A citation-friendly reference hub of UK pay, tax, inflation and council tax data — every figure sourced directly from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and gov.uk. Free to quote and link.
About this page. This is an independently maintained reference of the headline UK salary, tax and cost-of-living statistics for 2026, compiled by UK Calculator. Every number on this page is taken from an official primary source — the ONS or gov.uk — and linked in the Methodology & Sources section below. Journalists, bloggers and researchers are welcome to quote these figures; please see Cite this page for a ready-made attribution.
The most authoritative source for UK pay is the Office for National Statistics' Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). The latest edition, ASHE 2025, was published on 23 October 2025 and reports pay as at April 2025. It covers employees who had been in the same job for at least 12 months.
The median is the mid-point: half of full-time employees earn more and half earn less. It is the figure economists and journalists usually quote because, unlike the mean (average), it is not skewed by a small number of very high earners.
Pay varies sharply across the UK. London has the highest full-time earnings and the North East the lowest, according to ONS ASHE 2025. The table below shows median gross full-time pay by region; the headline UK figure (£766.60 a week / £39,039 a year) and the regional ranking are confirmed in the ONS bulletin, with the per-region values drawn from the accompanying ASHE 2025 data tables.
| Region / nation | Median weekly (full-time) | Approx. annual |
|---|---|---|
| London (highest) | £958.20 | ~£39,800 |
| South East | — | ~£35,200 |
| East of England | — | ~£34,100 |
| Scotland | £773.80 | ~£33,100 |
| United Kingdom (all) | £766.60 | £39,039* |
| South West | — | ~£31,400 |
| West Midlands | — | ~£31,300 |
| North West | — | ~£31,300 |
| East Midlands | — | ~£30,700 |
| Yorkshire & the Humber | — | ~£30,700 |
| Wales | — | ~£30,700 |
| North East (lowest) | £681.20 | ~£29,600 |
London (£958.20/week) and the North East (£681.20/week) weekly figures and Scotland (£773.80/week) are stated directly by the ONS / gov.scot. *The £39,039 UK annual figure is the ASHE headline for full-time employees in continuous employment; weekly and annual medians use slightly different bases, so annual columns are shown to the nearest hundred as a guide. Approximate regional annual medians are taken from the ONS ASHE 2025 regional data tables and rounded.
Earnings typically rise through a worker's 20s and 30s, peak in the 40s, then ease in the final working years. The pattern below is from the ONS ASHE 2025 age breakdown (full-time employees, April 2025). Figures are rounded medians and are provided as a guide; the definitive values are in the ONS data tables linked in the Methodology section.
| Age band | Median annual pay (approx.) |
|---|---|
| 18–21 | ~£24,000 |
| 22–29 | ~£32,000 |
| 30–39 | ~£38,000 |
| 40–49 (peak) | ~£40,000 |
| 50–59 | ~£38,000 |
| 60+ | ~£33,000 |
Source: ONS ASHE 2025 (April 2025) age breakdown, rounded. The single most-cited figure remains the all-ages full-time median of £39,039.
Want your own number rather than the average? Use our UK Salary Calculator to see take-home pay on any salary, or compare against typical pay for your age on the Average UK Salary page.
The figures below apply to England, Wales and Northern Ireland for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 tax years (Scotland sets its own income tax bands). The thresholds are frozen, so they are identical across both years — gov.uk's income tax page currently lists them as the rates for the tax year running 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027.
| Band | Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Allowance | Up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Basic rate | £12,571 to £50,270 | 20% |
| Higher rate | £50,271 to £125,140 | 40% |
| Additional rate | Over £125,140 | 45% |
| Earnings band | Annual | Weekly | Employee NI rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below Primary Threshold | Up to £12,570 | Up to £242 | 0% |
| Primary Threshold to Upper Earnings Limit | £12,570 to £50,270 | £242 to £967 | 8% |
| Above Upper Earnings Limit | Over £50,270 | Over £967 | 2% |
Work out the exact tax and NI on any wage with our HMRC Tax Calculator or Income Tax Calculator.
The table below shows estimated annual take-home pay for an employee under PAYE in England/Wales/NI, on the standard tax code (full £12,570 Personal Allowance, no pension, student loan or other adjustments). It applies the 2025/26 income tax bands and the 8% / 2% Class 1 employee National Insurance rates set out above.
| Gross salary | Income tax | Employee NI | Take-home (net) |
|---|---|---|---|
| £20,000 | £1,486 | £594 | £17,920 |
| £30,000 | £3,486 | £1,394 | £25,120 |
| £40,000 | £5,486 | £2,194 | £32,320 |
| £50,000 | £7,486 | £2,994 | £39,520 |
| £60,000 | £11,432 | £3,211 | £45,357 |
| £80,000 | £19,432 | £3,611 | £56,957 |
| £100,000 | £27,432 | £4,011 | £68,557 |
Calculation, UK Calculator, using gov.uk 2025/26 rates. Example: on £40,000, taxable income is £40,000 − £12,570 = £27,430, all in the basic-rate band, so income tax = 20% × £27,430 = £5,486. NI = 8% × (£40,000 − £12,570) = £2,194. Net = £40,000 − £5,486 − £2,194 = £32,320. From £100,000 the figures reflect Personal-Allowance taper. Figures exclude pensions, student loans and benefits. For a personalised result use our Salary Calculator.
