£58,500 a year gross at 37.5 hours a week · £3,707 a month take-home in England, Wales & NI · £3,564 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.
£30 an hour is £58,500 a year on a standard 37.5-hour week, or £62,400 if you work 40 hours. After 2026/27 income tax and National Insurance you take home £44,487 a year — £3,707 a month — in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and £42,767 in Scotland.
Hourly to annual salary: £30 an hour by pay period
To turn an hourly rate into a UK annual salary, multiply by your weekly hours and by 52. £30 × 37.5 × 52 = £58,500; £30 × 40 × 52 = £62,400. 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
£58,500
£44,487
£42,767
£62,400
£46,749
Month
£4,875
£3,707
£3,564
£5,200
£3,896
Week
£1,125.00
£855.53
£822.45
£1,200.00
£899.03
Day
£225.00
£171.11
£164.49
£240.00
£179.81
How £30 an hour is taxed in 2026/27
Everyone gets a £12,570 personal allowance. On £58,500 that leaves £45,930 taxable: the first £37,700 at 20% and £8,230 at 40%, giving £10,832 of income tax. Employees then pay Class 1 National Insurance of 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above — £3,181 here. In Scotland the six-band system (19% to 48%) gives £12,552 of income tax, so Scottish take-home is £1,720 lower at £42,767. The marginal rate on your next pound is 42% in England, Wales and NI.
Income tax and NI only start once annual pay passes £12,570 — at £30 that happens at about 8.1 hours a week. Below that you keep every penny. A Plan 2 student loan starts at 18.8 hours a week (£29,385 a year). The 40% higher rate begins at 32.2 hours a week (£50,270) — below a normal full-time week.
Above the median. £30 is 44% more than the £20.81 full-time median hourly pay (ONS ASHE 2026, provisional) and more than double the £10.85 rate for 18 to 20-year-olds. At 37.5 hours you are already over the £50,270 higher-rate threshold, so the top £8,230 of pay is taxed at 40% plus 2% NI.
£30 an hour part-time: 20, 30 and 40 hours
Fewer hours mean a smaller salary, but not proportionally less take-home — the £12,570 personal allowance and NI primary threshold cover a larger slice of a part-time wage. At 20 hours £30 keeps 83% of gross pay, compared with 76% at 37.5 hours.
Contract
Gross / yr
Tax + NI
Net / yr
Net / month
Scotland / month
20 h/week
£31,200
£5,216
£25,984
£2,165
£2,167
30 h/week
£46,800
£9,584
£37,216
£3,101
£3,035
37.5 h/week
£58,500
£14,013
£44,487
£3,707
£3,564
40 h/week
£62,400
£15,651
£46,749
£3,896
£3,746
Take-home at £30 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 £58,500 salary is £29,115 above the Plan 2 threshold, so 9% of that — £2,620 a year or £218 a month — goes to the Student Loans Company. A 5% pension contribution (£2,925) taken under a net pay arrangement reduces take-home by only £1,755, 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
£44,487
£3,707
—
£3,564
+ Plan 2 student loan
£41,867
£3,489
−£2,620
£3,346
+ 5% pension (net pay)
£42,732
£3,561
−£1,755
£3,423
+ Plan 2 and 5% pension
£40,112
£3,343
−£4,375
£3,204
Is £30 an hour a good wage? NLW and median compared
Compared with the National Living Wage (£12.71), £30 an hour adds £33,716 a year before tax and £23,123 after tax and NI on a 37.5-hour week. It beats the ONS full-time median of £20.81 by £17,921 a year gross. 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 £1,131 a year after tax.
37.5 hours a week, England, Wales & NI, 2026/27. For the full band-by-band breakdown see £58,000 after tax.
What £30 an hour buys
After tax, one hour at £30 is worth £22.81 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
9 min
7 min
A £10 fish & chips supper
26 min
20 min
A £100 weekly food shop
4.4 h
3.3 h
A £1,000 holiday
43.8 h
33.3 h
One month at £30 an hour (£3,707 take-home) buys…
1,059takeaway lattes
741pints of beer
411cinema tickets
370fish & 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 £30 an hour
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 £30 on 37.5 hours a Plan 2 loan costs £218 a month.
Mind the £50,270 line. Above £50,270, a pension contribution saves 40% tax; above £60,000 the High Income Child Benefit Charge starts to claw back Child Benefit, removing it fully at £80,000.
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.
Check your tax code. Most employees should be on 1257L. An emergency code (1257L W1/M1 or 0T/BR) on a second job or new starter form can over-tax you for months — HMRC’s app shows your code and refunds overpayments.
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 £1,755 a year in take-home.
FAQ
£30 an hour is how much a year?
At 37.5 hours a week for 52 weeks, £30 an hour is £58,500 a year before tax. At 40 hours a week it is £62,400, at 30 hours £46,800 and at 20 hours £31,200.
What is £30 per hour as an annual salary after tax?
In 2026/27 a full-time £30 an hour job (37.5 h/week) leaves £44,487 a year after £10,832 income tax and £3,181 National Insurance in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or £42,767 in Scotland. That is £22.81 an hour after tax.
How much is £30 an hour per month after tax?
About £3,707 a month on 37.5 hours a week (£3,896 on 40 hours) in England, Wales and NI. With a Plan 2 student loan it is £3,489; in Scotland £3,564.
Is £30 an hour a good wage in the UK?
£30 is 136% above the £12.71 National Living Wage and 44% above the £20.81 median hourly pay for full-time employees (ONS ASHE, April 2026, provisional).
How much is £30 an hour part-time?
At 20 hours a week £30 is £31,200 a year (£2,165 a month after tax); at 30 hours it is £46,800 (£3,101 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.