£12.71 an hour is how much a year?
A year before tax
£24,784.50
At £12.71 an hour for 37.5 hours a week, you earn £24,784.50 a year before tax, or £2,065.38 a month.
£12.71 an hour is the National Living Wage, the legal minimum for workers aged twenty-one and over from April 2026. On a 37.5 hours week it pays £24,784.50 a year before tax, or £2,065.38 a month. Take-home in England is £21,366.24 a year.
| Hours a week | A week | A month | A year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | £254.20 | £1,101.53 | £13,218.40 |
| 35 | £444.85 | £1,927.68 | £23,132.20 |
| 37.5 | £476.63 | £2,065.38 | £24,784.50 |
| 40 | £508.40 | £2,203.07 | £26,436.80 |
| England, Wales and Northern Ireland | Scotland | |
|---|---|---|
| A year | £21,366.24 | £21,405.91 |
| A month | £1,780.52 | £1,783.83 |
| A week | £410.89 | £411.65 |
The National Living Wage over a year
The government sets the National Living Wage each April. At £12.71, a full-time worker on 37.5 hours earns £476.63 a week. Most employers pay the minimum for holiday weeks too, so the yearly total counts every week of the year.
The rate is per hour, so the yearly pay depends on the contract. On 40 hours a week it comes to £26,436.80. On 20 hours it is £13,218.40, a little over the personal allowance of £12,570. The official rates for every age group are on GOV.UK, and the hourly pay converter works out any other hours.
Tax and National Insurance on the minimum wage
A full-time minimum wage worker in England pays £2,441.10 in income tax and £977.16 in National Insurance over the year. Tax is charged at 20% on pay above the personal allowance, and National Insurance at 8% on pay above £12,570.
That leaves £1,780.52 a month to live on. A worker in Scotland on the same hours keeps £21,405.91 a year, because the Scottish starter rate is lower than the basic rate. The salary after tax page for the round figure just above the minimum wage salary shows the same sums in more detail.
Longer hours on the minimum wage
Moving from 37.5 hours to 40 hours adds the same hourly rate for each extra hour, so gross pay rises to £26,436.80 and take-home to £22,555.90. About seven pounds in ten of that extra pay reach the worker, because basic rate tax and National Insurance take the rest.
Questions
Is £12.71 the minimum wage?
Yes. £12.71 an hour is the National Living Wage from April 2026, which applies to workers aged twenty-one and over. Workers under twenty-one and apprentices have lower minimum rates, set out on GOV.UK.
How much is the minimum wage a month?
On a 37.5 hours week, £12.71 an hour is £2,065.38 a month before tax. After income tax and National Insurance in England it is £1,780.52 a month, with no pension deduction.
How much is the minimum wage a year full time?
It is £24,784.50 a year at 37.5 hours a week and £26,436.80 at 40 hours a week. The take-home figures after tax are £21,366.24 and £22,555.90.