£35,100 a year gross at 37.5 hours a week · £2,399 a month take-home in England, Wales & NI · £2,398 in Scotland.
ESTIMATE
Estimates for tax year 2026/27, 37.5-hour week × 52 paid weeks unless stated. Tax code 1257L, NI category A, no other income. For exact payslips use the UK take-home pay calculator.
Paid £18 per hour? Over a full year of 37.5-hour weeks that is an annual salary of £35,100 (£37,440 at 40 hours). Once income tax and Class 1 National Insurance come off, £2,399 a month (£28,792 a year) lands in your account in England, Wales and NI; in Scotland it is £2,398 a month.
Hourly to annual salary: £18 an hour by pay period
To turn an hourly rate into a UK annual salary, multiply by your weekly hours and by 52. £18 × 37.5 × 52 = £35,100; £18 × 40 × 52 = £37,440. Daily figures assume a 7.5-hour or 8-hour day, five days a week (260 days). Holiday is paid, so it is already inside the 52 weeks.
Period
37.5h gross
Net E/W/NI
Net Scotland
40h gross
Net 40h
Year
£35,100
£28,792
£28,776
£37,440
£30,476
Month
£2,925
£2,399
£2,398
£3,120
£2,540
Week
£675.00
£553.68
£553.38
£720.00
£586.08
Day
£135.00
£110.74
£110.68
£144.00
£117.22
How £18 an hour is taxed in 2026/27
Everyone gets a £12,570 personal allowance. On £35,100 that leaves £22,530 taxable at the 20% basic rate, giving £4,506 of income tax. Employees then pay Class 1 National Insurance of 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above — £1,802 here. In Scotland the six-band system (19% to 48%) gives £4,522 of income tax, so Scottish take-home is £16 lower at £28,776. The marginal rate on your next pound is 28% in England, Wales and NI.
Income tax and NI only start once annual pay passes £12,570 — at £18 that happens at about 13.4 hours a week. Below that you keep every penny. A Plan 2 student loan starts at 31.4 hours a week (£29,385 a year). The 40% higher rate begins at 53.7 hours a week (£50,270).
Close to typical full-time pay. The ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings puts median hourly pay for full-time employees at £20.81 in April 2026 (provisional, up 5.7% from £19.68). £18 is £2.81 below that median, and 42% above the National Living Wage. At this level a Plan 2 student loan starts to bite (9% of pay over £29,385), and in Scotland the 21% intermediate rate applies to income above £29,527.
£18 an hour part-time: 20, 30 and 40 hours
Here is how the same hourly rate plays out across common contracts. At 20 hours £18 keeps 91% of gross pay, compared with 82% at 37.5 hours.
Contract
Gross / yr
Tax + NI
Net / yr
Net / month
Scotland / month
20 h/week
£18,720
£1,722
£16,998
£1,417
£1,420
30 h/week
£28,080
£4,343
£23,737
£1,978
£1,981
37.5 h/week
£35,100
£6,308
£28,792
£2,399
£2,398
40 h/week
£37,440
£6,964
£30,476
£2,540
£2,536
Take-home at £18 an hour by weekly hours
Take-home (shown)Tax & deductions
England, Wales & NI, 2026/27, no pension or student loan. Bar length = gross pay; green = take-home.
Student loan Plan 2 and 5% pension examples
At 37.5 hours your £35,100 salary is £5,715 above the Plan 2 threshold, so 9% of that — £514 a year or £43 a month — goes to the Student Loans Company. A 5% pension contribution (£1,755) taken under a net pay arrangement reduces take-home by only £1,404, because it comes out before income tax. Auto-enrolment minimums are worked out on qualifying earnings above £6,240, so your scheme may deduct slightly less.
37.5 h/week
E, W & NI / yr
/ month
Change
Scotland / month
Salary only
£28,792
£2,399
—
£2,398
+ Plan 2 student loan
£28,278
£2,356
−£514
£2,355
+ 5% pension (net pay)
£27,388
£2,282
−£1,404
£2,282
+ Plan 2 and 5% pension
£26,874
£2,239
−£1,918
£2,240
Is £18 an hour a good wage? NLW and median compared
Compared with the National Living Wage (£12.71), £18 an hour adds £10,315 a year before tax and £7,427 after tax and NI on a 37.5-hour week. Reaching the ONS full-time median of £20.81 would add £5,479 gross, about £3,945 after tax. For context, median weekly pay for full-time employees was £811.20 in April 2026. A £1 an hour pay rise from here is worth £1,404 a year after tax.
