Salary Calculator UK 2025

Our UK salary calculator uses the official HMRC tax rates and thresholds for 2025/26 to calculate your take home pay. Simply enter your annual gross salary, select your tax region (England/Wales/NI or Scotland), set your pension contribution, and choose any applicable student loan plan. The salary calculator instantly shows your net pay after all deductions including income tax, National Insurance, student loan repayments and pension contributions.

To calculate your take home pay in the UK, you need to deduct income tax, National Insurance, any student loan repayments, and pension contributions from your gross salary. Our salary calculator does this automatically. For example, on a £35,000 salary with standard settings, you'd take home approximately £2,299 per month after all deductions. The exact amount depends on your tax code, region, and personal circumstances.

The personal allowance for 2025/26 is £12,570. This is the amount you can earn before paying any income tax. However, your personal allowance reduces by £1 for every £2 you earn above £100,000, meaning it's completely removed at £125,140. Our salary calculator automatically accounts for this taper when calculating your take home pay.

On a £50,000 salary in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, you would pay approximately £7,486 in income tax (20% on earnings between £12,571 and £50,000). You would also pay around £2,996 in National Insurance. Use our salary calculator to see the exact breakdown including any pension contributions or student loan repayments you may have.

The 60% tax trap affects earners between £100,000 and £125,140. In this bracket, your personal allowance is gradually withdrawn (£1 for every £2 earned over £100k), effectively creating a 60% marginal tax rate (40% income tax + 20% effective rate from lost allowance). Our salary calculator shows your marginal tax rate so you can see this effect. Contributing more to your pension can help avoid this trap.

Scotland has its own income tax rates with more bands than the rest of the UK. Scottish taxpayers have a 19% starter rate, 20% basic rate, 21% intermediate rate, 42% higher rate, 45% advanced rate, and 48% top rate. This means higher earners in Scotland generally pay more tax than in England, while lower earners may pay slightly less. Our salary calculator lets you switch between regions to compare.

Pension contributions through salary sacrifice reduce your taxable income, meaning you pay less income tax and National Insurance. For example, a 5% pension contribution on a £40,000 salary saves you approximately £500 per year in tax and NI, while putting £2,000 into your pension. Our salary calculator shows how different pension percentages affect your take home pay and total deductions.

Plan 1 is for students who started before September 2012 in England/Wales, or any time in Scotland/Northern Ireland. Plan 2 is for those who started September 2012 or later in England/Wales. Plan 4 is specifically for Scottish students. Plan 5 is for courses starting August 2023 or later in England. Check your student loan statement or Student Loans Company account to confirm your plan.

The UK median salary is approximately £35,000 per year. A salary above £50,000 would put you in the top 25% of earners, while £75,000+ puts you in the top 10%. What constitutes a "good" salary depends on your location (London requires higher salaries due to cost of living), your career stage, and personal circumstances. Use our salary calculator to see what different salary levels mean in terms of actual take home pay.

Our UK salary calculator uses the official 2025/26 HMRC tax rates and thresholds, providing highly accurate estimates for most employees. However, your actual take home pay may vary slightly due to factors like your specific tax code, benefits in kind, salary sacrifice schemes other than pension, or other personal circumstances. For precise figures, consult your payslip or speak to your employer's payroll department.

Gross salary is your total salary before any deductions - this is usually what job adverts quote. Net salary (also called take home pay) is what you actually receive in your bank account after tax, National Insurance, pension contributions and any student loan repayments have been deducted. For example, a £35,000 gross salary would give you approximately £27,590 net salary per year.

To calculate monthly salary from annual, simply divide by 12. For example, £36,000 ÷ 12 = £3,000 gross monthly. For monthly take home pay, you need to account for tax and NI deductions - use our monthly salary calculator to see your exact net monthly figure. On £36,000, you'd take home approximately £2,392 per month after standard deductions.

Pro rata salary is the proportional salary you earn when working part-time hours instead of full-time. Calculate it by: (Full-time salary ÷ Full-time hours) × Your hours. For example, if a job pays £30,000 full-time (37.5 hrs) and you work 25 hours, your pro rata salary is (£30,000 ÷ 37.5) × 25 = £20,000. Use our pro rata calculator to work out your exact take home pay.