Moneyzine
/Resources/Statistics on the Average Salary in the UK

Statistics on the Average Salary in the UK

Check out the statistics below to find out the latest data on the average salary in the UK, as well as valuable insights into the average salaries in different regions, age groups, and genders. We will also provide you with information about the average salaries in different industries, sectors, and occupations.
Hristina Nikolovska
Author: 
Hristina Nikolovska
Karen Idorn
Editor: 
Karen Idorn
Keith Hodges
Fact checker: 
Keith Hodges
13 mins
January 4th, 2024
Advertising Disclosure
Statistics on the Average Salary in the UK

Average Salary in the UK – The Highlights

  • The average yearly salary in the United Kingdom is £35,404.

  • The UK average yearly salary of male full-time workers is £45,612.

  • The average hourly pay in the United Kingdom is £20.05.

  • The UK average salary per hour for female employees grew by 7.2% in 2023 compared to the year before.

  • The average yearly salary in England is £36,074.

  • The average hourly pay in Wales is £17.94.

  • By region, the average salary in London is the highest in the UK, at £52,409.

  • The average yearly salary in Birmingham is £30,999 (£18.13 per hour).

  • British employees between the ages of 40 and 49 earn an average salary of £41,061 per year.

  • The youngest employees in the UK, aged between 16 and 17, earn £8.36 per hour, on average.

General Stats on the Average Salary in the UK

The average yearly salary in the United Kingdom is £35,404.

Full-time employees in the UK earn an annual average of £42,210, while part-time workers earn £15,212 per year.

In terms of gender, the latest data points to a discrepancy where male workers earn more than female workers. Namely, the average yearly salary of male employees in the UK is £41,850, while female employees make £28,765 per year. Saving your salary is of course extremely vital, and it is important to consider the best savings accounts before choosing one.

The UK average yearly salary of male full-time workers is £45,612.

The latest data indicates that the male/female discrepancy in average pay is more significant among full-time workers. Namely, female full-time workers earn £37,247 per year, which is 18.34% less than what their male counterparts make.

For part-time workers, the discrepancy is much smaller. Male part-time workers earn £15,605, while female part-time workers earn £15,079 per year.

The average hourly pay in the United Kingdom is £20.05.

The statistics on the UK average hourly salary show that full-time employees make £20.83, while part-time employees make £15.44 per hour, on average.

By gender, male workers have a higher average hourly rate of £21.31 than female ones, who earn an average of £18.49 per hour.

A similar gap appears when comparing the average hourly wages of male and female full-time employees. Male full-time employees make an average of £21.75, while female full-time employees earn £19.44 per hour.

On the other hand, female part-time workers have a slightly higher average hourly salary of £15.45 than male part-time workers, who earn £15.41, per hour, on average.

The UK average salary per hour for female employees grew by 7.2% in 2023 compared to the year before.

In comparison, the average hourly pay of male workers grew by 6.8% within the same time frame.

In terms of annual wages, the increase was lower for both genders, and the average annual salary of female workers grew by 6.8%, while the corresponding figure was 5.0% for male workers between 2022 and 2023.

Average Salary in the UK by Region

The average yearly salary in England is £36,074.

The latest data shows that the average salary in England is the highest among the four countries in the United Kingdom.

In comparison, the average annual salary in Scotland is £33,385; in Northern Ireland, it is £31,794; while Wales has the lowest average yearly salary in the UK, with £30,101 per year.

The average hourly pay in Wales is £17.94.

The data on the average salary in the UK per region reveals that Wales has the lowest average hourly salary out of the four countries in the United Kingdom.

Northern Ireland has the second-lowest average hourly pay, at £18.26, followed by Scotland, where the mean hourly pay is £20.10, and England has the highest, at £20.25.

By region, the average salary in London is the highest in the UK, at £52,409.

In terms of hourly pay, the average salary in London is £26.22. Furthermore, the latest statistics show that the average salary in the UK, outside London, is significantly lower.

Namely, the region with the second-highest average annual salary is the SouthEast region, where the average annual salary is £35,844 (£20.45 per hour), which is more than 30% lower than London’s average.

On the other hand, the region with the lowest annual salary in the UK is the North East region, where the average pay is £29,706, per year (£17.40 per hour).

The average yearly salary in Birmingham is £30,999 (£18.13 per hour).

Excluding London, the average salary in the UK’s major cities is as follows:

City

Average salary per year

Average salary per hour

Birmingham

£30,999

£18.13

Manchester

£31,052

£18.77

Bristol

£34,598

£20.15

Leeds

£32,817

£18.92

Liverpool

£32,056

£18.37

Newcastle

£32,332

£18.78

Edinburgh

£38,245

£22.22

Cardiff

£33,824

£19.69

Glasgow

£32,223

£19.66

Finally, the highest average annual salary of £77,529 is paid in St. Albans, while the highest average hourly pay of £43.95 is paid in Kensington and Chelsea.

