What is the take-home pay on £20,000?

A £20,000 salary gives you about £17,920 a year after tax and National Insurance — roughly £1,493 a month.

Is £20,000 a good salary in London?

London's median salary is higher, around £47,500, so £20,000 sits below the London median — and living costs there are higher too. Outside London it stretches considerably further.

Salary check · UK · 2026

Is £20,000 a good salary?

Is £20,000 a good salary in the UK?

£20,000 is a low salary in the UK. It puts you in roughly the 6th percentile — you earn more than about 6% of full-time workers, and it's £19,039 below the UK median of £39,039. Your take-home is about £1,493 a month.

Verified 12 August 2026

6th percentile You're in the lower quarter of earners
You earn more than about 6% of full-time workers — many are early-career or part-time-equivalent.

Individual vs household. For one person this is manageable, but as the only income for a family it would be tight. The UK's official relative poverty line is 60% of median household income — around £22,000 a year for an equivalised household — and a single earner on £20,000 supporting a partner and children could put the household close to that low-income territory, depending on benefits and housing costs.

What £20,000 actually means

The UK median full-time salary is £39,039 (ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2025). At £20,000 you're earning £19,039 less than the typical full-time worker.

Your take-home pay on £20,000

Gross salary	£20,000
Income tax	£1,486
National Insurance	£594
Take-home (year)	£17,920
Take-home (month)	£1,493

See the full breakdown → or adjust for pension and student loan.

Is it good for your age?

£20,000 is below the median for every age band, which is common early in a career or in part-time-equivalent roles.

Is it good where you live?

Location changes everything. London's median is £47,500 and the North East's is £35,100 — so £20,000 stretches much further in some regions than others. Outside London and the South East it goes considerably further.

Work it out for yourself
Where do you stand?See where your salary ranks in the UK.Take-home pay calculatorSee your exact pay after tax and NI.Monthly budget plannerWhere your take-home actually goes.What is a good UK salary?A more useful test than the average.