Median full-time pay differs across the UK’s nations and regions, from £36,460 a year for jobs in the North East to £53,132 in London, against £40,911 for the UK as a whole. These are ONS figures for April 2026 (provisional): median gross annual pay for full-time employees who had been in their job for at least a year, by where the job is.
Pay by nation
| Area | Median full-time pay a year | Difference from the UK median (£) |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | £40,911 | 0 |
| England | £41,198 | 287 |
| Scotland | £41,466 | 555 |
| Wales | £37,330 | -3,581 |
| Northern Ireland | £38,203 | -2,708 |
Pay by English region
| Area | Median full-time pay a year | Difference from the UK median (£) |
|---|---|---|
| London | £53,132 | 12,221 |
| South East | £41,664 | 753 |
| East of England | £40,531 | -380 |
| South West | £39,078 | -1,833 |
| North West | £38,599 | -2,312 |
| West Midlands | £38,628 | -2,283 |
| East Midlands | £36,975 | -3,936 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | £37,519 | -3,392 |
| North East | £36,460 | -4,451 |
Pay in major cities
Figures for the local authority each city sits in, in alphabetical order:
| Area | Median full-time pay a year | Difference from the UK median (£) |
|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | £40,447 | -464 |
| Bristol | £43,383 | 2,472 |
| Cardiff | £39,806 | -1,105 |
| Edinburgh | £44,574 | 3,663 |
| Glasgow | £42,573 | 1,662 |
| Leeds | £40,095 | -816 |
| Liverpool | £38,838 | -2,073 |
| Manchester | £42,553 | 1,642 |
| Sheffield | £39,050 | -1,861 |
A city’s figure comes from a smaller sample than a nation’s, so it is less precise: treat small differences between cities as within the margin of error. NISRA publishes Northern Ireland’s results for its smaller areas, so no Northern Ireland city is shown here.
What the figures measure
- The median, the middle salary when full-time employees are ranked by pay, so half earn more and half less. It isn’t pulled up by a few very high earners the way an average (mean) is.
- Full-time employees only. Part-time pay and self-employed income aren’t included.
- Where the job is. A job in a city centre counts in that city even if the person lives elsewhere, which means a city’s figure can differ from the pay of the people who live there.
- April 2026, provisional. ONS published these results on 22 October 2026 and revises them a year later, so figures can change; see the UK average salary for the national figures and how they are measured.
London
London has the highest median pay of any region, at £53,132, or £12,221 more than the UK median. Housing and transport cost more there too, so the difference in what you have left can be much smaller. For what it takes to live in London, see the salary you need to live in London, and for a side-by-side comparison with northern cities, London vs the North.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
Scotland’s median, £41,466, is above the UK figure, and Edinburgh’s, £44,574, is one of the highest of the cities above. Scottish taxpayers pay Scottish Income Tax, so take-home pay on the same salary is different: see the Scotland comparison. Wales (£37,330) and Northern Ireland (£38,203) are below the UK median.
Comparing pay between places
Pay is only half of the comparison. When you’re weighing a job in another city, or a move:
- Compare pay for your own job, not the all-jobs median, because sectors cluster in different places: see average salary by job.
- Set it against housing costs, usually the biggest difference between places, and transport. Cost of living by city has figures for individual cities.
- Work out take-home pay, which differs for Scottish taxpayers: use the take-home pay calculator.