Average Salary in the UK by Age

British employees between the ages of 40 and 49 earn an average salary of £41,061 per year.

The most recent data sets reveal that British employees in their forties earn the highest average yearly salary in the country.

Just below them are workers aged between 50 and 59, who earn a yearly salary of £38,368, on average. They are followed by workers between 30 and 39, who make an average yearly salary of £36,320, and workers over 60, who earn an average of £29,235 per year.

The data on the national average salary in the UK further reveals that workers between 22 and 29 earn £28,845 a year, on average, while employees between 18 and 21 earn almost half that, or £14,785.

Finally, the average yearly salary of 16 and 17-year-old employees in the UK is £5,179.

The youngest employees in the UK, aged between 16 and 17, earn £8.36 per hour, on average.

When it comes to hourly wages, unsurprisingly, the workers with the least experience find themselves at the bottom of the pack. The average salary in the UK for a 17-year-old or a 16-year-old worker is lower than the average for all other age groups.

Workers between 18 and 21 have the second-to-lowest average hourly wage at £12.14, followed by those between 22 and 29, who earn £16.49 per hour on average.

Next in line are workers older than 60, with an average hourly salary of £19.05. The average hourly salary of workers in their thirties is £20.65, while those in their fifties earn £21.50 per hour, on average.

Employees aged between 40 and 49 have the highest average hourly pay in the UK of £22.51.

Male employees in their forties in the UK earn an average yearly salary of £48,765.

The average salary of male workers between the ages of 40 and 49 is the highest by gender and age group. Moreover, they also earn the highest hourly salary of £22.51.

Among male workers, those between 50 and 59 are the second-highest paid group, with an average annual salary of £47,161 (£21.50 per hour). They are followed by male workers in their thirties who earn an average yearly pay of £42,024 (£20.65 per hour).

Furthermore, males older than 60 earn £36,285 per year (£19.05 per hour), on average, which is more than what males in their twenties earn, £31,147 (£16.49 per hour).

Finally, data on the UK average salary by age per hour shows that male workers between 18 and 21 earn an average hourly pay of £12.14, while male workers aged 16 and 17 make £8.36 per hour on average.

The average hourly wage of female workers between 40 and 49 in the UK is £20.51.

Just like their male counterparts, female employees in their forties earn the most on average in the UK, with an average annual salary of £33,125.

However, the statistics on the national average salary in the UK show that the second-highest paid age group among female British workers is employees in their thirties, instead of employees in their fifties, which is the case among men.

Namely, female workers between 30 and 39 earn an average hourly salary of £19.44 (£30,251 per year), while those between 50 and 59 have a slightly lower average hourly rate of £19.24 (£29,859 per year).

It is also interesting that female workers in their twenties earn more annually than female workers over 60 (£26,371 vs. £21,766) but have a lower average per hour rate (£16.07 vs. £16.84).

Average Salary in the UK by Job

The average annual salary of employees in the legal and accounting activities sector in the UK is £46,712.

The latest findings indicate that employees in the legal and accounting activities sector earn well above the all industries average in the country. In terms of hourly rate, the average employee in this sector makes £26.32 per hour.

Furthermore, data reveals that the average salary for a lawyer in the UK is £53,294 per year, and different types of lawyers make different amounts yearly.

On average, corporate lawyers make much more, or £71,965, while family lawyers make less, or £47,518, per year.

The average hourly salary of employees in the real estate industry in the UK is £19.6.

In terms of annual salary, statistics show that the average employee in the real estate activities sector makes £34,552 per year.

This figure is pretty consistent compared to popular job search platforms. For example, the average salary for an estate agent in the UK ranges between £31,627 and £33,727, depending on the source.

The average salary in the human health activities sector in the UK is £32,834 per year.

The latest findings reveal that employees in the human health sector earn less than the all-industry average. Per hour, the average pay in this sector is £20.53.

However, if we take a closer look, we can see that the average pay of the employees in the human health sector varies considerably. For example, the average salary of a nurse in the UK is £37,644 per year. That said, there are multiple types of nurses including:

Profession

Average salary per year

Nursery nurse

£22,214

Dental nurse

£24,851

Veterinary nurse

£27,077

Mental health nurse

£33,961

Moreover, doctors' salaries, which are significantly higher than those of nurses', also fall into this wide sector. These are the average yearly salaries of doctors in the UK, according to Indeed:

Profession

Average salary per year

General practitioner

£80,777

Psychotherapist

£48,704

Dentist

£81,149

Paediatrician

£100,637

Oncologist

£84,015

Note that the average salary of a medical doctor in the UK varies considerably based on specialisation, years of experience, and the geographical location of their practice.

