Methodology

Salary data

Base figures come from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), which samples ~1% of all HMRC PAYE records and publishes gross weekly and annual earnings by SOC 2020 occupation code. We use the full-time employee distribution: 10th percentile (minimum), 25th percentile (lower quartile), 50th percentile (median), 75th percentile (upper quartile) and 90th percentile (maximum).

Regional adjustment

We apply a location multiplier to each job's national median to estimate city-level pay. The multiplier is derived from ONS regional median gross pay and validated against Reed and Indeed job-listing aggregate salaries. Example multipliers: London 1.28, Reading 1.12, Manchester 1.02, Newcastle 0.92.

Cost-of-living adjustment

"Cost-of-living adjusted salary" divides nominal pay by the local cost-of-living index (UK average = 100). This represents real purchasing power — useful when comparing offers across cities where a higher nominal salary may not translate to better disposable income.

Take-home pay

Take-home calculations use 2024/25 UK tax-year thresholds (6 Apr 2024 – 5 Apr 2025): personal allowance £12,570 (tapered above £100,000), basic rate 20% to £50,270, higher rate 40% to £125,140, additional rate 45% above. Class 1 employee NI: 8% on £12,570–£50,270, 2% above. Student loan plans 1/2/4/5 and postgraduate are supported. Pension contributions are modelled as salary sacrifice (reduce taxable income before tax and NI).

Job-market data

Live listings (where shown) come from the Reed Jobseeker API, cached daily. Active-listing estimates (on pages without a live fetch) scale with city population and the occupation growth outlook.

Update frequency

Salary base figures are refreshed annually when ONS ASHE publishes new data (typically late October). Tax-year rates are updated each April. Reed listings are refreshed daily.