£26,000 after tax
Take-home pay
£22,241.40
On a salary of £26,000 (26k) you take home £22,241.40 a year in the 2026/27 tax year. That is £1,853.45 a month or £427.72 a week.
Calculators
Take-home pay
What you keep after tax, National Insurance, student loan and pension.
e.g. £40,000 salaryPro rata
Your salary for part-time hours, and what you take home from it.
On £26,000 you keep £22,241.40 a year after income tax and National Insurance, or £427.72 a week. A Plan 5 student loan takes a small repayment at this salary, while Plan 1, Plan 2 and Plan 4 still take nothing.
| Pay period | England, Wales and Northern Ireland | Scotland |
|---|---|---|
| A year | £22,241.40 | £22,281.07 |
| A month | £1,853.45 | £1,856.76 |
| A week | £427.72 | £428.48 |
| A working day | £85.54 | £85.70 |
| An hour (37.5 hours a week) | £11.41 | £11.43 |
| Pay or deduction | Amount |
|---|---|
| Salary | £26,000 |
| Income tax | £2,684.20 |
| National Insurance | £1,074.40 |
| Take-home pay | £22,241.40 |
How this was worked out
- Salary: £26,000
- Personal allowance: £12,570. Payroll applies it as tax code 1257L, which gives £12,579 of tax-free pay.
- Taxable income: £26,000 − £12,579 = £13,421
- Basic rate: £13,421 × 20% = £2,684.20
- Income tax: £2,684.20
- National Insurance: (£26,000 − £12,570) × 8% = £1,074.40
- Take-home pay: £26,000 − £2,684.20 − £1,074.40 = £22,241.40
Income tax and National Insurance
Income tax on £26,000 is £2,684.20. It falls on the £13,421 above the standard tax code's annual PAYE free pay of £12,579, and none of that comes near the higher rate, which only starts above £50,279.
National Insurance takes £1,074.40 from £26,000, charged at 8% on your earnings above the primary threshold. Your monthly take-home after both deductions is £1,853.45.
Your employer pays £3,150 of employer National Insurance on £26,000. That amount is a cost to the business on top of your salary, so it has no effect on the £22,241.40 you receive.
Student loans on £26,000
A Plan 5 loan takes £90 a year here. The rate is 9% of pay above £25,000, and £26,000 is a thousand pounds over that threshold, which leaves a Plan 5 borrower with £22,151.40.
The Plan 1 threshold of £26,900 is still a little above £26,000, so Plan 1 takes £0. A postgraduate loan costs £300 a year at this pay. The page for a thousand pounds more is the first to show a Plan 1 repayment.
Scotland, pensions and pay rises
In Scotland the take-home on £26,000 is £22,281.07, so a Scottish taxpayer is £39.67 a year better off here. At this pay the Scottish starter band saves a penny in each pound on its slice, and no Scottish income reaches the intermediate rate.
A five per cent salary sacrifice pension on £26,000 costs £936 in take-home, which falls to £21,305.40. A thousand pounds more in salary would lift take-home to £22,961.40. The take-home pay calculator handles other pension rates.
| Plan | Repayment a year | Take-home a year |
|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £0 | £22,241.40 |
| Plan 2 | £0 | £22,241.40 |
| Plan 4 (Scotland) | £0 | £22,281.07 |
| Plan 5 | £90 | £22,151.40 |
| Postgraduate loan | £300 | £21,941.40 |
| Type of scheme | Take-home a year |
|---|---|
| Salary sacrifice | £21,305.40 |
| Net pay | £21,201.40 |
| Relief at source | £21,201.40 |
Try other figures in the take-home pay calculator.
Questions
What is £26,000 a month after tax?
The monthly take-home on £26,000 is £1,853.45 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and £1,856.76 for a Scottish taxpayer, before any pension or loan.
How much Plan 5 loan do I repay on £26,000?
You repay £90 a year. With that loan included, monthly take-home on £26,000 is £1,845.95, and Plan 5 is the only undergraduate plan that takes anything.
How far is £26,000 from the median salary?
The gap is £13,039. That makes £26,000 less than the median full-time salary in April 2025, which the ONS gives as £39,039.
Other salaries
- £24,000 after tax
- £25,000 after tax
- £25,500 after tax
- £26,500 after tax
- £27,000 after tax
- £27,500 after tax
These are whole-year estimates for 2026/27, with category A National Insurance and a tax code based on the allowance available at this income. The England, Wales and Northern Ireland baseline has no pension contribution or student loan; Scotland is shown separately. The full statutory Personal Allowance is £12,570. The tax code used for this estimate gives £12,579 of annual PAYE free pay, including any reduction in the allowance due to income. This is the payroll amount used in the calculation. Annual totals and rounded monthly or weekly figures can differ by pennies.