What does an actuary on the upper-quartile salary take home?

On £74,372, the upper quartile of the group, with an 8% salary-sacrifice workplace pension and a Plan 2 student loan, take-home is about £46,729 a year after Income Tax, National Insurance, the pension and the loan repayment. The pension takes taxable pay to £68,422, so £18,152 of it is taxed at 40%. Without the student loan it is about £50,242.

When does the £100k taper become relevant?

From £100,000 of adjusted net income the Personal Allowance is withdrawn at £1 for every £2 above it, which gives a 62% marginal rate, 60% Income Tax plus 2% National Insurance, up to £125,140. ONS suppresses this group above the 75th percentile, so how many actuaries reach that band is not published. Pension contributions reduce adjusted net income, so a salary-sacrifice or bonus-sacrifice contribution can bring it back below £100,000.

Does ONS publish actuary pay separately from economists and statisticians?

No. SOC 2020 unit group 2433 (actuaries, economists and statisticians) is a single group, about 40,000 full-time jobs in ASHE 2025, and ONS does not split it by sector or qualification. It also suppressed the 80th and 90th percentiles as not statistically robust, so the upper quartile is the highest published point.

Actuary Salary 2026/27: Take-Home Across Career Stages

Actuaries qualify through the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries over several years of exams. ONS groups them with economists and statisticians (SOC 2020 2433), whose full-time median was £53,342 in ASHE 2025, with a quarter of the group below £41,906 and a quarter above £74,372.

Typical pay & take-home

Median gross: £53,342
ASHE 2025, 10th to 75th percentile: £36,160–£74,372
Take-home at median: £41,496 England, no pension applied — use the salary calculator for your scheme.

At the median for this profession, you earn about 37% above the UK full-time median (£39,039), placing you between the 50th percentile (£39,039) and the 75th percentile (£54,009) of UK full-time earnings.

See exact take-home for £53,342 →

What influences actuary pay

The unit group covers actuaries, economists and statisticians together, so its median describes all three. ONS does not split it by qualification stage or by sector, so no official figure measures what passing the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries exams is worth in pay.

With no pension contribution the £53,342 median sits £3,072 above the £50,270 higher-rate threshold, taxed at 40% with 2% National Insurance, a 42% marginal rate. An 8% salary-sacrifice or net pay pension changes that: taxable pay falls to £49,075, below the threshold, so the whole salary is then taxed at the basic rate.

The upper quartile of £74,372 is still below the £100,000 point where the personal allowance starts tapering, but bonuses at senior level can carry total income into that band, where the effective marginal rate is 62% up to £125,140.

Career progression

Bottom decile of the group: £36,160.
Lower quartile: £41,906.
Median: £53,342.
Upper quartile: £74,372 - ONS suppressed the higher percentiles as not robust.

Frequently asked questions

What does an actuary on the upper-quartile salary take home?: On £74,372, the upper quartile of the group, with an 8% salary-sacrifice workplace pension and a Plan 2 student loan, take-home is about £46,729 a year after Income Tax, National Insurance, the pension and the loan repayment. The pension takes taxable pay to £68,422, so £18,152 of it is taxed at 40%. Without the student loan it is about £50,242.
When does the £100k taper become relevant?: From £100,000 of adjusted net income the Personal Allowance is withdrawn at £1 for every £2 above it, which gives a 62% marginal rate, 60% Income Tax plus 2% National Insurance, up to £125,140. ONS suppresses this group above the 75th percentile, so how many actuaries reach that band is not published. Pension contributions reduce adjusted net income, so a salary-sacrifice or bonus-sacrifice contribution can bring it back below £100,000.
Does ONS publish actuary pay separately from economists and statisticians?: No. SOC 2020 unit group 2433 (actuaries, economists and statisticians) is a single group, about 40,000 full-time jobs in ASHE 2025, and ONS does not split it by sector or qualification. It also suppressed the 80th and 90th percentiles as not statistically robust, so the upper quartile is the highest published point.

All UK professions →

Sources

ONS - ASHE 2025 Table 14.7a, annual pay by SOC 2020 occupation (occupational pay)
ONS — Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2025 (UK full-time median and percentiles)
HMRC — Rates and thresholds 2026/27
Our full methodology & calculation sources →