Salary Calculator UK

Tax Year: 2024 – 2025

If you live in the UK and earn a gross annual salary of £35,204, or £2,934 per month, your monthly net salary will be £2,406. This results in an effective tax rate of 18%, as estimated by our UK salary calculator.

The table below breaks down the taxes and contributions levied on these employment earnings in the UK.

The following chart outlines your earnings relative to the national average salary and minimum wage in the UK. These are annual, pre-tax figures, calculated assuming full-time employment.

The average salary in the UK is £2,934 per month, or £35,204 per year before tax, according to ONS and HMRC. However, averages can be skewed by high-income earners. For a more reliable estimate, we can look at the median gross salary in the UK, which stands at £2,342 per month, or £28,104 per year.

To more clearly illustrate what most individuals in the UK earn, we've compiled a before- and after-tax earnings table for some of the country's largest urban areas.

The UK enforces a National Living Wage of £11.44 per hour for workers aged over 21, and a National Minimum Wage for those of at least school-leaving age: £8.60 per hour for ages 18 to 20, and £6.40 per hour for those under 18 and apprentices.

Assuming a 37.5-hour work week, the National Living Wage for a 21-year-old is £22,308 a year. According to our UK take-home pay calculator, this translates to a monthly pay of £1,632 after tax.

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.

Taxes in the UK are overseen by His Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC). In our UK salary calculator, we account for the following 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 more details, including differences in taxation for Scotland compared to England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, please refer to the official government Income Tax 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.
• Student Loan: 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 and threshold.
• Workplace Pension: If you're employed in the UK, you likely participate in an "auto-enrolment" workplace pension scheme. A minimum of 8% of your qualifying gross earnings goes into this scheme, with your employer contributing at least 3%. You can choose to increase your contribution, and your employer will typically match it. Additionally, you benefit from tax relief, with investments growing tax-free until retirement.