“Average UK salary” is something you’ll have googled at some point in your life – either when you’re trying to figure out why half of your friends still take their laundry to their parents’ house or why you still have to take your laundry to your parents’ house.
With a gender pay-gap that means women work two months ‘free’ a year, and a cost of living crisis that has made socialising a luxury, knowing how your annual salary compares to the national average wage – whether you’re a part-time worker or work full-time in the UK – has never been so important.
But with so little pay transparency – more than half (53%) of UK workers are not given information about other people’s pay in their organisation – it can be tricky to know how much we should be earning, or what a reasonable amount to ask for is.
In short, it can be a minefield trying to get a grasp of your earning power and how that stacks up. Here, we demystify how much people in the UK are actually earning, taking into account everyone from those on minimum wage to those earning big bread, and explain how you can boost your full-time salary to be among the country’s top earners.
To work out how much you could be earning, it’s worth taking a look first at unemployment rates. Generally, unemployment rates indicate a weaker job market, where there is a higher supply of labour relative to the demand. This means more competition among those of us looking for a job, and potentially lower salaries.
The bad news is that in 2023, there was an uptick in unemployment to 4.3%, compared with 3.7% in 2022. And things look set to get worse before they get better: unemployment is predicted to rise to 4.6% in 2024 and 2025, before gradually falling in the following years.
It’s a particularly turbulent time for the UK job market, with job vacancies falling below one million for the first time in over two years. Between October and December 2023, the estimated number of vacancies in the UK fell by 49,000 to 934,000, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Five industry sectors fell below pre-Covid levels with the largest drops in vacancies in retail, wholesale, transport, storage and motor trade.
In 2023, average weekly earnings across the whole of the economy rose by 6.2% on the regular pay measure, while total pay - which includes bonuses - rose by 5.8% in the year to December. Wages are rising faster than inflation for the first time in two years, which on the surface, might seem like a good thing – but this is largely due to slowing price rises, rather than big jumps in pay.
The latest government data, published in February 2024, shows that the median average UK monthly wage across all industry sectors is £2,334 (that’s the equivalent to an annual pre-tax salary of around £28,000 - an increase of 6.4% compared to February 2023).
But before you start celebrating or lamenting your current lot in life, the figures, unsurprisingly, vary hugely depending on a person’s age, gender, location, and occupation. Here’s a quick breakdown.
Location
It won’t surprise you to learn that Londoners are taking home the most money, with an average weekly salary of £838.9 a week in 2023. The median in the capital is £134.60 more per week than the next highest, the South East (£704.30), and £157.20 more than the median for the whole of the UK (£681.70). Bear in mind, however, that this figure is boosted by the city’s super-earners – think CEOs on six, or even seven, figures. The region with the lowest average salary was North East England, at £608.4 pounds a week.
If you’re looking to move to a new city, you’ll probably want to consider what type of salaries are on offer around the UK. Jobs site Adzuna analysed a million job ads and found that outside of London, Leeds has the best paying job roles, averaging at £37,800 – not bad, considering it’s 21.8% cheaper to live in than the capital. Cambridge followed closely behind with an average salary of £37,692, which is followed by £37,281 in Bristol, and £36,690 in Manchester.
Age and gender
It also pays to have a bit of experience in the working world. Those aged 16 to 17 earned the least last year (£263 for men and £319 for women). The figures jump to £447 for men and £433 for women between the ages of 18 and 21. You can expect your earnings to peak during middle age, with both genders aged 40 to 49 earning more than any other age group (£824.70 for men, and £696.40 for women).
After that, the average salary decreases steadily as you approach retirement age: full-timers aged 50-59 earn an average of £727 per week. And for those aged 60 and above, the figure is £651. Keep in mind that these numbers probably also start to dip as a consequence of workers retiring, therefore reducing the average income significantly.
Occupation
There’s a chance that you might not be earning as much as your peers because of the industry you’re in. That’s fine if you’re passionate about your job and you’re earning enough to support yourself, but if money’s your main motivator you might want to consider a switch. Still, it’s worth bearing in mind that the highest-paid jobs in the country belong to chief executives and senior officials, who earn a median of £1,756 per week. As of now, the median Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 CEO pay (excluding pension) stands at £3.81 million, which is 109 times the median full-time worker’s pay of £34,963.
The second highest-earning jobs are marketing, sales, and advertising directors, and IT directors, which both have a median pay of £1,533.20 per week. This is followed by aircraft pilots and traffic controllers (£1,408 per week) and Transport Associate Professionals (£1462).
Unhappy with where you currently stand against the rest of the population? Well then, the time to start working towards a raise is now. But we’re not suggesting that you immediately storm into your boss’ office and demand more money after reading this article. Getting what you think you deserve is a much more delicate process that must be done right in order to succeed.
“Most employment experts say that you’re unlikely to get – and it’s unwise to expect – a pay rise more frequently than each year,” says Laura Whateley, a personal finance expert and author of Money: A User’s Guide. So, if your earnings have already been given a boost quite recently, then it’s probably best to grit your teeth and make do with what you’ve got for now. On the other hand, if it’s coming up to a year or more since your salary last got a hike, you should start working on your strategy immediately.
