Construction · Wales
Project 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.
Project Manager salary by experience in Cardiff
That headline median masks a wide spread once you split Cardiff project 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) | £32,490 – £41,515 | £37,003 |
| Mid (3-5 yrs) | £44,413 – £57,475 | £50,944 |
| Senior (6-10 yrs) | £85,500 – £109,250 | £97,375 |
| Lead (10+ yrs) | £112,813 – £154,375 | £133,594 |
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
Project Manager, Cardiff
£39,259/yr · £755/wk · effective rate 24.9%
| Gross salary | £52,250 |
| Pension (5%) | −£2,613 |
| Income tax | −£7,414 |
| National Insurance | −£2,965 |
| Net take-home | £39,259 |
Earn more as a Project Manager
Get a free, expert CV review from TopCV — the UK's largest CV writing service. Applicants with a professionally written CV receive 2× more interview invitations.
Pay ranges and take-home are the planning numbers; what you can actually move into right now is a different question. Live project manager vacancies in Cardiff are below.
Open vacancies · via Reed
6 live Project Manager jobs in Cardiff
Live listings refresh daily. View the full set on Reed.
See all Project Manager jobs in Cardiff →It's also worth seeing how Cardiff stacks up — both against the UK average and against other cities project managers commonly relocate between.
Project Manager pay: Cardiff versus UK average
Project Manager pay across other UK cities
Day rate vs PAYE: what Project Manager contractors earn in Cardiff
Construction pay branches sharply between PAYE employment and contracting — the right comparison depends on which route you're on.
Project Managers in Cardiff face a real choice between PAYE employment and contracting. Employed roles cluster around the £52,250 median with pension, holiday and sick pay built in. Day-rate contractors on the same site can earn the equivalent of £81,938+ annualised — but only when they're billing. Realistic billable days after holidays, gaps between contracts and admin land at roughly 200 a year, which is the maths most contractors get wrong in their first year.
The high earners in Cardiff are usually contractors with a chartered status (PRINCE2, APM), a deep speciality (NEC4 contracts, complex retrofit, major-project commercial), and a network that means they're never on the bench long. Tier-1 contractors and infrastructure programmes (Admiral Group) set the upper end of day rates; mid-tier developers and local-authority frameworks set the floor.
Project 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 construction jobs in Cardiff
Adjacent construction roles often pay differently to project manager for similar skill profiles, which is useful when you're choosing what to specialise in next. Salaries for closely related construction roles in Cardiff are below — useful when comparing routes into or out of the Project Manager track.
Roles with overlapping skills
Common questions about project manager pay in Cardiff, answered with the underlying figures from the same dataset used above.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average Project Manager salary in Cardiff?
£52,250 per year is the median Project Manager salary in Cardiff, drawn from ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings data adjusted for the regional pay differential. Lower quartile sits at £39,900; upper quartile at £71,250.
How much does a Project Manager earn per month in Cardiff?
About £4,354 gross, which works out at roughly £3,135 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 Project Manager in Cardiff?
Entry-level Project Managers in Cardiff typically start between £32,490 and £41,515. Pay then steps up at the 3-year and 6-year marks — mid-level practitioners earn £44,413–£57,475, with senior roles reaching £85,500–£109,250.
Is Cardiff a good place to work as a Project Manager?
It depends on what you weight more heavily — pay, cost of living or commute. Cardiff pays 5% below the UK Project Manager median, with major local employers including Admiral Group, BBC Wales, Principality. Cost of living runs at 81 on the UK-100 index, so £52,250 here has the real purchasing power of £64,506 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 Project Managers need to earn more?
Reaching the upper-quartile £71,250 band tends to come down to depth in PRINCE2, APM, Budget management, plus a track record that lets you credibly take on senior or lead-level scope. Career outlook for the role is medium, so the speciality areas worth doubling down on are Stakeholder management and Risk management.
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.