On a £30,000 salary in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, with no student loan and no pension, you take home about £25,120 a year in 2026/27. That is roughly £2,093 a month or £483 a week. Income tax is about £3,486 and employee National Insurance about £1,394, so around 84% of your gross pay reaches your bank account.
Note: this is general information, not tax or financial advice. The figures are estimates for a standard tax code and a single job, using the 2026/27 rates. Your payslip is the final word, and GOV.UK has the official rates.
£30,000 after tax: the headline numbers
For a standard employee paid the same amount every month, with the tax code 1257L, here is the picture for 2026/27:
| Item | Per year | Per month | Per week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | £30,000 | £2,500 | £577 |
| Income tax | £3,486 | £291 | £67 |
| National Insurance | £1,394 | £116 | £27 |
| Take-home pay | £25,120 | £2,093 | £483 |
These figures come from the House of Calculator take-home engine. Altogether, tax and National Insurance take £4,880, which is 16.3% of your gross pay. That is much lower than the 20% basic rate plus 8% National Insurance would suggest, because the first £12,570 of your pay is free of both income tax and National Insurance at the main rate. If you work five days a week, your take-home pay is about £97 a day.
Compare that with a lower and a higher salary at the same assumptions, to see how the numbers move:
| Gross salary | Income tax | National Insurance | Take-home | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £20,000 | £1,486 | £594 | £17,920 | £1,493 |
| £25,000 | £2,486 | £994 | £21,520 | £1,793 |
| £30,000 | £3,486 | £1,394 | £25,120 | £2,093 |
| £35,000 | £4,486 | £1,794 | £28,720 | £2,393 |
The £25,000 line matches our guide on £25,000 salary after tax in the UK. Every extra £5,000 of salary at this level adds £1,000 of tax and £400 of National Insurance, so you keep £3,600 of it, which is 72p in the pound.
How the income tax is worked out
The sum is short. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland you have a Personal Allowance of £12,570, which is the amount you can earn each year before income tax applies. The rest is taxed at 20% up to £37,700 of taxable income.
- Start with the gross salary of £30,000.
- Subtract the £12,570 Personal Allowance. That leaves £17,430 of taxable income.
- Multiply by 20%. £17,430 × 0.20 = £3,486.
All of your taxable income sits within the basic-rate band, which runs to £37,700 of taxable income, or £50,270 of gross pay with a full allowance. So £30,000 is well short of the 40% rate, and a rise of several thousand pounds is taxed at 20%. UK income tax explained: bands, allowance and how it's worked out sets out the bands and the allowance in more detail.
How the National Insurance is worked out
Employee Class 1 National Insurance is 8% of earnings between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2% above that. At £30,000 the calculation is the same shape as the tax one:
- £30,000 minus £12,570 = £17,430
- £17,430 × 0.08 = £1,394.40
Adding the two gives £3,486 + £1,394.40 = £4,880.40 of deductions, which leaves £25,119.60 of take-home pay. That is the £25,120 in the table, rounded to the nearest pound. Payroll calculates National Insurance each pay period, so the exact payslip total can differ slightly from the annual sum. National Insurance for employees: what you pay and why explains what the contribution builds towards.
£30,000 by month, week, day and hour
Most people budget monthly, so here is how £30,000 breaks down across different pay periods:
- Monthly: £2,500 gross, £2,093.30 take-home
- Weekly: £576.92 gross, £483.07 take-home
- Daily (five days): £115.38 gross, £96.61 take-home
- Every four weeks: about £2,308 gross, with 13 payments a year
As an hourly rate, £30,000 is £15.38 an hour at 37.5 hours a week for 52 weeks (£30,000 ÷ 1,950), or £14.42 an hour at 40 hours a week (£30,000 ÷ 2,080). Both are above the National Living Wage of £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over from April 2026. The after-tax equivalent is about £12.88 an hour at 37.5 hours a week. If your hours include unpaid breaks or paid overtime, the hourly figure changes, and the UK Take-Home Pay Calculator can convert a salary per year, month or week.
What changes if you pay into a pension
Many employers enrol staff in a workplace pension, so the take-home figure often differs from the one above. The method decides how much tax and National Insurance you save. These examples use a 5% employee contribution, which is £1,500 a year:
| Method | Income tax | National Insurance | Pension | Take-home |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No pension | £3,486 | £1,394 | £0 | £25,120 |
| Net pay, 5% | £3,186 | £1,394 | £1,500 | £23,920 |
| Salary sacrifice, 5% | £3,186 | £1,274 | £1,500 | £24,040 |
| Relief at source, 5% | £3,486 | £1,394 | £1,200 | £23,920 |
With net pay, the £1,500 comes off before tax, so your tax falls by £300 and your take-home falls by £1,200, although the pension receives £1,500. With salary sacrifice, National Insurance falls too, by £120 (8% of £1,500), so you are £120 better off than with net pay for the same pension, at £24,040. With relief at source, you pay £1,200 from taxed pay and the provider adds £300 of basic-rate relief, so the pension also receives £1,500 and your take-home is the same as net pay.
The upshot is that £1,500 going into a pension costs a basic-rate taxpayer about £1,200 of take-home pay, and about £1,080 under salary sacrifice. Net pay, salary sacrifice or relief at source: how pension contributions affect your pay sets out the three methods and who benefits. The rules of your own scheme, including the minimum contribution and any employer match, are what decide your numbers, so check them in your contract or with the provider.
