£18,000 after tax
Take-home pay
£16,481.40
On a salary of £18,000 (18k) you take home £16,481.40 a year in the 2026/27 tax year. That is £1,373.45 a month or £316.95 a week.
A salary of £18,000 pays out £16,481.40 a year, or £1,373.45 in a typical month, once income tax and National Insurance are taken. At this level the Scottish starter band is fully used, so the Scottish advantage has reached its full size, and no student loan plan takes a repayment yet.
| England, Wales and Northern Ireland | Scotland | |
|---|---|---|
| A year | £16,481.40 | £16,521.07 |
| A month | £1,373.45 | £1,376.76 |
| A week | £316.95 | £317.71 |
| A working day | £63.39 | £63.54 |
| An hour (37.5 hours a week) | £8.45 | £8.47 |
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Salary | £18,000 |
| Income tax | £1,084.20 |
| National Insurance | £434.40 |
| Take-home pay | £16,481.40 |
How this was worked out
- Salary: £18,000
- Personal allowance: £12,570. Payroll applies it as tax code 1257L, which gives £12,579 of tax-free pay.
- Taxable income: £18,000 − £12,579 = £5,421
- Basic rate: £5,421 × 20% = £1,084.20
- Income tax: £1,084.20
- National Insurance: (£18,000 − £12,570) × 8% = £434.40
- Take-home pay: £18,000 − £1,084.20 − £434.40 = £16,481.40
Income tax and National Insurance on £18,000
Taxable pay is £5,421, the amount left after the £12,570 personal allowance. At 20% that produces income tax of £1,084.20 for the year.
National Insurance at 8% applies to pay above £12,570, which here means £434.40. The two deductions cost 28% of every extra pound, so a thousand pound raise would add £720 and bring the year to £17,201.40. Your employer pays a further £1,950 of employer National Insurance, which does not come out of your pay.
Scotland at £18,000
In Scotland the first £3,967 of taxable pay is charged at 19% and the remainder at the Scottish basic rate of 20%. Scottish income tax on £18,000 is £1,044.53, leaving £16,521.07.
The Scottish gain of £39.67 is now as large as it gets. Each pound above this level is taxed at the same rate in both systems until Scottish pay passes £29,535, so the gap holds steady all the way up to that point. The salary after tax table lists both figures side by side.
Pensions and loans on £18,000
Paid through salary sacrifice, a five per cent pension reduces take-home to £15,833.40. Through net pay or relief at source it reduces it to £15,761.40, so salary sacrifice leaves £72 more because it also lowers National Insurance. The methodology describes each scheme.
No student loan plan takes money at £18,000. Even the postgraduate loan, which has the lowest threshold at £21,000, is some way off; the page for that exact salary starts right on the line.
| Plan | Repayment a year | Take-home a year |
|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £0 | £16,481.40 |
| Plan 2 | £0 | £16,481.40 |
| Plan 4 (Scotland) | £0 | £16,521.07 |
| Plan 5 | £0 | £16,481.40 |
| Postgraduate loan | £0 | £16,481.40 |
| Type of scheme | Take-home a year |
|---|---|
| Salary sacrifice | £15,833.40 |
| Net pay | £15,761.40 |
| Relief at source | £15,761.40 |
Try other figures in the take-home pay calculator.
Questions
How much is £18,000 a week after tax?
It is £316.95 a week in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and £317.71 in Scotland. Both assume the standard tax code with no pension and no student loan deductions.
Why is Scottish take-home higher on £18,000?
The starter rate of 19% is below the basic rate of 20%, and on £18,000 the whole starter band is used. That gives Scottish taxpayers £39.67 more a year.
How does £18,000 compare with the median?
It sits £21,039 less than the median full-time salary in April 2025, a figure of £39,039 from the Office for National Statistics. That makes £18,000 a little under half of the median.