37.5 hours a week, England, Wales & NI, 2026/27. For the full band-by-band breakdown see £35,000 after tax.
What £18 an hour buys
After tax, one hour at £18 is worth £14.76 in your pocket. Here is how long you would work for everyday costs — in take-home terms and in gross terms.
Item (example price)
Work time after tax
Work time gross
A £3.50 latte
14 min
12 min
A £10 fish & chips supper
41 min
33 min
A £100 weekly food shop
6.8 h
5.6 h
A £1,000 holiday
67.7 h
55.6 h
One month at £18 an hour (£2,399 take-home) buys…
685takeaway lattes
479pints of beer
266cinema tickets
239fish & chips suppers
Monthly take-home on 37.5 hours, England, Wales & NI, divided by each price and rounded down. Example prices (rounded 2026 estimates, not official statistics): latte £3.50 · pint £5 · cinema ticket £9 · fish & chips £10.
Tips to keep more of £18 an hour
Make the pension match count. Auto-enrolment means at least 8% of qualifying earnings goes into your pension (at least 3% from the employer). Opting out gives up the employer’s money; at this rate a 5% contribution costs you only £1,404 a year in take-home.
Ask about salary sacrifice. Salary-sacrifice pension, cycle-to-work or EV schemes reduce gross pay, saving 8% NI (2% above £50,270) on top of income tax.
Know your student loan plan. Plan 2 takes 9% above £29,385, Plan 1 above £26,900, Plan 4 (Scotland) above £33,795 and Plan 5 above £25,000. At £18 on 37.5 hours a Plan 2 loan costs £43 a month.
Negotiate in hourly terms. A £1 an hour rise is worth £1,950 gross and about £1,404 after tax a year at 37.5 hours — a useful number to bring to a pay review.
Use the full calculator for your payslip. Bonuses, Plan 1/4/5 or postgraduate loans, different pension percentages and Scotland are all handled in the take-home pay calculator.
FAQ
£18 an hour is how much a year?
At 37.5 hours a week for 52 weeks, £18 an hour is £35,100 a year before tax. At 40 hours a week it is £37,440, at 30 hours £28,080 and at 20 hours £18,720.
What is £18 per hour as an annual salary after tax?
In 2026/27 a full-time £18 an hour job (37.5 h/week) leaves £28,792 a year after £4,506 income tax and £1,802 National Insurance in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or £28,776 in Scotland. That is £14.76 an hour after tax.
How much is £18 an hour per month after tax?
About £2,399 a month on 37.5 hours a week (£2,540 on 40 hours) in England, Wales and NI. With a Plan 2 student loan it is £2,356; in Scotland £2,398.
Is £18 an hour a good wage in the UK?
£18 is 42% above the £12.71 National Living Wage and 14% below the £20.81 median hourly pay for full-time employees (ONS ASHE, April 2026, provisional).
How much is £18 an hour part-time?
At 20 hours a week £18 is £18,720 a year (£1,417 a month after tax); at 30 hours it is £28,080 (£1,978 a month), in England, Wales and NI for 2026/27.
How do I convert hourly pay to an annual salary in the UK?
Multiply the hourly rate by hours per week, then by 52. For a 37.5-hour week that is the rate × 1,950; for 40 hours, × 2,080. Paid holiday is included because the 52 weeks assume holiday is paid at your normal rate.
Estimates for the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 – 5 April 2027): tax code 1257L, NI category A, under State Pension age, 52 paid weeks, no other income. Payslips are calculated each pay period and may differ by a few pounds.
Income tax, NI and student loan thresholds: GOV.UK “Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027”; Scottish bands: gov.scot Scottish Income Tax 2026 to 2027.
Minimum wage: GOV.UK “National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates” (from 1 April 2026: 21+ £12.71, 18–20 £10.85, under 18 and apprentice £8.00).
Median pay: ONS “Employee earnings in the UK: 2026” (ASHE, provisional, published 22 October 2026) — full-time median hourly pay excluding overtime £20.81, median weekly £811.20.
Prices in “what it buys” are rounded illustrative examples, not official statistics. Data as of 2026-11-03.
Got a different rate, bonus or pension?
Put your exact pay, student loan plan and pension into the UK take-home pay calculator for 2026/27.