How is my take-home pay calculated?

We start with your gross salary, apply your pension contribution the way your scheme does (salary sacrifice, net pay or relief at source), then deduct Income Tax, National Insurance, and any student loan repayments using the bands for your tax year and region - or under your own tax code if you enter one.

Can I enter my tax code?

Yes - under More options. Enter the code from your payslip (1257L, K475, BR, D0, 0T, NT, with an S or C prefix for Scotland or Wales) and Income Tax is worked out the way payroll works it out under that code. The breakdown then states whether the code deducts more or less than the rules for the year would charge on that income.

Which pension type should I pick?

Salary sacrifice if your contract salary was reduced in exchange for the employer paying in. Net pay arrangement if the contribution comes off before tax on your payslip - the NHS, Teachers and other public-service schemes, and many trust-based occupational schemes. Relief at source if it comes off after tax and your provider adds basic-rate relief on top (you pay £80, the provider claims £20, and £100 goes in) - personal pensions, SIPPs and NEST. The type changes National Insurance and any higher-rate relief you have to claim.

Does the calculator handle Scottish income tax?

Yes - switch the Region toggle to Scotland. We use the current Scottish bands (Starter, Basic, Intermediate, Higher, Advanced, Top) set by the Scottish Government.

What about Welsh tax?

Wales has the Welsh Rate of Income Tax (WRIT). The Welsh Government currently matches UK rates, so take-home is identical to England. We model Wales separately so that future divergence would be reflected automatically.

Can I switch to a previous tax year?

Yes - we support 2023/24, 2024/25, 2025/26 and the current 2026/27 year. Pick any from the Tax year dropdown.

How accurate are the figures?

Every band and threshold is pulled from gov.uk / gov.scot publications, and our calculations are unit-tested against HMRC worked examples. See our methodology for details.

How much tax do I pay on a £30,000 salary in the UK?

On a £30,000 salary in 2026/27 you pay £3,486 Income Tax (20% on £17,430 above the £12,570 Personal Allowance) and £1,394 National Insurance (8% Class 1 on pay above £12,570). Take-home is around £25,120/year or £2,093/month - before any pension contribution or student loan. Use the calculator above to see your specific figure with all deductions.

What is the take-home pay on a £50,000 salary?

A £50,000 salary in 2026/27 gives about £39,520 take-home per year (£3,293/month) - £7,486 Income Tax (£12,570 Personal Allowance tax-free, then 20% on £37,430) plus £2,994.40 National Insurance at 8% on the same band. Push above £50,270 and the marginal rate on each extra pound jumps to 42% (40% Income Tax + 2% NI). The calculator handles pension contributions and salary sacrifice if you open More options.

Is the salary calculator free to use?

Yes - SalaryTax is free and needs no signup, and we do not sell your figures. The calculation runs in your browser, but the calculator writes the salary into the page address (for example ?gross=35000) so the result can be bookmarked or shared. Each time that address changes, Google Analytics records it as a page view, including when you decline analytics cookies (it is then sent without setting a cookie). Our web server logs and error reports also record the address of pages you load.

£31,000 Salary After Tax UK 2026/27

Take-home pay: £25,840 a year (£2,153 a month) — default region England, 2026/27 rules. Adjust region, year, or pension contribution below.

Gross salary

Tax year

Region Scotland

More options

Tax code

Pension type

Pension contribution

Employer pension

Bonus

Annual overtime

Benefits in Kind

NI category letter

Hours and days a week

Annual Child Benefit

Marriage Allowance

Student loans + Postgraduate

Pensioner Blind

Take-home pay

Payslip

Monthly

Gross: £2,583.33
Income Tax: − 307.17
National Ins: − 122.87
Pension: − 0.00
Student Ln.: − 0.00
HICBC: − 0.00

Net

£2,153.30

16.6% effective tax rate

28% of your next pound goes in tax and NI · £19,270 more until the higher rate band (then 42%)

Same take-home as 2025/26 on these inputs

Yearly: £25,840
Weekly: £497
Daily: £99
Hourly: £13.25

83.4%

Take home

Net: £25,840 83%
Tax: £3,686 12%
NI: £1,474 5%
Pension: £0 0%
Other: £0 0%

	Year	Month	Week	Day	Hour
Gross income	£31,000	£2,583	£596	£119	£15.90
Personal allowance	£12,570	£1,048	£242	£48	£6.45
Taxable income	£18,430	£1,536	£354	£71	£9.45
Income Tax	−£3,686	−£307	−£71	−£14	−£1.89
National Insurance	−£1,474	−£123	−£28	−£6	−£0.76
Pension (salary sacrifice)	£0	£0	£0	£0	£0.00
Student loan	£0	£0	£0	£0	£0.00
High Income Child Benefit Charge	£0	£0	£0	£0	£0.00
Total deductions	−£5,160	−£430	−£99	−£20	−£2.65
Take-home income	£25,840	£2,153	£497	£99	£13.25
Pension tax relief to claim from HMRC	£0	£0	£0	£0	£0.00

Cost to employer — Not deducted from your pay, useful for day-rate negotiations.

