Marketing · Wales
Paid Media Manager salary in Cardiff, 2026
Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025, adjusted for the Wales regional pay differential. Updated 2026-04-21. Methodology.
Paid Media Manager salary by experience in Cardiff
That headline median masks a wide spread once you split Cardiff paid media managers by years of experience. The four bands below reflect what each tier typically commands in Cardiff — local figures, not UK averages, with each step usually triggered by a level change rather than an annual increment.
| Experience level | Salary range | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Entry (0-2 yrs) | £23,940 – £30,590 | £27,265 |
| Mid (3-5 yrs) | £36,338 – £47,025 | £41,682 |
| Senior (6-10 yrs) | £61,560 – £78,660 | £70,110 |
| Lead (10+ yrs) | £81,225 – £111,150 | £96,188 |
Gross figures only tell half the story — what actually lands in your bank account depends on tax, NI, student loan and pension. Run your own number below.
Take-home pay calculator · 2024/25
Paid Media Manager, Cardiff
£32,761/yr · £630/wk · effective rate 23.4%
| Gross salary | £42,750 |
| Pension (5%) | −£2,138 |
| Income tax | −£5,609 |
| National Insurance | −£2,243 |
| Net take-home | £32,761 |
Earn more as a Paid Media Manager
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Pay ranges and take-home are the planning numbers; what you can actually move into right now is a different question. Live paid media manager vacancies in Cardiff are below.
Open vacancies · via Reed
9 live Paid Media Manager jobs in Cardiff
Live listings refresh daily. View the full set on Reed.
See all Paid Media Manager jobs in Cardiff →It's also worth seeing how Cardiff stacks up — both against the UK average and against other cities paid media managers commonly relocate between.
Paid Media Manager pay: Cardiff versus UK average
Paid Media Manager pay across other UK cities
Performance vs brand: which Paid Media Manager roles in Cardiff pay more
Marketing pay isn't a single market — it splits along clear lines that the median salary alone doesn't show.
Marketing pay in Cardiff splits cleanly into two tracks. Performance-side roles — paid media, SEO, lifecycle — are measured on revenue contribution, so salaries trend higher when you can point at a P&L line you moved. Brand and content roles pay slightly less at the median (£42,750) but compensate with broader scope and clearer paths into Head of Marketing positions, where the upper quartile (£55,100) and beyond becomes plausible.
The fastest movers in Cardiff tend to combine technical depth (Google Ads, Meta Ads) with commercial fluency — being able to present numbers to a board, model CAC payback, or argue for budget without flinching. Agency roles in Cardiff typically pay 10–20% below in-house equivalents but accelerate skill range; in-house pays better but narrows your remit. Most senior practitioners have done both.
Paid Media Manager salaries in cities near Cardiff
If Cardiff doesn't quite work for the role — commute, rent, partner's job — the same role in nearby cities tells you what the trade-off looks like in £ terms. The four comparisons below show how pay shifts within the same region — multipliers come from the ONS regional median pay differential, so the figures already account for the regional gap.
Other marketing jobs in Cardiff
Adjacent marketing roles often pay differently to paid media manager for similar skill profiles, which is useful when you're choosing what to specialise in next. Salaries for closely related marketing roles in Cardiff are below — useful when comparing routes into or out of the Paid Media Manager track.
Roles with overlapping skills
Common questions about paid media manager pay in Cardiff, answered with the underlying figures from the same dataset used above.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average Paid Media Manager salary in Cardiff?
£42,750 per year is the median Paid Media Manager salary in Cardiff, drawn from ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings data adjusted for the regional pay differential. Lower quartile sits at £32,300; upper quartile at £55,100.
How much does a Paid Media Manager earn per month in Cardiff?
About £3,563 gross, which works out at roughly £2,565 take-home after income tax and National Insurance for the 2024/25 tax year (assuming no student loan and a 5% pension contribution). Use the calculator above for a number that matches your own circumstances.
What is the starting salary for a Paid Media Manager in Cardiff?
Entry-level Paid Media Managers in Cardiff typically start between £23,940 and £30,590. Pay then steps up at the 3-year and 6-year marks — mid-level practitioners earn £36,338–£47,025, with senior roles reaching £61,560–£78,660.
Is Cardiff a good place to work as a Paid Media Manager?
It depends on what you weight more heavily — pay, cost of living or commute. Cardiff pays 5% below the UK Paid Media Manager median, with major local employers including Admiral Group, BBC Wales, Principality. Cost of living runs at 81 on the UK-100 index, so £42,750 here has the real purchasing power of £52,778 at the national average. Unemployment of 4.3% gives a useful read on how tight the local labour market is — under 4% generally favours candidates on pay.
What skills do Paid Media Managers need to earn more?
Reaching the upper-quartile £55,100 band tends to come down to depth in Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, plus a track record that lets you credibly take on senior or lead-level scope. Career outlook for the role is high, so the speciality areas worth doubling down on are GA4 and Attribution.
Salary base figures: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (2025), with regional adjustment from ONS regional median gross pay tables. Live job counts (where shown): Reed Jobseeker API, refreshed daily. Take-home calculations apply 2024/25 UK tax-year thresholds for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.