Where does your salary actually rank in the UK?

The median gross annual salary for full-time employees in the UK was £37,430 as of April 2024 (the most recent ASHE data). This is the midpoint: half of all full-time employees earn more, and half earn less. The mean is higher, approximately £42,000, because it is pulled upward by very high earners. The 2025 figure, based on ASHE data collected in April 2025, will be published in October or November 2025. This calculator is updated within 30 days of each ASHE release.

The median gross annual salary for full-time employees in London is approximately £44,500, based on ASHE 2024 data. This is roughly £7,000 higher than the national median of £37,430. However, London's higher salary must be weighed against dramatically higher living costs. Average monthly rent in London exceeds £2,000, compared to £700-£900 in many northern cities. A salary that places you at the 75th percentile nationally may only reach the 50th-55th percentile within London. The calculator shows both national and regional percentile.

A £40,000 gross annual salary places you above the national median of £37,430 for full-time employees, at approximately the 55th-58th percentile nationally. In a YouGov survey, 60% of UK adults earning £40,000 described their income as "average" or "below average," despite being above the midpoint. In London, £40,000 sits below the local median of £44,500. Outside London, £40,000 provides comfortable purchasing power in most regions. Whether it feels "good" depends heavily on your location, household size, housing costs, and personal financial commitments.

The median figure of £37,430 is for full-time employees only. Part-time employees have a significantly lower median gross annual salary, partly because they work fewer hours and partly because part-time roles are concentrated in lower-paying sectors. Including part-time workers produces a lower overall median. The ASHE data separates full-time and part-time employees, and this calculator defaults to full-time comparisons. If you work part-time, the comparison against full-time data would artificially deflate your percentile. Always compare like with like.

The mean (average) UK salary for full-time employees is approximately £42,000, while the median is £37,430. This gap exists because income distributions are right-skewed: a small number of very high earners pull the mean upward while having no effect on the median. The median is always the more appropriate benchmark for individual comparison. When news outlets report "average salary," check whether they mean the mean or the median, as the distinction can shift the benchmark by several thousand pounds and significantly change how people interpret their own position.

The gender pay gap for full-time UK employees stands at approximately 19.8% (ASHE 2024). The median gross annual salary for men is approximately £40,400 versus £32,400 for women. If you are a woman earning £37,430, you are at the overall median but well above the median for women specifically. The gap is widest among workers aged 40-59 and in finance, construction, and technology. Among full-time employees under 30, the gap narrows to below 5% and in some roles is near zero or reversed. Understanding this context is important when interpreting your percentile result.

No. The ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings is based on HMRC PAYE records and covers employees only. Approximately 4.2 million self-employed workers in the UK (around 15% of the workforce) are excluded. Self-employed income distributions differ substantially from employee income: the self-employed have both lower median earnings and a much wider spread, with many earning very little and a smaller proportion earning very high incomes. If you are self-employed, your percentile from this calculator should be interpreted as where you would rank among employees, not among the entire working population.

The ASHE dataset is published annually, typically in October or November, covering pay in April of that year. There is always a 6-7 month lag between the reference period and publication. Between ASHE releases, HMRC publishes monthly PAYE Real Time Information statistics that provide median monthly pay by region, offering more timely but less granular estimates. This calculator is updated within 30 days of each ASHE release, and the data source date is shown in the result panel so you always know which survey period your percentile is based on.

The primary source for this calculator is the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), which surveys approximately 180,000 employees annually using HMRC PAYE records as its sampling frame. For additional context on total income distribution, HMRC also publishes the Survey of Personal Incomes (SPI), which covers the entire UK taxpayer population, millions of individual tax records rather than a survey sample. The SPI is census-based and captures full-time employees, part-time workers, self-employed individuals, and those with multiple income sources. While ASHE remains the standard benchmark for employee pay percentiles, the HMRC SPI eliminates sampling error entirely and provides a complete picture of UK income distribution across all taxpayer types. Both sources are UK Official Statistics and are published annually. (Source: HMRC Survey of Personal Incomes 2023–2024, published April 2026; ONS ASHE 2024)

Yes, substantially. ASHE 2024 data shows median full-time salaries ranging from around £22,000 in accommodation and food services to over £70,000 in financial and insurance activities. Technology and professional services typically sit in the £45,000 to £55,000 median range, while health and education sit closer to £35,000 to £40,000 for the workforce as a whole. Occupation matters as much as industry: a software developer in the public sector earns a materially different salary from one in fintech, even within the same broad sector classification. The calculator's regional filter captures some of this variation, since high-paying industries cluster in London and the South East, but the underlying driver is occupation and industry rather than geography.

A gross annual salary of £50,000 places a full-time UK employee at approximately the 78th to 80th percentile nationally, based on ONS ASHE 2024 data. That means it is higher than around four in five full-time employees. In London, the same salary sits closer to the 60th to 65th percentile because London's earnings distribution is shifted significantly upward. Note that £50,270 is also the threshold at which income tax rises from the basic rate (20%) to the higher rate (40%), meaning £50,000 sits just below the higher-rate band. UK income distribution, wealth benchmarks, and savings data are compiled on the net worth statistics page.

To reach the top 25% of full-time UK employees, you need a gross annual salary of approximately £51,200 or more, based on ONS ASHE 2024 data. This is the 75th percentile threshold. To put that in context, the top quarter of full-time earners begins at a salary that many people assume is comfortably middle class rather than upper-quartile. Among all workers including part-time, the 75th percentile is considerably lower, around £30,000 to £35,000, because part-time roles are concentrated at the lower end of the pay distribution. The form above allows you to filter by employment type to see how you compare against the most relevant group for your situation.