The average hourly salary in the education sector in the UK is £21.05 per hour.

In yearly wages, employees in the education sector in the UK make £31,398 per year, on average.

Data further reveals that the average salary of a primary school teacher in the UK is £28,133. Additionally, the figures vary slightly when comparing teachers of specific subjects. For example, maths teachers earn £35,619 per year, while art teachers earn £35,254, and PE teachers earn £35,664 on average.

The discrepancy is more significant when the average annual wages of a head teacher, £40,151, is compared to the wages of a supply teacher, £17,809, but those comparisons have more to do with the role, rather than the subject.

The average accountant salary in the UK is £35,538.

Accountants' salaries can go as low as £22,668 for accountant clerks and as high as £44,684 per year for financial accountants.

The average architect salary in the UK is £35.77 per hour.

Data reveals that architects in the UK make £40,589 per year on average. Statistics further show a variance in the average salary for different types of architects. For example, the average solution architect salary in the UK is £72,830, more than twice the average salary of a landscape architect, at £34,493.

The average yearly salary in the transportation and storage industry in the UK is £36,821.

The latest data reveals that employees in this industry make an average hourly pay of £18.49.

However, this is an industry with a wide spectrum of occupations, which means workers’ salaries vary a lot. For instance, a taxi driver’s average salary in the UK is £20,968, while that of an Uber driver is £18,474. Forklift drivers make £23,435 a year on average, while bus and truck drivers make £24,585 and £37,528 a year, respectively.

The average annual salary of employees in the air transport sector is slightly higher at £41,366 (£21.95 per hour), likely due to the high earnings of pilots. The average salary of an airline pilot in the UK is £72,410 per year.

Employees in the computer programming, consultancy, and related activities sector in the UK earn £51,281 per year on average.

Statistics also reveal that employees in this broad sector earn an average hourly pay of £26.65. If we observe specific occupations from the sector, the average software developer salary in the UK is £50,638.

Here are the averages for some other occupations in this sector:

Profession

Average salary per year

Web developer

£42,385

App developer

£56,071

Frontend developer

£58,041

Net developer

£59,939

Full stack developer

£63,250

Python developer

£65,638

Java developer

£72,304

Beyond developers, this sector also encapsulates the salaries of other professionals with lower-paying jobs, such as data analysts (£41,846), software testers (£47,160), and technical support specialists (£32,696).

The Bottom Line

Although we rely on the figure of £35,404 to establish some sort of mean average salary in the UK, it is evident that employees in some regions earn more, while those in other regions earn less.

The statistics even suggest significant disparities between the two genders and indicate that more experienced workers typically earn more than younger ones.

However, keep in mind that averages are rough generalisations that don’t take into account the intricacies of individual circumstances and job roles, so they are not the best choice of tool for comparing salaries.

FAQs

What is a good salary in the UK?
Is £25k a good salary in the UK?
How much does the average 30-year-old earn in the UK?

Related Content

  • The Richest MPs in the UK Government
    As per the latest reports by Westminster Accounts, a small group consisting mainly of Tory MPs made millions of pounds in outside earnings in the last four years. Reportedly, the 20 listed MPs earned a total of £17.1 million pounds, £15.2 of which went to the Tories.
    January 26th, 2024
  • UK Retail Industry Statistics and Trends for 2024
    The retail sector in the UK made almost half a trillion in sales in 2022, including fuel sales. Even without fuel, the figure is remarkably high at £441.17 billion.
    January 5th, 2024
  • Impulse Buying Facts You Should Know in 2024
    According to a June 2023 survey, 31% of UK shoppers believe they are just as likely to make an impulse purchase in physical stores and on the internet. Whereas 33% of Brits are most likely to make an unplanned purchase in a store, 36% say they are more prone to online impulse buying.
    January 4th, 2024
  • The Latest Gig Economy Statistics for the UK
    According to World Bank data, there are a total of 545 online gig work platforms in the world, encompassing 186 countries. Moreover, almost three-quarters of the platforms are regional or local, which is why they’ve gone under the radar in other reports.
    January 9th, 2024
  • 26 Thought-Provoking UK Online Shopping Statistics for 2023
    This means that one in three people of the total world population shops online. The number of online shoppers in 2023 increased by 3.1% compared to the previous year, translating to 80 million more online shoppers.
    December 21st, 2023

Contributors

Hristina Nikolovska
Hristina Nikolovska, a graduate of the University of Lodz, is a skilled finance writer for Moneyzine. With a knack for simplifying intricate financial topics, her articles provide readers with clear and actionable insights
Keith Hodges
Fact Checker
Keith Hodges
Formerly a dedicated journalist, Keith has extensive experience in the personal finance and investment sectors. Now, he plays a pivotal role in commissioning and researching compelling and relevant topics, ensuring the content resonates with audiences.