in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland, without accounting for student loan repayments.

The median monthly pay in the UK is £2,207, or £26,484 yearly, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and HMRC. The higher your income rises above this median pay level, the more comfortably you can expect to live across the UK. If we toss that median monthly pay into our UK salary calculator, it comes out to around £1,836 after-tax.

However, it's best to take your specific location's median pay into account. For instance, the average pay in inner London and outer London varies from £2,191 in Enfield to £3,412 in Wandsworth (after tax, that's £1,825 and £2,656 respectively). We can infer from this that living expenses vary quite a bit too. This nuance is lost if we just look at London as a whole, which has an average (median) salary of £2,641 — after tax that's £2,131 a month.

If you want to learn about the costs of home ownership, groceries, utilities and more, head over to our Costs of Living in London article where we discuss all that in great detail.

The average (mean) salary in the UK is £638 a week, £2,765 a month, or £33,176 a year according to ONS and HMRC. However, averages tend to skew toward high-income individuals. For a more dependable estimation, we can look at the median gross salary in the UK, which is £26,484 a year, or £2,207 monthly.

To more clearly illustrate what most individuals in the UK earn, we've compiled a before- and after-tax monthly earnings table with thirteen major cities. The starkest difference is between London's £2,641 monthly pay (£2,131 after-tax) and Leicester's £1,829 (£1,579 after-tax). Other major cities that break over the £2,000 before-tax threshold include Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Southampton, Liverpool, Sheffield, Bristol, Belfast, and Edinburgh.

The UK enforces a National Living Wage for workers aged over 23 and a National Minimum Wage for those of at least school-leaving age (starting at 16 depending on where you live). As of April 2023, the National Living Wage is £10.42 an hour. The National Minimum Wage is £10.18 for ages 21 to 22, £7.49 for ages 18 to 20, £5.28 for ages under 18 and apprentices.

Assuming a 37.5-hour work week, the National Living Wage for a 23-year-old is £391 a week, £1,693 a month, or £20,319 a year. Using our UK take-home pay calculator, that comes out to £1,487 a month after-tax, in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland, and slightly more in Scotland, where the monthly take-home pay would sit at £1,489.

If you are employed in the UK, then you usually pay all your taxes through the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) scheme. This means that your employer will automatically deduct income tax, National Insurance contributions, and any student loan repayments from your gross salary.

If your taxes are collected through PAYE, then you generally don't have to file a tax return, but it's important to note that your employer figures out your tax liability based on your P45 form. If you're self-employed, then you need to complete a self-assessment tax return.

Regularly reviewing your payslips is crucial to make sure you're not overpaying on taxes. Find out how to legally reduce your tax bill in our 9 Tips to Lower Your Tax Bill article.

If you have a UK student loan, after you complete your studies and earn over a certain threshold, you must start repaying your loan. Your assigned repayment plan, which depends on when and where you took out the loan, determines the repayment rate (either 9% or 6% of your gross salary) and threshold (from £21,000 to £27,660).

The table below lists the different repayment plans, eligibility criteria, thresholds, and contribution rates. Note that if you work multiple jobs, each job is considered separately towards paying back your student loan. Your plan also determines your loan's interest rate, however any remaining debt is written off after a period of 25 to 40 years. For complete information on UK student loans, refer to the government's comprehensive guide.

Taxes in the UK are overseen by His Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC). In this UK salary calculator, we account for the two major tax expenses that UK wage-earners can expect:

• Income Tax: The UK income tax system is based on marginal tax rates, so your total taxes due will depend on how much of your income falls within each tax band. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, your first £12,570 is tax-free. A 20% tax rate is applied up to £50,270, a 40% tax rate up to £125,140, and a 45% tax rate for all additional income. For Scotland, the tax rates differ and can be found on the government's Income Tax in Scotland page.
• National Insurance (NI): If you're older than 16 and are making more than £242 a week, then you have to make an NI contribution. These contributions qualify you for State Pension and additional benefits like Jobseeker's Allowance.