Student loan repayments at £30,000
Undergraduate student loan repayments are 9% of income above your plan threshold, and a postgraduate loan is 6% above £21,000. The annual thresholds in 2026/27 are Plan 1 £26,900, Plan 2 £29,385, Plan 4 £33,795 and Plan 5 £25,000. £30,000 sits above three of the four thresholds, so the plan you are on makes a visible difference to your pay.
| Plan | Threshold | Yearly repayment at £30,000 | Take-home after the loan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £26,900 | £279 | £24,841 |
| Plan 2 | £29,385 | £55 | £25,064 |
| Plan 4 (Scotland) | £33,795 | £0 | £25,120 |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 | £450 | £24,670 |
| Postgraduate loan | £21,000 | £540 | £24,580 |
For example, Plan 5 takes 9% of the £5,000 above £25,000, which is £450 a year or £37.50 a month. Plan 2 takes 9% of just £615, which is about £55. You may have more than one loan, for instance an undergraduate loan and a postgraduate loan, and the repayments then add together. Repayments come out through payroll, so you do not need to do anything yourself. The plan that applies depends on where and when you studied, so check GOV.UK, and read Student loan repayments explained: plans, thresholds and what you'll pay for the differences between plans and when balances are written off.
Scotland: £30,000 after tax
Scotland has its own income tax bands for non-savings income. On £30,000 the taxable income is £17,430, and the calculation uses three Scottish bands:
- 19% on the first £3,967 = £753.73
- 20% on the next £12,989 (up to £16,956) = £2,597.80
- 21% on the remaining £474 = £99.54
That totals £3,451.07, which is about £35 less than the £3,486 in the rest of the UK. National Insurance is the same everywhere, so the take-home in Scotland is about £25,155 a year, or £2,096 a month. The Scottish bands can change each year, and the gap grows at higher incomes, so check the Scottish Government or GOV.UK pages when the new tax year starts.
Checking your payslip and tax code
If your pay is not close to these figures, look at your tax code first. A standard code is 1257L, which gives the £12,570 allowance. A different number, or a code such as BR or K, changes the tax. Common causes are a second job or pension, a company benefit such as a car or health insurance, or tax owed from a previous year being collected through your pay. You can check your code in your personal tax account on GOV.UK, and ask HMRC to correct it if it is wrong.
A short checklist for a payslip that looks off:
- Compare your gross pay with your contract, including unpaid leave and any salary sacrifice.
- Check whether your pension comes out before or after tax.
- Look for a student loan or postgraduate loan line.
- Confirm the tax code and ask why it is not 1257L, if so.
- Remember that early in the tax year, emergency or “week 1” codes can overtax or undertax for a month or two.
What a £30,000 take-home means for your budget
The take-home pay of about £2,093 a month is the number to plan around. A common approach is to split it between essentials, wants and savings, which is covered in The 50/30/20 budget rule explained. On that rule, £30,000 gives about £1,047 for needs, £628 for wants and £419 for savings and debt repayment each month, before any pension or student loan changes the figure.
Borrowing is based on gross income, not take-home pay. Lenders often use a multiple of salary, such as 4 to 4.5 times, so £30,000 might support a loan of about £120,000 to £135,000 before they test your spending and credit record. Your monthly budget still has to work with the take-home figure. How much mortgage can you afford? describes how affordability is assessed. Whether £30,000 is comfortable depends on where you live, your housing costs and whether you share bills, so use the numbers as a starting point for your own budget.
Common mistakes with a £30,000 salary
- Taxing the whole salary at 20%. The first £12,570 is tax-free, so tax is charged on £17,430.
- Forgetting National Insurance. It is an extra 8% on the same slice of pay, and adds £1,394 a year.
- Ignoring the student loan. On Plan 5 or Plan 1, the repayment is a few hundred pounds a year, which is not trivial.
- Treating the pension as a pure cost. Because of tax relief, a 5% pension contribution reduces take-home by about 4%, not 5%, for a basic-rate taxpayer.
- Assuming a pay rise is fully yours. At this level, you keep 72p of each extra pound, or 63p with a Plan 5 loan.
- Using the wrong period. Comparing a monthly payslip with a four-weekly one gives different figures, so check which one you are paid on.
Try the calculator
Enter your own salary, region, student loan plan and pension contribution into the UK Take-Home Pay Calculator to see your estimate, and compare it with your payslip.
Frequently asked questions
How much is £30,000 a year after tax per month?
About £2,093 a month in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with no pension or student loan. In Scotland it is about £2,096 a month. Your payslip may differ by a few pounds because of your tax code and pay period.
How much tax do I pay on £30,000?
Income tax is about £3,486 a year, which is 20% of the £17,430 above the Personal Allowance, and National Insurance is about £1,394. Together that is about £4,880, or 16.3% of your gross pay.
What is £30,000 a year per hour?
At 37.5 hours a week for 52 weeks, it is about £15.38 an hour before tax. At 40 hours a week it is about £14.42. Both are above the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over.
Do I pay student loan on £30,000?
It depends on your plan. On Plan 1 you repay about £279 a year, Plan 2 about £55 and Plan 5 about £450. On Plan 4 you repay nothing at this salary, and a postgraduate loan takes about £540.
How much does a 5% pension contribution cost me?
With net pay it costs about £1,200 of take-home pay for a £1,500 contribution, because of the tax saved. With salary sacrifice it is about £1,080, because National Insurance falls too. Check how your employer’s scheme works.