Top UK Salary Benchmarks by Industry in 2025
By calculatemysalary.co.uk Editorial Team
Take our 2025 UK salary benchmarks by industry to determine your pay on the fair side, set freelance rates, and negotiate with confidence, using the latest ONS data as a base.
Knowing what your industry pays is the single most useful thing you can bring to a salary negotiation. Not a vague sense of "about average" but actual numbers, broken down by sector.
This guide pulls together 2025 UK salary benchmarks by industry, based on ONS data, so you can see where your pay sits and what to aim for.
How these benchmarks were built
- Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2024, adjusted using recent Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) trends.
- What's included: Full-time base pay for mid-career roles, plus typical entry-level ranges.
- What's not included: Bonuses, overtime, commission, or equity. London roles typically pay 10-25% more than the figures below.
These are benchmarks, not guarantees. Your actual pay depends on region, employer size, specialist skills, and how well you negotiate.
2025 salary benchmarks by industry
| Industry (SIC section) | Mid-career benchmark | Entry range |
|---|---|---|
| Information & Communication (J) | £48k - £65k | £28k - £38k |
| Financial & Insurance (K) | £45k - £60k | £28k - £35k |
| Energy, Utilities & Water (D/E) | £42k - £58k | £27k - £34k |
| Professional, Scientific & Technical (M) | £40k - £55k | £26k - £32k |
| Manufacturing (C) | £37k - £50k | £25k - £32k |
| Construction (F) | £36k - £48k | £24k - £30k |
| Transport & Storage (H) | £34k - £45k | £24k - £30k |
| Public Admin & Defence (O) | £34k - £42k | £23k - £30k |
| Education (P) | £33k - £43k | £23k - £31k |
| Real Estate (L) | £32k - £42k | £22k - £28k |
| Health & Social Work (Q) | £30k - £40k | £22k - £28k |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation (R) | £28k - £38k | £22k - £26k |
| Admin & Support Services (N) | £25k - £32k | £20k - £23k |
| Retail & Wholesale (G) | £24k - £32k | £20k - £24k |
| Accommodation & Food (I) | £23k - £29k | £20k - £22k |
Contractors and commission-heavy roles can sit well outside these ranges. Freelance day rates in tech, for example, run £350-£600+ depending on niche.
What's actually happening in each sector
Tech and IT
Cloud skills, security clearance, and anything AI-adjacent are pushing the top end higher. The gap between a developer and a developer who can also talk to stakeholders and own a product roadmap is significant, easily £15-20k.
If you freelance, day rates for specialist security or data engineering work regularly exceed £600.
Finance and insurance
Base pay moves steadily in financial services. The real variability is in bonuses, which can range from 10% to 100%+ of base at senior levels.
The people commanding the highest base salaries right now tend to combine technical skills (Python, SQL, data modelling) with regulatory knowledge. Compliance and risk remain strong areas.
Energy and utilities
Grid upgrades, renewables investment, and water infrastructure projects are keeping demand high. Chartered status and safety-critical qualifications push pay up faster than years of experience alone.
Construction
Site managers, quantity surveyors, and M&E coordinators are all in short supply. If you can demonstrate health and safety leadership alongside on-time delivery, you've got leverage at the top end of the band.
Skilled trades are doing well too. A good finishing tradesperson can earn more than some office-based roles.
Public sector and education
Pay scales are more rigid here, but the trade-off is usually a better pension (especially the Teachers' Pension and NHS schemes), more leave, and clearer progression frameworks. Factor those in when comparing to private sector offers.
Retail, hospitality, and food
The entry ranges are lower, but the path to higher pay is through management. Multi-site managers, area managers, and category buyers earn significantly more. Hospitality operations consulting is also a decent side income for experienced managers.
Regional pay differences
Where you work still matters:
- London and the South East: 10-25% above the national figures for most private sector roles. But housing and commuting costs eat into the premium.
- Major cities (Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Bristol, Leeds): 5-15% above smaller towns. Growing fast as remote-friendly companies open regional hubs.
- Remote/hybrid roles: Increasingly priced at national rates, though some employers still adjust for location.
If you're weighing a London offer against a regional one, compare net pay after housing costs, not gross salaries.
How to use this in a negotiation
1. Know your band
Find your industry in the table above. Work out where your experience level sits: entry, mid-career, or senior.
2. Adjust for location
Add the London or city uplift if applicable.
3. Look at the full package
Pension contribution percentage, bonus target, overtime or on-call pay, training budget, and flexible working all have a cash value. A £45k job with 10% employer pension contribution and a 15% bonus target is worth more than a £50k job with 3% pension and no bonus.
4. Prepare your evidence
The most effective negotiation points are specific. Not "I deserve more" but "the ONS benchmark for my sector and experience level is £X. I've delivered Y, which puts me at the upper end of that range."
Three things to have ready: a number you've delivered (revenue, savings, efficiency), an outcome that mattered to the business, and a skill that's hard to hire for.
5. Name a range
Aim for the upper half of your band. If you can back it up, employers expect it.
What these numbers mean for your take-home
A £48,000 salary in 2025/26 gives you roughly £36,900 take-home after income tax and National Insurance (assuming no pension deductions beyond auto-enrolment). At £65,000, that drops to around £48,200.
Try our salary calculator to see exact figures for your situation, including pension contributions, student loan repayments, and tax code adjustments.
Sources
Review your position every 6-12 months. Industries shift, and the skills commanding a premium today might not be the same ones next year. Use data like this before accepting an offer, not after.