UK Take-Home Pay & Rent Reality Index 2026
What's actually left over after Income Tax, National Insurance and rent – by region. An original index built from real ONS data, not a survey or an estimate.
Published: 5 July 2026 · Earnings data: ONS ASHE, April 2025 (released 23 Oct 2025) · Rent data: ONS PIPR, 12 months to May 2026 (released 17 Jun 2026) · Tax rules: 2026/27
On this page
The Reality Index: disposable income by UK region, 2026
Ranked from the region where a median full-time earner keeps the most disposable income after average rent, to the least. "Disposable income after rent" assumes one full-time earner covers the region's average monthly private rent alone – see methodology for exactly how this is worked out, and caveats for what it deliberately leaves out.
| Rank | Region | Median gross FT pay (2025) | Take-home after tax+NI (annual) | Avg monthly rent | Disposable income after rent | Rent as % of take-home |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scotland | £39,719 | £32,117 | £1,009 | 37.7% | |
| 2 | Northern Ireland | £37,052 | £30,197 | £876 | 34.8% | |
| 3 | Wales | £35,796 | £29,293 | £836 | 34.2% | |
| 4 | North East | £34,403 | £28,290 | £776 | 32.9% | |
| 5 | North West | £37,361 | £30,420 | £954 | 37.6% | |
| 6 | Yorkshire and The Humber | £35,682 | £29,211 | £856 | 35.2% | |
| 7 | West Midlands | £37,064 | £30,206 | £966 | 38.4% | |
| 8 | East Midlands | £35,600 | £29,152 | £914 | 37.6% | |
| 9 | East of England | £38,597 | £31,309 | £1,280 | 49.1% | |
| 10 | South West | £37,195 | £30,300 | £1,234 | 48.9% | |
| 11 | South East | £39,983 | £32,307 | £1,418 | 52.7% | |
| — | UK average (benchmark) | £39,039 | £31,628 | £1,383 | 52.5% | |
| 12 | London | £49,692 | £39,298 | £2,294 | 70.0% |
Disposable income after rent is shown per month for readability (annual ÷ 12); the underlying calculation is annual. Bars are scaled to the highest value (Scotland = 100%).
5 findings that surprised us
1. London pays the most but keeps the least
London's median full-time gross pay (£49,692) is the highest of any UK region by a wide margin. But its average rent (£2,294/month) swallows 70% of take-home pay – the highest share anywhere in the UK – leaving just £981 a month disposable. That is the lowest figure in this Index, below every other region including the three lowest-paid nations and regions.
2. Scotland and South East earn almost the same – but Scotland keeps £393/month more
Scotland's median gross pay (£39,719) is within £264 a year of the South East's (£39,983) – effectively a tie. Yet Scotland's average rent (£1,009/month) is 29% lower than the South East's (£1,418/month), which is enough to swing disposable income after rent from £1,274/month in the South East to £1,667/month in Scotland – a £393/month, or £4,718/year, gap on near-identical pay.
3. The lowest-paid region isn't the worst off
The North East has the lowest median full-time gross pay in the UK (£34,403, £4,636 below the UK average). But because its average rent (£776/month) is also the cheapest in the country, North East workers retain £1,581/month disposable – almost £300/month more than the UK-average worker (£1,253/month), who earns more but rents in a costlier area.
4. Higher pay in the South East and East of England is cancelled out by rent
Both the South East and East of England have above-UK-average gross pay. But both also carry above-average rent (£1,418 and £1,280/month respectively), which pushes their disposable-income rank below every other English region except London – and below all three devolved nations.
5. Rent's share of take-home pay ranges from 33% to 70% – more than double
In the North East, average rent takes 32.9% of a median earner's take-home pay. In London, it takes 70.0%. That 2.1x spread, on top of the pay difference itself, is the single biggest driver of the disposable-income gap between UK regions in 2026.
Methodology: how every figure was calculated
Step 1 – Median gross annual pay (real ONS data, not estimated)
Median gross annual pay for full-time employee jobs, by region of workplace, April 2025 (provisional). Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), dataset table WGOR Age.7a "Annual pay – Gross", within Earnings and hours worked, UK region by age group, released 23 October 2025 as part of Employee earnings in the UK: 2025. We use the "All ages, full-time" row for each region – the same headline figure ONS itself quotes in its bulletin.
Step 2 – Take-home pay after Income Tax and employee National Insurance (2026/27 rules)
We apply the same UK-wide (England / Wales / Northern Ireland) Income Tax and Class 1 employee National Insurance rules to every region's median gross pay, so that regions are compared on a like-for-like basis. Figures verified directly from GOV.UK:
Sources: GOV.UK, Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances (gov.uk/income-tax-rates) and GOV.UK, Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 (gov.uk/guidance/rates-and-thresholds-for-employers-2026-to-2027), both current as published for the 2026/27 tax year. Note that every region's median full-time gross pay in this dataset falls below the £50,270 higher-rate/Upper Earnings Limit threshold – including London's £49,692 – so no region's median earner crosses into the 40% tax band or the 2% NI band on this figure alone.
