UK Hourly Wage Calculator

Enter your hourly rate and weekly hours. A full-time year at 37.5 hours is 1,950 hours. The National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour from 2026-04-01.

Updated 2026-10-03 · 2026/27 HMRC rates

Take-home pay per month£1,950.80£23,410 a year · 16.0% effective rate · 28% marginal (tax + NI) · 2026/27

	Per month	Per year
Gross pay	£2,437.50	£29,250
Pension (you pay 80%, HMRC adds 20%)	-£97.50	-£1,170
Income tax	-£278.00	-£3,336
National Insurance	-£111.20	-£1,334
Take-home pay	£1,950.80	£23,410

Tax-free Personal Allowance used: £12,570. Total going into your pension: £1,463 a year. Your employer also pays £3,638 employer NI.

Take-home £23,410 80.0%
Income tax £3,336 11.4%
National Insurance £1,334 4.6%
Pension £1,170 4.0%

Take-home pay vs deductions at every salary (England, Wales & NI)

Take-home pay
Tax + NI + loans

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Key facts

The personal allowance stays at £12,570 in 2026/27 and is reduced by £1 for every £2 of adjusted net income over £100,000, so it is gone entirely at £125,140 (HMRC income tax rates and allowances).
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2026/27 income tax is 20% on the first £37,700 of taxable income, 40% up to £125,140 and 45% above that (HMRC rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027).
Scotland has six bands in 2026/27: 19% starter on the first £3,967 of taxable income, 20% basic to £16,956, 21% intermediate to £31,092, 42% higher to £62,430, 45% advanced to £125,140 and 48% top above that (HMRC rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027).
Budget 2025 extended the freeze on income tax thresholds and the equivalent employee and self-employed National Insurance thresholds for a further three years, from April 2028 to April 2031 (HM Treasury Budget 2025).
Employees pay Class 1 National Insurance at 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 a year and 2% above that in 2026/27 (HMRC rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027).
Employers pay 15% National Insurance on earnings above the £5,000 secondary threshold, and eligible employers can claim an Employment Allowance of £10,500 (HMRC rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027).
Self-employed people pay Class 4 National Insurance at 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above that; voluntary Class 2 costs £3.65 a week if profits are below £7,105 (GOV.UK self-employed National Insurance rates).
Dividend tax rose by 2 percentage points from April 2026: the basic rate is now 10.75% and the higher rate 35.75%, while the additional rate stays at 39.35% and the dividend allowance stays at £500 (GOV.UK tax on dividends).

How to convert an hourly rate into an annual salary

Multiply your hourly rate by your weekly paid hours, then by 52. At £12.71 an hour and 37.5 hours a week, that is £476.63 a week and £24,785 a year. Use 52 weeks, not 48 or 50, if you get paid holiday: holiday pay replaces your normal pay rather than reducing your annual total.

To go the other way, divide annual pay by 52 and then by weekly hours. The table shows the conversion for several common rates at 37.5 hours, with take-home pay worked out by the same tax and NI engine as the calculator, for someone outside Scotland with no pension or student loan.

Hourly rate	Weekly (37.5h)	Annual	Take-home per year	Take-home per hour
£12.71	£476.63	£24,785	£21,364	£10.96
£15.00	£562.50	£29,250	£24,580	£12.60
£20.00	£750.00	£39,000	£31,600	£16.20
£25.00	£937.50	£48,750	£38,620	£19.80
£30.00	£1,125.00	£58,500	£44,487	£22.81

Why your hourly take-home rate is lower than you might expect

Tax and NI are not charged per hour. They are charged on each pay period's total, so the first hours you work each week are effectively tax-free and later hours are taxed. For a monthly-paid employee, the first £1,047.50 each month is free of income tax and the first £1,047.50 is free of employee NI. Everything above that up to the higher-rate line costs 28% in combined tax and NI.

This matters when you weigh up overtime. An extra hour at £20.00 on a £39,000 salary keeps about £14.40. If the same overtime pushed you above £50,270, you would keep £11.60.

Paid holiday and the true value of an hourly job

Almost all workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year, capped at 28 days. Employers do not have to give bank holidays as extra paid leave; they can count them within the 5.6 weeks. If you compare a salaried job with an hourly contract, check whether the hourly rate already includes holiday pay or whether paid leave is on top.

Someone working 3 days a week gets at least 16.8 days (3 × 5.6). For irregular-hours and part-year workers, holiday rules have their own calculation method; GOV.UK's holiday entitlement guidance and calculator cover those cases.

Working hours limits that affect overtime

Hourly workers often ask how many hours they can be asked to work. The Working Time Regulations set these limits:

Adults cannot be required to work more than 48 hours a week on average, normally measured over 17 weeks.
You can choose to opt out of the 48-hour limit in writing, and you can cancel the opt-out.
Workers under 18 cannot work more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week, and cannot opt out.
There is no legal right to a higher overtime rate. Time-and-a-half or double time only applies if your contract says so, but your average pay for all hours worked must not fall below the minimum wage.

Checking an hourly rate against the minimum wage

From 1 April 2026, the legal minimum is £12.71 an hour at age 21 and over, £10.85 for 18 to 20 year olds and £8.00 for under-18s and apprentices in their first year. Pay is checked over each pay reference period, not hour by hour, so an employer must make sure total pay divided by total working hours meets the rate.

Working time includes travel between assignments during the day and time spent training, but not your commute from home. Deductions for uniforms you must buy, or tools you must supply, reduce the pay that counts towards the minimum.

Frequently asked questions

How do I work out my hourly rate from my salary?

Divide your annual salary by 52, then by your weekly hours. £30,000 at 37.5 hours a week is £15.38 an hour.

How many working hours are there in a year?

52 weeks at 37.5 hours is 1,950 hours; at 40 hours it is 2,080. Paid holiday is included because holiday pay counts as pay.

What is £15.00 an hour as an annual salary?

£29,250 at 37.5 hours a week, or £31,200 at 40 hours. After tax and NI outside Scotland, £29,250 leaves about £24,580 a year.

Is overtime taxed more than normal pay?

No. Overtime is added to that pay period and taxed at your normal marginal rate. It can look higher on the payslip if it pushes that month into a higher band; cumulative PAYE evens this out over the year.

Do I get paid for bank holidays?

Not automatically on top of your 5.6 weeks. Employers can include bank holidays in statutory leave. Check your contract.

Sources

Figures are taken from official government publications and were last reviewed on 2026-10-03.