Are YOU rich? Our calculator shows how your salary compares to the rest of Britain – and your city and job

With middle earners and the wealthy bearing the brunt of Labour’s tax raids, the question becomes who feels empire has never been more relevant.

Wealth is obviously different from income, but while the former is the key to true wealth, it’s usually the money coming in that matters when it comes to whether you feel better off or not.

So with millions of households feeling the pinch – and fearing the worst on the tax front – are you better or worse off than your friends, neighbors and others with jobs and cities similar to yours?

Do you earn more or less than the average person who does your job, or the average worker where you live? And how much of your income is eaten up by taxes?

You can use our special calculator here, which is based on official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), to see how your salary stacks up, where the highest earners in Britain live and what the best and worst paid professions are.

Enter your salary, age and zip code into the tool below and see how you compare.

Plus, we’ve analyzed the data to tell you what you need to know about the current state of UK earnings.

> The highest-paying jobs… and careers with the biggest pay increases this year

How to use the salary calculator

Our calculator uses figures from the ONS, which are released every year, and provide a snapshot of average earnings in each profession.

The figures, based on 2024 salaries, are the median, which is when you list all the earners for that job, from low to high, and then take the middle figure as the average.

The ‘average’ figure is not used, where all salaries for an occupation are added together and divided by the number of jobs to get an average figure.

The average figure gives a better picture of the average individual’s income, and is less likely to be distorted by a few very high or very low earners.

While the figures provide a good snapshot of average salaries for occupations, they are not fully representative of what some workers earn. Some will be paid more, others will be paid less and the length of time people work and where they do their work will have a major impact on that.

Finally, the figures are based on payments to both full-time and part-time employees, using Pay As You Earn (PAYE) data.

Our calculator also shows you your after-tax income, national insurance and student loan contributions, and your average monthly salary.

You can also see how your pre-tax salary compares to every other salary, regardless of your profession.

For example, if you earn £25,000 before tax you will find yourself earning less than 67 percent of the population, but if you earn £35,000 you will earn more than 56 percent of all workers.

Which professions get a lot of money?

The average salary for full and part-time employees is £31,602, which is approximately £25,512 after income tax and national insurance contributions.

Pilots and air traffic controllers top the list of high earners in Britain with an average salary of £96,415, or £66,478 after tax.

This puts them in the top 7 percent of earners. Next on the list are marketing, sales and advertising directors, who earn an average of £82,962, or £58,675 after tax.

Chief executives and senior civil servants are also among the highest earners with an average salary of £81,776.

While this figure may seem low, it includes CEOs of companies large and small, not just those of publicly traded companies that take home millions.

High earners in the public sector earn significantly less than those in the private sector.

For example, senior police officers earned an average of £63,986 in 2024, still placing them in the top 15 per cent of earners, while sergeants and below were paid £46,436.

In the medical field, paramedics took home an average of £52,241, while specialist nurses and registered nurses received £40,759 and £39,292 respectively.

Specialist doctors, including surgeons and anesthetists, were at the higher end, taking home an average of £70,192, putting them in the top 12 per cent of earners, while GPs earned £45,506.

In the middle, scaffolders, stagers and riggers took home £38,077, while electricians and plumbers earned an average of £38,675 and £37,414.

While these figures give a good indication of how much people earn in each profession, the amount they take home will vary depending on their age.

For example, someone under state pension age who earns £25,000 will take home around £21,543 a year, or £1,795 a month.

However, someone who has reached state pension age on the same income will get more – £22,537 per year, or £1,878 per month – because he or she no longer pays National Insurance.

Similarly, a 50-year-old CEO earning the average salary of £81,776 will take home £57,987 after tax, but a 70-year-old would earn £61,634, almost £4,000 more per year.

Student loan repayments also affect your take-home pay. The amount you pay back depends on which subscription you have and how much you earn.

For example, a CEO on an average salary who repays his Plan 1 loan will earn £52,973 – almost 10 per cent less than if he had no student loan – or £53,190 if he has a Plan 2 loan.

