Receptionist Salary 2026/27: What You Take Home
Receptionists earn a full-time median of £24,678 (ONS ASHE 2025, SOC 2020 4216), with a 10th-to-90th percentile range of £19,397 to £32,790. That was measured in April 2025; from April 2026 the National Living Wage alone comes to about £24,785 a year on a 37.5-hour week. The role sits entirely inside the 20% basic-rate tax band.
Typical pay & take-home
- Median gross
- £24,678
- ASHE 2025, 10th to 90th percentile
- £19,397–£32,790
- Take-home at median
- £21,288 England, no pension applied — use the salary calculator for your scheme.
At the median for this profession, you earn 37% below the UK full-time median (£39,039), placing you between the 10th percentile (£23,990) and the 25th percentile (£29,262) of UK full-time earnings.
What influences receptionist pay
The ONS ASHE 2025 full-time median for receptionists was £24,678 (provisional, Table 14.7a annual gross pay, SOC 2020 code 4216), with the middle half between £22,124 and £28,730 and the 90th percentile at £32,790. ONS does not split the group by sector (medical, hotel, corporate, legal) or region, so where a particular post sits in the range is set by the employer.
The minimum wage has moved since ASHE measured pay. The survey reflects April 2025; from 1 April 2026 the National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over, about £24,785 a year on a 37.5-hour week, which is above the April 2025 median. A full-time receptionist aged 21 or over cannot lawfully be paid less than that hourly rate now.
A receptionist on the median is a basic-rate taxpayer: after the £12,570 personal allowance, pay is taxed at 20% Income Tax plus 8% Class 1 NI up to £50,270. Eligible employees are auto-enrolled into a workplace pension with a minimum 3% employer and 8% total contribution on qualifying earnings.
Career progression
- ASHE does not publish reception pay by sector or seniority. These are points in the April 2025 full-time pay distribution for SOC 2020 4216.
- 10th percentile: £19,397.
- Lower quartile: £22,124.
- Median: £24,678.
- Upper quartile: £28,730.
- Progression into office administration, PA or facilities coordination.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the take-home for a £24,678 receptionist?
- On the £24,678 full-time median, take-home in England is about £21,288 a year (£1,774 a month) with no pension contribution, or about £20,399 with a 5% salary sacrifice pension. A full-time NLW year of £24,785 from April 2026 takes home about £21,365 with no pension.
- Which receptionist jobs pay the most?
- ONS does not publish reception pay by sector, so there is no official ranking. What ASHE does show is the spread: a quarter of full-time receptionists earned more than £28,730 and a tenth more than £32,790 in April 2025. Extra duties such as office administration, PA support or facilities coordination are the usual way up.
- Is a receptionist a basic-rate taxpayer?
- Yes - even the £32,790 90th percentile is well below the £50,270 higher-rate threshold, so a full-time receptionist pays 20% Income Tax on pay above the £12,570 personal allowance and nothing at 40%.