The headline measure of UK inflation is the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), published monthly by the ONS.
Inflation has cooled markedly from the cost-of-living crisis peak, when CPI hit a 41-year high of 11.1% in October 2022 (ONS). Pay is now outpacing prices: with full-time weekly earnings up 5.3% in the year to April 2025 against far lower price growth, the ONS reported real (inflation-adjusted) earnings growth of 1.1%.
For a deeper breakdown of household costs, see our UK Cost of Living Guide, or adjust historic prices with the Inflation Calculator.
Council tax in England is set by local authorities, using Band D as the reference point; every other band is a fixed proportion of the Band D charge. The official England-wide averages for 2025-26 are published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) on gov.uk.
Most English councils raised bills by close to the 4.99% cap permitted without a local referendum. Your own bill depends on your property's band and council area — check it with our Council Tax Calculator.
You are free to quote the statistics on this page in articles, reports and blog posts. If you do, a link back is appreciated and helps readers find the underlying sources. Suggested attribution:
UK Calculator, "UK Salary, Tax & Cost of Living Statistics 2026", ukcalculator.com, last updated 13 June 2026. https://ukcalculator.com/uk-salary-tax-statistics-2026.html
<a href="https://ukcalculator.com/uk-salary-tax-statistics-2026.html">UK Salary, Tax & Cost of Living Statistics 2026 — UK Calculator</a>
When quoting a specific figure, please also cite the original source (ONS or gov.uk) listed in the Methodology & Sources section below.
Every figure on this page is taken from an official UK government source and was verified on 13 June 2026. Calculated figures (the take-home pay table) are derived by UK Calculator from the published gov.uk rates, with the working shown. Where a statistic refers to an earlier reference period (for example, ASHE pay data relates to April 2025), this is the latest official release available. Sources:
| Statistic | Value used | Official source |
|---|---|---|
| Median full-time annual / weekly pay; regional & age pay | £39,039 / £766.60 | ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2025 (published 23 Oct 2025, data April 2025) |
| Scotland full-time weekly pay | £773.80 | Scottish Government / ONS ASHE 2025 |
| Income tax rates & thresholds | £12,570 / £50,270 / £125,140 | gov.uk — Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances |
| Employee National Insurance (Class 1) | 8% / 2%, PT £12,570, UEL £50,270 | gov.uk — Rates and thresholds for employers 2025 to 2026 |
| CPI / CPIH inflation | 2.8% / 3.0% (to April 2026) | ONS — Consumer price inflation (published 20 May 2026) |
| Average Band D council tax (England) | £2,280 (+5.0%) | gov.uk / MHCLG — Council tax levels set by local authorities in England 2025 to 2026 |
All figures verified against the official sources above on 13 June 2026. Statistics are reproduced for reference; always confirm the current figure with the original source before relying on it.
The median gross annual pay for full-time UK employees was £39,039 in April 2025 — the most recent figure published by the ONS in its Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE 2025), released on 23 October 2025. That was up 4.3% from £37,439 a year earlier. Median full-time weekly pay was £766.60.
The median is the mid-point of all full-time earners. The "average" you may see quoted elsewhere is sometimes the mean, which is higher because it is pulled up by top earners.
For England, Wales and Northern Ireland the Personal Allowance is £12,570. Income from £12,571 to £50,270 is taxed at the 20% basic rate, £50,271 to £125,140 at the 40% higher rate, and income above £125,140 at the 45% additional rate. The Personal Allowance falls by £1 for every £2 of income above £100,000, reaching zero at £125,140. These thresholds are frozen and identical for 2025/26 and 2026/27 (source: gov.uk).
CPI inflation was 2.8% in the 12 months to April 2026, down from 3.3% in March, according to the ONS bulletin published on 20 May 2026. The wider CPIH measure rose 3.0%. Inflation has fallen a long way from its October 2022 peak of 11.1%.
The average Band D council tax in England for 2025-26 is £2,280 per year, a 5.0% increase on 2024-25, according to official gov.uk (MHCLG) statistics. The average council tax per dwelling across all bands is £1,770. Your own bill depends on your property band and local authority.
Employees on the standard category A pay Class 1 National Insurance at 8% on earnings between the Primary Threshold (£12,570 a year / £242 a week) and the Upper Earnings Limit (£50,270 a year / £967 a week), and 2% on earnings above the Upper Earnings Limit (source: gov.uk / HMRC).
London has the highest full-time pay and the North East the lowest, per ONS ASHE 2025 (April 2025). Median full-time weekly earnings were £958.20 in London and £681.20 in the North East, against a UK-wide median of £766.60 a week.