Average salary in the United Kingdom 2026: GBP 39,039 median a year
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The median gross annual salary of full-time employees in the United Kingdom who had been in the same job for at least a year was GBP 39,039 in April 2025 (provisional), according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, published October 23, 2025 and still the latest edition in October 2026. That is about $52,060 a year at the European Central Bank rate of October 16, 2026. Measured weekly, the full-time median was GBP 766.60, up 5.3% on April 2024. An employer paying the median adds GBP 6,089.82 a year in employer National Insurance and minimum workplace pension contributions at 2026 to 2027 rates, before any employer of record fee.
The UK average salary most often quoted is the ONS median: the middle annual gross pay of full-time employees who had been in the same job for at least a year.
- Average salary (median)
- GBP 39,039gross, a year
- In US dollars
- about $52,060a year
- Year
- 2025 (April 2025, provisional; latest ASHE)Full-time employees in the UK who had been in the...
- Source
- ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and...
On this page
What the GBP 39,039 figure counts
It is a median, not a mean: half of full-time employees earned more and half earned less. It is gross pay, before income tax, employee National Insurance and pension deductions. It covers UK full-time employees in the same job for at least a year, as of April 2025. It is provisional; ASHE 2026 was not out when we checked on October 18, 2026.
Monthly, GBP 39,039 divided by 12 is GBP 3,253.25 before deductions. Do not multiply the weekly median by 52 to get the annual one: that gives GBP 39,863.20, because the weekly median covers all full-time employees while the annual median counts only those who had been in the same job for at least a year.
The full-time median was GBP 807.67 a week in the public sector and GBP 752.28 in the private sector. The bulletin publishes no mean, and regional and industry levels sit in ASHE tables we have not read, so we print no figures for London, Scotland or single industries.
Employer cost of a median UK salary
Two employer charges apply to almost every UK employee, at HMRC rates for April 6, 2026 to April 5, 2027:
- Employer Class 1 National Insurance: 15% on pay above GBP 5,000 a year, with no upper limit. On GBP 39,039: GBP 34,039 x 15% = GBP 5,105.85.
- Auto-enrollment pension: at least 3% of qualifying earnings between GBP 6,240 and GBP 50,270. On GBP 39,039: GBP 32,799 x 3% = GBP 983.97.
Together that is GBP 6,089.82, or 15.60% of salary, for an all-in cost of GBP 45,128.82 a year before benefits or bonuses. Eligible employers can deduct the Employment Allowance of up to GBP 10,500 a year from their National Insurance bill. Our UK employer of record cost breakdown runs the same math on a GBP 30,000 salary.
An employer of record (EOR) fee is separate: list prices run from $99 a month (Native Teams, whose help center says EUR 99) to $699 (Oyster), checked October 16 and 18, 2026; Deel lists $599. The EOR cost index compares the employer share across countries.
Median pay against the National Living Wage
The National Living Wage is GBP 12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over from April 1, 2026. With no standard hours in law, take a 37.5-hour week: GBP 12.71 x 37.5 x 52 = GBP 24,784.50 a year. The April 2025 median of GBP 39,039 is about 1.58 times that, though the two figures are a year apart. Rates for younger workers and apprentices are on our UK minimum wage page.
Full-time staff also get 5.6 weeks of paid holiday, 28 days on a five-day week; see the UK leave rules.
Before you make an offer
Without a UK company, compare providers in our best EOR ranking or weigh EOR versus your own entity. Nearby: pay in Ireland and pay in France.
Frequently asked questions
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Sources (17)
- Office for National Statistics: Employee earnings in the UK: 2025 (ASHE) (checked Oct 18, 2026)
- European Central Bank: Euro foreign exchange reference rates (rates for Oct 16, 2026)
- GOV.UK (HMRC): Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 (checked Oct 18, 2026)
- GOV.UK: Workplace pensions: what you, your employer and the government pay (checked Oct 2026)
- Payoneer Workforce Management (formerly Skuad): Skuad pricing (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- Deel: Deel pricing (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- Oyster: Oyster pricing (checked Oct 16, 2026)
- Native Teams: Pricing (checked Oct 18, 2026)
- Native Teams: Pricing plans, features, benefits and how they work (help center) (checked Oct 18, 2026)
- GOV.UK National Minimum Wage rates: GOV.UK National Minimum Wage rates (checked October 18, 2026)
- GOV.UK LPC remit 2026: GOV.UK LPC remit 2026 (checked October 18, 2026)
- GOV.UK Maternity leave: GOV.UK Maternity leave (checked October 18, 2026)
- GOV.UK Maternity pay: GOV.UK Maternity pay (checked October 18, 2026)
- GOV.UK Paternity eligibility: GOV.UK Paternity eligibility (checked October 18, 2026)
- GOV.UK Statutory Sick Pay: GOV.UK Statutory Sick Pay (checked October 18, 2026)
- GOV.UK SSP eligibility: GOV.UK SSP eligibility (checked October 18, 2026)
- GOV.UK SSP for employers: GOV.UK SSP for employers (checked October 18, 2026)
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