Step 3 – Average monthly private rent (real ONS data, not estimated)
Average monthly private rent by region, 12 months to May 2026 (Northern Ireland: 12 months to March 2026, the latest period ONS has published for NI at the time of writing – see note below). Source: ONS, Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics, 17 June 2026 edition, "Rental price" (all property types, all bedroom counts combined), as published alongside the bulletin Private rent and house prices, UK: June 2026 (released 17 June 2026).
Step 4 – Disposable income after rent
This assumes a single full-time median earner is solely responsible for the region's average rent – a deliberately simple, transparent, "worst case for a solo renter" scenario. See what this index does not show for why real households will often do better (or, in a few high-rent pockets, worse) than this.
Scotland footnote – Scottish Income Tax is different. The main table above uses UK-wide (England/Wales/NI) Income Tax bands for every region, including Scotland, purely for consistent comparison. In reality the Scottish Government sets its own Income Tax bands. Applying the actual 2026/27 Scottish bands (Starter 19% to £16,537, Basic 20% to £29,526, Intermediate 21% to £43,662, Higher 42% to £75,000, Advanced 45% to £125,140, Top 48% above – source: mygov.scot, Scottish Income Tax current rates) to Scotland's median gross pay of £39,719 gives take-home pay of £32,055 – £62/year (about £5/month) lower than the £32,117 shown in the main table, because the extra 21% Intermediate band takes slightly more than the UK-wide 20% basic rate at this income level. National Insurance is unchanged, as it is set at UK level regardless of where in the UK someone lives.
What this index does not show
- Workplace, not home, geography for pay. ASHE's regional earnings are recorded by where people work, not where they live. A meaningful share of people who work in London commute in from the South East or East of England and pay rent there, not in London – so this is a "if you both work and rent in the same region" comparison, not a perfect model of any individual's finances.
- Full-time employees only. ASHE excludes the self-employed, part-time workers and anyone not in employee PAYE jobs, so it does not represent the whole regional workforce.
- One earner, average-size home, full rent alone. ONS's rental figure covers all property sizes combined in that region. Sharing a home, renting a smaller property, or living with a partner who also earns would leave considerably more disposable income than shown here; this Index deliberately models the simplest, most conservative single-earner scenario.
- No pension contributions, student loan repayments, childcare costs or Council Tax. This is strictly income tax + employee NI vs. rent – nothing else is deducted, so real-world disposable income for most households will be lower than shown here once those additional, individual-specific costs are included.
- ASHE 2025 figures are provisional. ONS typically revises these once in the following year's release; we will update this page when the 2025 revised or 2026 provisional results are published.
- Northern Ireland rent lags by two months. ONS notes NI rental data is not available for the latest two months at any given release and is instead estimated for UK totals; the NI-specific figure used here (£876) is the latest actually-published NI figure (March 2026), not an estimate.
- Wide regional averages hide local extremes. Within every region there is enormous variation – London rent alone ranges from under £1,000/month in outer boroughs to over £3,600/month in Kensington and Chelsea. A single regional average cannot capture this.
Full source list
- Median gross annual pay by region (full-time, April 2025, provisional): Office for National Statistics, Earnings and hours worked, UK region by age group (table WGOR Age.7a, "Annual pay – Gross", 2025 provisional edition), part of Employee earnings in the UK: 2025, released 23 October 2025.
- Average monthly private rent by region (12 months to May 2026; NI to March 2026): Office for National Statistics, Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics (17 June 2026 edition), part of Private rent and house prices, UK: June 2026, released 17 June 2026.
- Income Tax rates, bands and Personal Allowance, 2026/27: GOV.UK – Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances.
- Employee National Insurance thresholds and rates, 2026/27: GOV.UK – Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027.
- Scottish Income Tax bands, 2026/27 (footnote calculation): mygov.scot – Scottish Income Tax current rates.
Cite this data
This Index is original analysis published only on ukcalculator.com. If you reference these figures, please link back to this page so readers can check the full methodology and sources.
Embed HTML:
Frequently asked questions
What is the UK Take-Home Pay & Rent Reality Index?
It is an original calculation, published only on this site, showing how much disposable income is left in each UK region after a full-time median earner pays Income Tax, employee National Insurance and the region's average private rent. It combines ONS earnings data with ONS rental data and transparent 2026/27 tax rules.
Which UK region has the highest take-home pay after rent?
On this Index, Scotland ranks first for disposable income after rent (about £1,667 a month) despite having below-average gross pay, because its average rent is comparatively low. London has the highest gross and take-home pay but the lowest disposable income after rent (about £981 a month) once its rent is paid.
Does this use real ONS data?
Yes. Median gross annual pay is from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2025 provisional results, and average rent is from the ONS Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR), UK, 17 June 2026 edition. Every figure is cited with its exact source and release date in the methodology section above.
Why does London have less disposable income despite higher pay?
London's median full-time gross pay (£49,692) is the highest in the UK, but its average private rent (£2,294 a month) is also far higher than anywhere else, absorbing about 70% of take-home pay. After rent, that leaves less disposable income than lower-paying regions with cheaper housing.