Take-home pay calculator
What actually reaches your bank account after tax, National Insurance, pension and student loan.
Where your salary goes
- Gross salary
- £0
- Pension
- £0
- Income tax
- £0
- National Insurance
- £0
- Student loan
- £0
- Take-home pay
- £0
How the deductions stack up
Four things come out of a UK salary, and they are taken in a particular order, which is why the arithmetic surprises people.
Pension goes first. A contribution reduces the income the taxman sees, so it is never taxed. Under salary sacrifice you formally give up the pay, so it escapes National Insurance too. Under a net pay arrangement it escapes income tax but not National Insurance. Same money into the pension, slightly different cost to you.
Then income tax. The first £12,570 is the personal allowance and is untaxed. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the next £37,700 is taxed at 20%, then 40% up to £125,140, then 45%. Scotland runs six bands instead of three, starting at 19% and reaching 48%, and the rates diverge sharply above £43,662.
Then National Insurance, at 8% of everything between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above that. This is why a pay rise past £50,270 feels better than expected on the National Insurance line and worse on the income tax line: one rate steps up as the other steps down.
Student loan last, at 9% of everything above your plan's threshold, or 6% for a postgraduate loan. It is not a tax and it is not means-tested against your other deductions: it simply sits on top.
Take-home pay at each salary
Find your salary and read across. These figures are for England, Wales and Northern Ireland with no pension contribution and no student loan, using the 2026/27 rates. The calculator above lets you add both and switch to Scotland.
| Salary | Income tax | NI | A year | A month | A week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £20,000 | £1,486 | £594 | £17,920 | £1,493 | £345 |
| £25,000 | £2,486 | £994 | £21,520 | £1,793 | £414 |
| £30,000 | £3,486 | £1,394 | £25,120 | £2,093 | £483 |
| £35,000 | £4,486 | £1,794 | £28,720 | £2,393 | £552 |
| £40,000 | £5,486 | £2,194 | £32,320 | £2,693 | £622 |
| £50,000 | £7,486 | £2,994 | £39,520 | £3,293 | £760 |
| £60,000 | £11,432 | £3,211 | £45,357 | £3,780 | £872 |
| £80,000 | £19,432 | £3,611 | £56,957 | £4,746 | £1,095 |
| £100,000 | £27,432 | £4,011 | £68,557 | £5,713 | £1,318 |
| £125,000 | £42,432 | £4,511 | £78,057 | £6,505 | £1,501 |
Weekly figures are the annual figure divided by 52. Your payslip may differ by a few pounds because payroll works per pay period.
Gross, net and take-home
Gross pay is what your contract says. Net pay and take-home pay mean the same thing: what is left after tax, National Insurance, pension and any student loan. A salary of £30,000 is not £2,500 a month in your account, it is £2,093. The gap is the reason it is worth running your own figure rather than halving a headline salary.
Scotland and the rest of the UK
Scotland sets its own income tax bands, so the same salary leaves a different amount. The difference is small at lower salaries and grows above them, where Scottish taxpayers keep less. National Insurance is set for the whole UK.
| Salary | England, Wales, NI | Scotland | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| £30,000 | £25,120 | £25,155 | +£35 |
| £50,000 | £39,520 | £38,024 | -£1,496 |
| £80,000 | £56,957 | £54,657 | -£2,300 |
| £100,000 | £68,557 | £65,257 | -£3,300 |
A year, no pension and no student loan. The last column is Scotland against the rest of the UK.
The £100,000 cliff
Above £100,000 the personal allowance falls by £1 for every £2 earned, disappearing entirely at £125,140. Over that £25,140 stretch you are taxed at 40% and losing allowance at the same time, which produces an effective marginal rate of 60%. Earning £101,000 rather than £100,000 leaves you about £400 better off, not £600. It is the single strongest argument for a pension contribution anywhere in the UK system.
What this does not include
The calculation assumes the standard personal allowance and tax code 1257L, a full year on one salary, and employee Class 1 National Insurance at category A. It does not model taxable benefits such as a company car, the High Income Child Benefit Charge, the marriage allowance, blind person's allowance, or salary paid partly through dividends. If any of those apply, treat the figure here as a starting point rather than an answer.
Common questions
- Is this the same as my payslip?
- It should be very close. The calculation is annual, while real payroll runs per pay period, so a year with a bonus, a pay rise part-way through, or an unusual tax code can differ by a few pounds. Your tax code is the most common reason for a gap.
- Why is my take-home lower than a colleague on the same salary?
- Usually the pension contribution or a student loan. A Plan 2 loan on a £40,000 salary takes about £955 a year. Scottish taxpayers also pay a different set of rates above £43,662.
- Does a pension contribution really cost me less than it puts in?
- Yes. A contribution reduces your taxable income, so a basic rate taxpayer gives up 80p of take-home for every £1 that reaches the pension, and a higher rate taxpayer gives up 60p. Salary sacrifice saves National Insurance on top.
- What is the £100,000 trap?
- The personal allowance falls by £1 for every £2 earned above £100,000, so between £100,000 and £125,140 you lose allowance as well as paying tax. The effective marginal rate over that band is 60%. A pension contribution that takes you back under £100,000 is unusually valuable.
- Is anything I type here sent anywhere?
- No. Everything is calculated in your browser. No salary figure is uploaded, stored, or logged.
- What does take-home pay mean?
- It is the money that reaches your bank account after everything is deducted: income tax, National Insurance, pension contributions and any student loan. It is also called net pay, and some people say bring-home pay or the pay in your pocket. Gross pay is the figure before any of that comes off.
- What is the take-home pay on a £30,000 salary?
- In England, Wales and Northern Ireland with no pension or student loan, £25,120 a year, which is £2,093 a month. Income tax is £3,486 and National Insurance £1,394. A pension contribution or student loan lowers it.
- What is the take-home pay on £40,000 and £50,000?
- On £40,000 it is £32,320 a year, or £2,693 a month. On £50,000 it is £39,520 a year, or £3,293 a month. Both are England, Wales and Northern Ireland with no pension or student loan. The table on this page covers other salaries.
- Do I take home more or less in Scotland?
- It depends on the salary. On £30,000 a Scottish taxpayer keeps £35 more a year than elsewhere in the UK, on £50,000 £1,496 less, and on £100,000 £3,300 less. Scotland sets its own income tax bands, and National Insurance is the same everywhere.