UK salary percentile calculator
Where do you rank, and what percentage of the UK earns more? This income percentile calculator answers both from HMRC's own distribution of taxpayer incomes (Survey of Personal Incomes 2023/24, the latest published, updated April 2026): the median UK taxpayer earns £29,700 before tax, the top 10% starts at £67,400, the top 5% at £93,600, and the top 1% at £207,000. Most people place themselves far closer to the middle than they are, a £50,000 salary is already inside the top quarter. Enter any income below for your exact percentile from all 99 published points, then see what that income keeps after tax.
Calculator
Salary percentile calculator
You earn more than about 61% of UK taxpayers, the top 39%.
That is £5,300 above the taxpayer median of £29,700. See the take-home →
The UK income ladder
| Rank | Income before tax | |
|---|---|---|
| Top 1% | £207,000 | |
| Top 2% | £145,000 | |
| Top 5% | £93,600 | |
| Top 10% | £67,400 | |
| Top 25% | £45,000 | |
| Median (top 50%) | £29,700 | ✓ you are here or above |
| Bottom 25% | £20,800 | ✓ you are here or above |
HMRC Survey of Personal Incomes 2023/24 (latest published, updated April 2026), individual total income before tax, UK income tax payers only. People earning under the personal allowance pay no income tax and are not counted, so ranks against all adults would be higher.
Income at each percentile of UK taxpayers from HMRC's Survey of Personal Incomes. The median is £29,700, the 90th percentile £67,400 and the 99th £207,000. The vertical axis is logarithmic because the top of the distribution is many times the middle.
| Percentile | Total income before tax | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | £12,800 | 99% of taxpayers earn more |
| 10th | £15,700 | 90% of taxpayers earn more |
| 25th | £20,800 | 75% of taxpayers earn more |
| 50th | £29,700 | the median taxpayer |
| 75th | £45,000 | better paid than 75% of taxpayers |
| 90th | £67,400 | better paid than 90% of taxpayers |
| 95th | £93,600 | better paid than 95% of taxpayers |
| 99th | £207,000 | top 1% of taxpayers |
What counts as a good salary in the UK?
By the only objective yardstick, the distribution itself, anything above £29,700 out-earns half of UK taxpayers, £45,000 beats three-quarters, and £67,400 puts you in the top tenth. Context moves the goalposts: London pay runs well above the national distribution, and a household with two median earners out-earns most single high earners. The more useful question is usually take-home, the main calculator converts any of these benchmarks into monthly money, and the statistics tables show the tax rates at each rung.
How to use the salary percentile calculator
- 1
Enter your gross salary.
- 2
Read the percentile: the share of UK taxpayers who earn less than you.
- 3
Compare against the median and the top 10% and 1% thresholds.
- 4
Check the take-home at your salary alongside the ranking.
When should you use the salary percentile calculator?
Use it when you want your salary placed against the real income distribution rather than against an impression.
You want to know if your salary is good
A percentile against the real income distribution beats an opinion.
In a negotiation
Knowing where an offer sits nationally is useful context for the conversation.
Writing or researching
The figures come from the HMRC income distribution and are free to cite with a link.
Considering a move
Comparing the percentile of two offers puts them on the same scale.
Where to go next
- Income tax calculatorTo the tax at that salary.Open
- Salary comparison calculatorTo put two salaries side by side.Open
- Fiscal drag calculatorTo how the freeze moves you through the distribution.Open
All 51 calculators share one tested engine, so a figure from the salary percentile calculator agrees with every other page here. See the full calculator index or the pay and tax guides.
Why “average salary” and “median” disagree
The mean is dragged upwards by the very top of the distribution, the top 1% start at £207,000 and continue far beyond, so the “average” income sits well above what the typical person earns. The median (£29,700 here) is the honest middle: half of taxpayers above, half below. Note this data counts taxpayers, millions of adults earning under the £12,570 personal allowance pay no income tax and are outside it, so against all adults every rank here is an underestimate of how well an income really places.
Source: HMRC percentile points, SPI 2023/24, checked 2026-08-29 by Hadi. Individual total income before tax.