For lower earners, an employee earning £30,000, or £25,120 after tax, will have to pay back around £300 each year on their Plan 2 repayment plan, or almost £500 on Plan 1.

Who are the lowest earners?

Exam invigilators earn the least (just £2,393 per year), but this is usually seasonal and part-time work, which explains the significantly lower than average pay.

Sales and retail assistants take home £13,701 every year, or £13,384 after tax, putting them in the bottom 3 per cent of earners.

They are closely followed by beauticians (£14,883) and hairdressers (£14,944).

Teaching assistants earn £17,338, less than half of what primary (£39,284) and secondary school (£42,370) teachers earn, while early childhood teachers earn £28,703.

Our analysis shows that workers in many of the lowest-paid jobs, including customer service representatives and receptionists, would not have to pay income tax if tax thresholds had risen in line with the inflation.

The personal allowance, which has not changed since 2021, should have risen from £12,570 to £17,047 if it had risen in line with the cost of living.

Jack Kennedy, senior economist at Indeed, said: “Real wages are only about 3 percent higher than they were in early 2008, just before the financial crisis.

“While recent nominal wage growth has been relatively strong, it has mainly contributed to the recovery of real incomes to pre-pandemic levels.”

Which regions get the most?

The average salary for full-time employees in Britain is £37,430.

The best paid boroughs are concentrated in London and Surrey, with Richmond upon Thames coming out on top with an average full-time salary of £47,588, closely followed by Westminster (£45,910).

Wandsworth (£45,394), Kensington and Chelsea (£44,355) and Islington (£43,126) are also in the top ten highest-paid boroughs.

The region with the lowest average salary is West Devon (£23,941). This is followed by Gwynedd, Wales (£24,165). Salaries are 36 and 35 percent lower than the British average respectively.

The East of England had the highest growth in full-time weekly earnings in 2024 (7.4 percent), followed by the North West (6.7 percent). Scotland and Northern Ireland had the weakest growth at 4.3 percent.

Which jobs saw big pay increases?

Full-time earnings rose across all industries between 2023 and 2024, but some sectors saw larger wage increases than others.

Accommodation and food service activities came out on top, with an increase of 9.8 percent, while salaries in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors increased by 9.7 percent between 2023 and 2024.

Employees in the information and communications sector, the financial sector and the insurance sector each received an average pay increase of 9.5 percent.

Full-time public sector jobs saw a 5.2 percent wage increase in 2024, while private sector wages rose 6.3 percent.

Weaker wage growth in the public sector is largely due to the fact that 60 percent of roles are in education, health and social work, while earnings rose by 4.9 percent. Mining and quarrying received the lowest wage increase at 1.6 percent.

How to get a pay increase

If our numbers show that you earn less than others like you, it may be time to ask for a raise.

This is easier said than done, especially at a time when wage growth remains sluggish and unemployment is rising.

According to the ONS, wage growth slowed to 5 percent in the three months leading up to May. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate has risen to 4.7 percent – ​​the highest in four years – and the number of vacancies has fallen continuously for three years.

Jack Kennedy says, ‘The most effective approach to getting a pay increase is to clearly demonstrate that you are valuable to your employer.

‘Highlight how you have gone above and beyond your role, for example by contributing to cost savings, increasing sales, completing key projects or taking on new responsibilities.

‘Point out any new skills or qualifications you’ve acquired, and don’t forget the consistent positive feedback from clients or colleagues.’

He suggests researching what similar positions yield in your industry so you can benchmark your request with confidence and realistically.

Research by the job board CV-Library shows that far fewer vacancies are advertised with salary information compared to 18 months ago.

Founder and CEO Lee Biggins says this “may be a result of a tighter labor market with fewer available positions and a higher number of applications per job.”

He adds: ‘To increase profits, focus on sectors with higher wages or strong growth, such as IT and healthcare – the same job title can sometimes pay significantly more in a different sector.’