Salary check · UK · 2026
Is £22,000 a good salary?
Is £22,000 a good salary in the UK?
£22,000 is a low salary in the UK. It puts you in roughly the 8th percentile — you earn more than about 8% of full-time workers, and it's £17,039 below the UK median of £39,039. Your take-home is about £1,613 a month.
Verified 12 August 2026
You earn more than about 8% of full-time workers — many are early-career or part-time-equivalent.
What £22,000 actually means
The UK median full-time salary is £39,039 (ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2025). At £22,000 you're earning £17,039 less than the typical full-time worker.
Your take-home pay on £22,000
| Gross salary | £22,000 |
|---|---|
| Income tax | £1,886 |
| National Insurance | £754 |
| Take-home (year) | £19,360 |
| Take-home (month) | £1,613 |
See the full breakdown → or adjust for pension and student loan.
Is it good for your age?
£22,000 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 £22,000 stretches much further in some regions than others. Outside London and the South East it goes considerably further.