“Most employers are under no obligation to raise your pay so if you don't ask, you don't get – and most people do not ask anywhere near enough,” says Whateley. “Many companies do an annual performance review, which is a good time to bring it up.” If you don’t have a performance review coming up, Whateley suggests asking your boss for a meeting to discuss pay, and making sure you give them plenty of notice so they have time to prepare.
Whenever the topic does finally come up, make sure you’re prepared with a good case as to why you actually deserve a raise. You might also want to consider: have you taken on any more responsibilities since your last pay rise? Or developed any new strategies that have significantly benefited the company? Have a long think and have these points clear in your mind before you go in and ask for more money.
It’s also essential to have a reasonable idea of how much of a raise you could expect. “Do your research on comparative salaries in your sector, industry and location before you make your case on how much you might realistically be able to ask for,” says Whateley. “You could start by asking colleagues the electric question of what they earn, or when they last asked for a pay rise – and how it went.”
One in five workers in Britain have gag clauses in their contract, effectively banning them from talking about pay – but as Whateley points out, “this is becoming increasingly controversial, as so many people are now questioning the motive for keeping salaries secret. Employment lawyers also point out it’s not legally enforceable; it's overridden by the equalities act.” Breaking the taboo of talking to your colleagues about pay is important not just for securing your own raise. It helps to address pay discrimination in the work, which is more likely to impact women and people of colour.
Whateley also recommends looking at job sites, such as TotalJobs and Glassdoor, which have tools to help you find salaries in similar work. “You could track down a recruiter or HR expert to try and discuss what is happening in your industry, and what kind of pay rise you could ask for or expect,” she says.
After that, you can either decide on the amount you want your salary to increase by or wait for a number to be suggested by the company. Remember, this is a delicate game, so the second option is probably the safest and, if the number is too low for your liking, you can try to renegotiate. It’s better to slowly get to the figure you want that way than to go in with an off-putting proposal that immediately gets turned down.
“Try to depersonalise the process,” says Whatley. “So often, salaries can become tied up with our self worth, or seem like a reflection on whether we are well liked, and asking for more money can therefore feel exposing. Instead focus on what your skills contribute to your workplace or business and its success. Bosses are also human and buttering them up a bit, and demonstrating how your continued presence and hard work will make their life easier, will put you in the best position for a yes.”
Remember that employers won’t want to lose good people: so if you can show that keeping you on with a pay rise is in their interest, asking for a raise is more likely to go down well.
If you do get turned down, don’t be disheartened. Use this as an opportunity to show that you’re keen to stay with the company and improve your performance: ask what kind of things you could start doing to merit a pay rise in the future and walk out of negotiations with your head held high. It’s not always personal – these days it’s not always uncommon for companies to simply not have the budget. If you love your job, stick with it and see what you can do to secure a raise in the near future. If you’re already fed up of it anyway, it’s probably worth looking into other options.
So, you made the decision to move on and have secured yourself another job offer. Great news, right? Before you let out a sigh of relief and start celebrating, you need to think wisely about how you accept the offer so that you can get the most out of it.
At this stage, wait for the employer to put down a number, thank them for the offer, but politely ask for time to consider it before you run in and seal the deal. While you might feel as though you want to accept the job right there and then, it’s much wiser and actually expected that you do this, as it will give you time to think properly without excitement clouding your judgement.
“I would always advise trying to negotiate before you start work, rather than starting on a salary, being unhappy with it and then trying to negotiate yourself higher pay when you're already embedded,” says Colley. “It's much better to have those conversations before you accept the contract.”
Being honest from the start can avoid creating bad feelings with your boss. “I think it's quite disingenuous sometimes to take a job and then, three months later say, ‘Actually, I want more money’,” says Colley. “Sometimes it can work, but other times it can create a bit of resentment.”
In many ways, the process of securing a raise before starting a job is very similar to the way you would negotiate a pay rise. Just like before, you need to do your research and be prepared with knowledge of how much others in your field are earning.
When you do get back to your boss, make sure you emphasise how enthusiastic you are about being offered the role. Follow this up by giving the salary you want to achieve, and asking if there’s any room for movement on the offer. “You want to emphasise the skills and experience that you bring and why you want that job,” says Colley.
If they won’t budge on salary, Colley suggests trying a different tact. “If you've got an employer who's maybe a bit risk averse, you could always say: ‘Look, how about we agree that you'll pay me this salary to start with, and then after six months if you're happy with my contribution and that I’m fitting the role, that we agree that it will increase,” she says.
You could also explore negotiating other employee benefits, such as holidays and bonuses. Compared to the increase in salary that you previously suggested, these benefits will seem like small requests, so they might be more inclined to throw you a bone.
As the chairman of Reed, James Reed, notes in Life’s Work: 12 Proven Ways To Fast-Track Your Career, you’re going to get the most out of doing a job that you enjoy. To work out what it is you should be doing, he recommends a little bit of self-reflection to help you identify what you like and what you don’t like, your values in life and what you’d like your purpose to be.
“There are nine feel-good fundamentals for sustainable work,” he says. “Doing what you enjoy, having good colleagues, having the opportunity to try new things, being able to make a difference, doing work with meaning, having fun, working close to home, being yourself and finding a well-fitting culture.” Regardless of what you’re earning, if you can’t tick most of these boxes with your current job, then it’s unlikely that a bigger paycheque will improve your overall happiness. It’s a cliché, but it’s true that money doesn’t buy happiness. Your quality of life is more valuable than any bonus.
