£21,000 after tax
A salary of £21,000 leaves you £18,639.60 a year after tax: £1,553.30 a month, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for 2026/27. That is £1,686.00 income tax and £674.40 National Insurance, so you keep 88.8% of what you earn. The figure is before any student loan repayment or pension contribution.
How much take home pay is £21,000? Written as 21k, the form most people type, 21k after tax is £18,639.60 a year and 21k take home pay is £1,553.30 a month, so take home pay on £21,000 in the UK is that monthly figure after income tax and National Insurance. Is 21k a good salary? It sits at the 25th percentile of UK taxpayers, so 25% earn less and 75% earn more.
- Annual
- £18,640
- Monthly
- £1,553.30
- Weekly
- £358.45
- Daily (5-day week)
- £71.69
£21,000 is a basic-rate salary below every student loan threshold: the lowest is Postgraduate Loan at £21,000, so a graduate keeps the whole of it. Everything above the £12,570 allowance is taxed at 20%, with National Insurance on top, and that stays true until £50,270, £29,270 away. A rise here is one of the few that arrives almost intact, because nothing else starts taking a share of it yet. The next threshold is where higher-rate tax starts, at £50,270: £29,270 away.
£21,000 is £0 above the Postgraduate Loan student loan threshold of £21,000, so a borrower on that plan repays 9% of that slice: £0.00 a year. This is one plan-specific example, not a recommendation of your plan. Your loan provider and course history determine the plan, not your current tax region. Compare your actual student loan plan.
Where the money goes
| Item | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | £21,000.00 | £1,750.00 |
| Income tax | −£1,686.00 | −£140.50 |
| National Insurance | −£674.40 | −£56.20 |
| Take-home pay | £18,639.60 | £1,553.30 |
Income tax, band by band
| Basic rate (20%) | on £8,430.00 | £1,686.00 |
Personal allowance £12,570.00, so £8,430.00 is taxable.
Is £21,000 a good salary in the UK?
By HMRC's own income distribution (SPI 2023/24, the latest published), £21,000 puts you in roughly the top 75% of UK taxpayers, the median is £29,700, so this salary out-earns about 25% of everyone who pays income tax. As an hourly figure, £21,000 is £10.77 an hour at a 37.5-hour week, and £9.56 an hour after tax. Exact rank on the salary percentile calculator.
Which tax bands does £21,000 pass through?
- Tax free (personal allowance)
- £12,570
- Basic rate (taxed at 20%)
- £8,430 → £1,686 tax
Income tax £1,686, National Insurance £674, take-home £18,640, which is 88.8% of gross. The next pound is taxed at 28.0%.
Where £21,000 sits among UK taxpayers
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. A salary of £21,000 sits at about the 25th percentile.
Buying a home on £21,000? A lender will quote against the gross figure, but the repayments come out of the £1,553.30 a month above. The mortgage calculator shows what a given payment leaves of it, and the stamp duty on the price.
What a £1,000 pay rise is worth
On £21,000, a £1,000 rise leaves you £720.00 better off after tax and National Insurance, you keep 72% of it. Your marginal rate is 28%.
£21,000 after tax with a student loan or pension
The headline figure assumes neither. These are the same salary with the most common additions, each computed on the 2026/27 rates:
| Scenario | Extra deduction | Take-home | Monthly |
|---|---|---|---|
| With a Plan 2 student loan | −£0.00 | £18,639.60 | £1,553.30 |
| With a Plan 5 student loan | −£0.00 | £18,639.60 | £1,553.30 |
| With a 5% salary-sacrifice pension | −£1,050.00 | £17,883.60 | £1,490.30 |
| Plan 2 loan and 5% pension together | −£1,050.00 | £17,883.60 | £1,490.30 |
Loan repayments apply only above each plan's threshold, so a £0 deduction means this salary is below it. Pension money is deferred pay, not lost: the 5% row's take-home excludes £1,050.00 going into the pension. Your own combination, with any plan and all three pension arrangements: run it on the calculator.
If you live in Scotland
Scotland sets its own income tax bands. On £21,000 a Scottish taxpayer takes home £18,679.27, which is £39.67 more than in England. National Insurance is the same everywhere because it was never devolved.
Add pension and student loan →
The calculator handles all five student loan plans and the three pension arrangements.
What rent does £21,000 support?
A letting agent referencing on 30× gross would accept rent up to £700 a month. Out of the £1,553.30 that arrives, 30% is £466, which is the figure a budget can live on. The gap between the two is £234 a month. Both are conventions rather than rules; the rent affordability calculator shows them side by side with a partner's income added.
Questions people ask about £21,000
What tax band is £21,000 in?
The basic rate. Income above £12,570 is taxed at 20% up to £50,270, and £21,000 is £29,270 below that.
How much can I earn before higher-rate tax?
£29,270 more. Higher-rate tax starts at £50,270 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for 2026/27.
Is £21,000 above the UK median salary?
Not quite. £21,000 is above about 25% of UK taxpayers; the median is £31,500 on HMRC's distribution.
2026/27 HMRC rates, checked 28 August 2026 by Hadi. Assumes the standard 1257L tax code, no pension and no student loan.