Gross income	£31,000.00
Employer's NIC	£3,900.00
Employer pension contribution	£0.00
Total cost to employer	£34,900.00

Income tax bands

Band	Amount	Rate	Tax
Basic rate	£18,430.00	20%	£3,686.00

Your salary in context

ONS · HMRC · CPI

UK median comparison

£31,000 is 21% below the UK median full-time salary of £39,039 (ONS ASHE 2025).
Earnings ranking

This salary is roughly in the bottom 29% of UK full-time employees by gross pay (estimated between the percentiles ONS ASHE 2025 publishes).
Regional comparison

vs London median (£49,690): 38% below. vs North East median (£34,400): 10% below.
Typical roles

Salaries in this range typically match: NHS Band 4, chef, local government administrator, NHS Band 5 (nurse, physio).
Purchasing power

In real terms £31,000 today has the same buying power as about £20,025 in 2010, or £16,284 in 2000 (CPI-adjusted, ONS D7BT, base 2025).
Top tax band

Your top Income Tax band is the Basic rate at 20%, with £18,430 of your income in it. On the next £100 of pay you would lose about £28 to Income Tax and National Insurance.

Nearby salaries

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£31,000 in other UK regions

This page uses the default rest-of-UK (England/Wales/NI) tax bands. Scotland has its own six-band system; see the regional take-home for comparison.

Frequently asked questions

How is my take-home pay calculated?: We start with your gross salary, apply your pension contribution the way your scheme does (salary sacrifice, net pay or relief at source), then deduct Income Tax, National Insurance, and any student loan repayments using the bands for your tax year and region - or under your own tax code if you enter one.
Can I enter my tax code?: Yes - under More options. Enter the code from your payslip (1257L, K475, BR, D0, 0T, NT, with an S or C prefix for Scotland or Wales) and Income Tax is worked out the way payroll works it out under that code. The breakdown then states whether the code deducts more or less than the rules for the year would charge on that income.
Which pension type should I pick?: Salary sacrifice if your contract salary was reduced in exchange for the employer paying in. Net pay arrangement if the contribution comes off before tax on your payslip - the NHS, Teachers and other public-service schemes, and many trust-based occupational schemes. Relief at source if it comes off after tax and your provider adds basic-rate relief on top (you pay £80, the provider claims £20, and £100 goes in) - personal pensions, SIPPs and NEST. The type changes National Insurance and any higher-rate relief you have to claim.
Does the calculator handle Scottish income tax?: Yes - switch the Region toggle to Scotland. We use the current Scottish bands (Starter, Basic, Intermediate, Higher, Advanced, Top) set by the Scottish Government.
What about Welsh tax?: Wales has the Welsh Rate of Income Tax (WRIT). The Welsh Government currently matches UK rates, so take-home is identical to England. We model Wales separately so that future divergence would be reflected automatically.
Can I switch to a previous tax year?: Yes - we support 2023/24, 2024/25, 2025/26 and the current 2026/27 year. Pick any from the Tax year dropdown.
How accurate are the figures?: Every band and threshold is pulled from gov.uk / gov.scot publications, and our calculations are unit-tested against HMRC worked examples. See our methodology for details.
How much tax do I pay on a £30,000 salary in the UK?: On a £30,000 salary in 2026/27 you pay £3,486 Income Tax (20% on £17,430 above the £12,570 Personal Allowance) and £1,394 National Insurance (8% Class 1 on pay above £12,570). Take-home is around £25,120/year or £2,093/month - before any pension contribution or student loan. Use the calculator above to see your specific figure with all deductions.
What is the take-home pay on a £50,000 salary?: A £50,000 salary in 2026/27 gives about £39,520 take-home per year (£3,293/month) - £7,486 Income Tax (£12,570 Personal Allowance tax-free, then 20% on £37,430) plus £2,994.40 National Insurance at 8% on the same band. Push above £50,270 and the marginal rate on each extra pound jumps to 42% (40% Income Tax + 2% NI). The calculator handles pension contributions and salary sacrifice if you open More options.
Is the salary calculator free to use?: Yes - SalaryTax is free and needs no signup, and we do not sell your figures. The calculation runs in your browser, but the calculator writes the salary into the page address (for example ?gross=35000) so the result can be bookmarked or shared. Each time that address changes, Google Analytics records it as a page view, including when you decline analytics cookies (it is then sent without setting a cookie). Our web server logs and error reports also record the address of pages you load.