Updated for the 2025/26 tax year. We took the Office for National Statistics’ latest regional pay data and ran every region’s median full-time salary through the actual 2025/26 Income Tax and National Insurance rules — including Scotland’s separate income tax bands — to show what people really take home, region by region.
Take-home pay by region, 2025/26
| Region | Median gross salary | Income Tax | National Insurance | Take-home pay | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | £39,778 | £5,442 | £2,177 | £32,160 | £2,680 |
| UK average (full-time) | £39,039 | £5,294 | £2,118 | £31,628 | £2,636 |
| South East | £35,215 | £4,529 | £1,812 | £28,874 | £2,406 |
| East of England | £34,104 | £4,307 | £1,723 | £28,074 | £2,340 |
| Scotland (Scottish rates) | £33,061 | £4,126 | £1,639 | £27,296 | £2,275 |
| South West | £31,432 | £3,772 | £1,509 | £26,151 | £2,179 |
| West Midlands | £31,345 | £3,755 | £1,502 | £26,088 | £2,174 |
| North West | £31,330 | £3,752 | £1,501 | £26,077 | £2,173 |
| Northern Ireland | £31,252 | £3,736 | £1,495 | £26,021 | £2,168 |
| Wales | £30,732 | £3,632 | £1,453 | £25,647 | £2,137 |
| East Midlands | £30,690 | £3,624 | £1,450 | £25,616 | £2,135 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £30,682 | £3,622 | £1,449 | £25,611 | £2,134 |
| North East | £29,584 | £3,403 | £1,361 | £24,820 | £2,068 |
What the gap actually looks like
London’s median earner takes home £32,160 a year. The North East’s median earner takes home £24,820 — a £7,340 gap, even though the gross salary gap is only £10,194. Tax and NI narrow the gap slightly because both are progressive, but not by much: London’s effective tax-and-NI rate is 19.2%, against 16.1% in the North East.
Scotland is the one region on a genuinely different system. Its median salary of £33,061 sits inside the Scottish intermediate rate band (21%, versus 20% basic rate in the rest of the UK), which is why a Scottish earner on a very similar salary to someone in the East of England takes home slightly less — £27,296 versus £28,074 on a salary that’s actually £1,043 lower.
Methodology
Median gross annual pay for full-time employees by region is from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), October 2025 release. Take-home figures apply the 2025/26 tax year rules: a £12,570 personal allowance, 20% basic / 40% higher rate Income Tax for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the separate Scottish Income Tax bands (19% starter, 20% basic, 21% intermediate, 42% higher, 45% advanced, 48% top) for Scotland, and Class 1 employee National Insurance at 8% between the £12,570 primary threshold and the £50,270 upper earnings limit. No pension contributions, student loan repayments or other deductions are included, so this is gross-to-net tax and NI only — your own take-home pay will differ if you have any of those.
Want your own number, not the regional median? Run your exact salary through our UK take-home pay calculator, which uses the same 2025/26 rates and also covers pension contributions, student loans and Scottish tax.