posted 11th February 2026
UK salary levels have risen over the last few years, but many workers have seen living standards squeezed as pay has struggled to keep up with high inflation and rising housing and energy costs. Understanding current salary benchmarks, regional variation and sector trends is essential for jobseekers, employees and employers making pay decisions in today’s market.
What the “average” UK salary looks like
The latest official data shows median gross annual earnings for full time employees at just over £39,000 as of April 2025, up from around £37,400 a year earlier. Median weekly earnings for full time workers were about £728 in April 2024, which equates to roughly £37,400 per year, while mean (average) pay is higher because a small number of very high earners pull the figure up.
Across all workers (full and part time), the median UK salary in 2024 was about £31,600, with the mean closer to £38,200, reflecting the impact of both part time roles and pay inequality. Job tenure matters too: employees who had been in their job for at least a year had median full time earnings around the same £37,400 level in 2024, indicating that progression within roles often happens gradually.
Regional and sector differences
Pay varies strongly by region: in 2024 typical full time salaries were highest in London at around the mid £40,000s, with regions such as the Northeast and East Midlands closer to the low to mid £30,000s. These gaps reflect differences in industry mix, employer density and local living costs, especially housing and transport.
Sector also makes a significant difference to salary potential. Finance and insurance paid some of the highest average weekly wages in late 2024, exceeding £1,400 per week in some measures, whereas lower paid sectors such as hospitality and some retail roles fall much closer to the statutory minimum wage. Public sector full time workers typically earned slightly more per week than those in the private sector in 2024, although private sector pay growth was marginally faster that year.
Cost of living and real wages
Headline salary growth has been strong in cash terms, with median weekly earnings for full time employees rising around 6% between April 2023 and April 2024. However, between 2022 and 2024 inflation averaged around 6% a year and at one point exceeded 11%, meaning price rises often outpaced wage growth and eroded “real” take home value.
Research suggests that over 2022–2024 many workers experienced a cumulative real terms wage decline despite nominal pay rises, because essentials such as food, energy and housing became significantly more expensive. By 2024 consumer prices were estimated to be more than 20% higher than in 2021, which forced households to stretch salaries further or cut back on non essentials.
Low pay, minimum wage and living wage
While the National Living Wage rose sharply to £11.44 per hour for workers aged 21 and over in April 2024, making the UK one of the higher minimum wage economies, many workers still earn below what campaigners regard as a “real” living wage. The large increase in the statutory floor has helped lift pay at the bottom end, especially in sectors heavily reliant on low paid labour.
Even so, an estimated 4.5 million UK jobs in 2024 were paid below the voluntary real Living Wage, accounting for nearly one in six jobs. This rise in low paid work is linked to the ongoing cost of living crisis, with workers on the lowest incomes hit hardest because they spend a higher share of their salary on essentials.
Education, age and progression
Education continues to correlate strongly with earnings. In 2024, working age graduates had a median salary of about £42,000, while postgraduates earned around £47,000 and non graduates closer to £30,500. This gap reflects both access to higher paying professions and faster progression into senior roles for those with higher qualifications.
Age and experience also shape salary expectations. Analysis of 2024 data shows that a salary in the high £30,000s would place someone in their late twenties well above the median for that age group, whereas similar pay in mid career may be closer to the middle of the distribution. At the very top end, FTSE 100 chief executives had median pay reported at several million pounds per year in 2024–25, underlining the scale of pay inequality in the UK labour market.
