Buying power · 2026/27
What £40,000 Actually Buys You
A £40,000 UK salary works out to £32,320/year take-home after Income Tax + NI (England, no pension). Here is what that money can buy.
Your annual take-home in real items
If you spent all of your £32,320 annual take-home on just one of these items, how many could you afford?
| Item | Unit price | How many per year? |
|---|---|---|
| Netflix standard subscription (/month) | £11 | 2,940 |
| Pint of beer in a pub (pint) | £5 | 6,636 |
| iPhone 16 (128GB) (1 unit) | £799 | 40 |
| Cinema ticket (standard adult) | £10 | 3,264 |
| Standard gym membership (/year) | £480 | 67 |
| London 2-bed rent (/month) | £2,100 | 15 |
| Manchester 2-bed rent (/month) | £1,200 | 26 |
| Weekly family food shop (basket) | £108 | 299 |
| BBC TV Licence (/year) | £170 | 190 |
| Litre of petrol (1 litre) | £1 | 22,289 |
Illustrative only — based on UK average prices as of 2026/27. Obviously nobody spends all their income on one thing.
What £40,000 means tax-wise
Above the UK median but still in the basic-rate band (which ends at £50,270). Room to save, pension contribute meaningfully, or afford a city-centre 2-bed outside London.
Where £40,000 sits in the UK
This salary places you in the top 46% of UK full-time earners (ONS ASHE 2024 percentile estimate). Typical roles at this salary level include NHS Band 7 specialist nurse, mid-level software engineer, police sergeant, experienced teacher (M6).
In real terms, £40,000 today has the CPI-adjusted purchasing power of approximately £24,393 in 2010 — UK inflation has eroded the pound by roughly 38% since then. See salary vs inflation for £40,000 for a detailed historical breakdown.
Frequently asked questions
- Is £40,000 a good UK salary?
- £40,000 sits in the top 46% of UK full-time earners (ONS ASHE 2024 percentile estimate). It is above the UK median of £37,430. Typical roles at this level include NHS Band 7 specialist nurse, mid-level software engineer, police sergeant.
- What is the take-home on £40,000?
- Before pension, for 2026/27 England/Wales/NI: £32,320/year gross take-home, or £2,693/month. Income Tax is £5,486 and National Insurance £2,194 — use the salary calculator to model pension and region variants.
- How does £40,000 compare to 2010 in real terms?
- £40,000 today has roughly the same purchasing power as £24,393 in 2010 (ONS CPI D7BT adjustment). UK salaries have broadly tracked CPI at the median over that period, though regions and sectors vary widely.
Compare other salaries
- £20,000 buying power
- £25,000 buying power
- £30,000 buying power
- £35,000 buying power
- £45,000 buying power
See also: basket of goods over time, salary vs inflation, UK cost of living by city.