UK Salary to Hourly Rate — Every Band Explained
Convert any UK annual salary into an hourly rate, understand the tax band you're in, and see what each £5k step actually means for your monthly pay packet.
Why the gross hourly rate isn't the number that matters
The naive conversion is simple: annual salary ÷ (37.5 hours × 52 weeks). A £30,000 salary becomes £15.38/hour. But that's the gross figure. By the time income tax, National Insurance, and any pension contribution come off, your effective hourly is typically 70–80% of that at basic-rate levels, and closer to 55–65% once you cross £50,270 into the higher-rate band.
Knowing which tax band a salary sits in matters more than the hourly figure itself. In the basic-rate band you keep 72p of every extra pound; in the higher-rate band that drops to 58p; and between £100,000 and £125,140 it collapses to around 40p because the personal allowance tapers away — the infamous "60% tax trap". These inflection points are where salary negotiations, bonus structures, and pension sacrifice decisions actually matter.
Salary-by-salary reference table
Every row links to a dedicated calculator page with full commentary for that salary band.
| Annual salary | Hourly (37.5h) | Gross monthly | Approx net monthly | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £18,000 | £9.23 | £1,500 | £1,170 | Full breakdown → |
| £25,000 | £12.82 | £2,083 | £1,625 | Full breakdown → |
| £30,000 | £15.38 | £2,500 | £1,950 | Full breakdown → |
| £35,000 | £17.95 | £2,917 | £2,275 | Full breakdown → |
| £40,000 | £20.51 | £3,333 | £2,600 | Full breakdown → |
| £45,000 | £23.08 | £3,750 | £2,925 | Full breakdown → |
| £50,000 | £25.64 | £4,167 | £3,250 | Full breakdown → |
| £60,000 | £30.77 | £5,000 | £3,250 | Full breakdown → |
| £75,000 | £38.46 | £6,250 | £4,063 | Full breakdown → |
| £100,000 | £51.28 | £8,333 | £4,583 | Full breakdown → |
| £125,000 | £64.10 | £10,417 | £5,729 | Full breakdown → |
| £150,000 | £76.92 | £12,500 | £7,250 | Full breakdown → |
UK income-tax bands at a glance (2024/25)
- Personal allowance (£0 – £12,570): 0% income tax.
- Basic rate (£12,571 – £50,270): 20% income tax, 8% NI on earnings above £12,570.
- Higher rate (£50,271 – £125,140): 40% income tax, 2% NI.
- Personal allowance taper (£100,000 – £125,140): effective marginal rate of ~60% because £1 of allowance is removed for every £2 earned above £100k.
- Additional rate (£125,141+): 45% income tax, 2% NI.
How to use this page
Pick the salary closest to yours above for a calculator-backed breakdown, or use the reverse lookup: if you know the hourly rate you want and the hours you plan to work, jump to the hourly-to-annual salary calculator and work backwards.