What’s £30k take-home pay?
Updated 12 November 2026 · Tax year 2026/27 · England, Wales or Northern Ireland · No pension · No student loan · Standard personal allowance
Scope: England, Wales and Northern Ireland only, one salary. For Scotland see £30,000 in Scotland; for loan detail see the student loan guides.
On a £30,000 salary you take home £25,119.60 a year — £2,093.30 a month or £483.07 a week — in England, Wales or Northern Ireland for 2026/27, with no pension and no student loan. That is after £3,486.00 income tax and £1,394.40 National Insurance. £30,000 is the first round number where a Plan 2 loan takes something, and where pension choices start to show on the payslip.
Worked example — £30,000.00 gross
A salary of £30,000.00 with nothing else in the model: standard personal allowance of £12,570, no workplace pension, no student loan.
- Gross pay: £30,000.00
- Personal allowance in this run: £12,570.00
- Taxable pay: £30,000.00 − £12,570 = £17,430.00
- Income tax: 20% × £17,430 = £3,486.00
- Employee National Insurance: 8% × (£30,000 − £12,570) = £1,394.40
- Take-home: £25,119.60 a year (£2,093.30 a month · £483.07 a week)
You keep £25,119.60 of £30,000.00.
The £30k angle: what a 5% salary-sacrifice pension really costs
A 5% salary sacrifice at £30,000 puts £1,500.00 a year into the pension. Take-home falls from £25,119.60 to £24,039.60, only £1,080.00 less, because the sacrificed pay escapes 20% tax and 8% NI. Each £1 in the pension costs 72p of take-home. More on salary sacrifice versus net pay.
Net pay or salary sacrifice at £30,000
A 5% pension (£1,500 a year) costs different amounts depending on how your employer runs it. Through a net pay scheme it cuts take-home by £1,200, because only income tax is saved. Through salary sacrifice it cuts take-home by £1,080, because NI is saved too. Same pension, £120 a year apart.
£30,000 is also the first round salary where Plan 2 takes something: £55.35 a year, about £4.61 a month. Plan 5 takes £450.
£30,000 at a glance
| Year | Month | Week | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross | £30,000.00 | £2,500.00 | £576.92 |
| Income tax | £3,486.00 | £290.50 | £67.04 |
| Employee NI | £1,394.40 | £116.20 | £26.82 |
| Take-home | £25,119.60 | £2,093.30 | £483.07 |
Scroll sideways to see the whole table →
Effective deduction rate: 16.3% of gross goes in income tax and NI. Marginal rate on the next £100: 28.0%.
£30,000 with common add-ons
| Set-up | Take-home a year | A month |
|---|---|---|
| No pension, no loan | £25,119.60 | £2,093.30 |
| 5% salary sacrifice | £24,039.60 | £2,003.30 |
| 5% net pay pension | £23,919.60 | £1,993.30 |
| Plan 2 loan | £25,064.25 | £2,088.69 |
| Plan 5 loan | £24,669.60 | £2,055.80 |
| Postgraduate loan | £24,579.60 | £2,048.30 |
| Scotland, no extras | £25,154.53 | £2,096.21 |
Scroll sideways to see the whole table →
Plan 2 takes £55.35 a year here; Plan 5 takes £450.00. The 5% pension rows put £1,500.00 into the pension either way, but salary sacrifice also saves NI, so it leaves £120.00 more take-home than net pay.
Nearby salaries compared
| Salary | Take-home a year | A month | Kept per extra £1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| £25,000 | £21,519.60 | £1,793.30 | 72p |
| £28,000 | £23,679.60 | £1,973.30 | 72p |
| £30,000 | £25,119.60 | £2,093.30 | 72p |
| £32,000 | £26,559.60 | £2,213.30 | 72p |
| £35,000 | £28,719.60 | £2,393.30 | 72p |
Scroll sideways to see the whole table →
Quick answers
What is £30,000 a month after tax? £2,093.30 in England, Wales or Northern Ireland with no pension or loan, and £2,096.21 in Scotland.
What hourly rate is £30,000? About £15.38 an hour gross on 37.5 hours a week for 52 weeks, or £12.88 an hour after tax and NI. See hourly pay to take-home.
How much of a £1,000 rise would I keep? £720.00 at this salary.
Run £30,000.00 in the calculator
Sources (checked 12 November 2026): HMRC rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027; GOV.UK Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances. How the figures are worked out: methodology. General information, not tax advice. Rodway Labs · hello@takehomelab.co.uk.