Average salary in Scotland
Half of full-time employees working in Scotland earn less than £41,466 a year and half earn more. ONS figures for the tax year ending 5 April 2026.
About £33,296 a year after tax (Scotland, 2026/27)
median full-time salary a year, Scotland, +4.5% on last year
£3,456 a month £21.61 an hour About £2,775 a month after tax 1,553 thousand full-time jobs
That's 1% more than the UK median of £40,911, and number 3 of the 12 UK nations and English regions.
Take-home pay here uses Scottish income tax. Income tax depends on where you live, not where you work: someone who works in Scotland but lives in England pays the rest-of-UK rates.
Pay range
The dark part is the middle half of full-time employees (25% to 75%); the light bar runs from 10% to 90%. ONS doesn't publish the highest or lowest salary, and x means a figure wasn't published.
Percentiles
| Percentile | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th (P10) | £25,984 | £2,165 |
| 20th | £29,604 | £2,467 |
| 25th (P25) | £31,167 | £2,597 |
| 30th | £32,917 | £2,743 |
| 40th | £36,796 | £3,066 |
| Median (50th) | £41,466 | £3,456 |
| 60th | £46,282 | £3,857 |
| 70th | £51,939 | £4,328 |
| 75th (P75) | £54,909 | £4,576 |
| 80th | £59,304 | £4,942 |
| 90th (P90) | £75,159 | £6,263 |
Men and women
| Median | Mean | |
|---|---|---|
| Men | £43,308 | £51,381 |
| Women | £38,917 | £44,008 |
The median for full-time men is £43,308 and for full-time women £38,917, 10% lower. This compares all full-time jobs, not men and women in the same job. ONS's official gender pay gap uses hourly pay excluding overtime, so it gives a different figure.
Pay by occupation group in Scotland
| Occupation group | Median here | UK median |
|---|---|---|
| Managers, directors and senior officials | £56,017 | £60,000 |
| Corporate managers and directors | £64,494 | £67,499 |
| Other managers and proprietors | £40,526 | £43,132 |
| Professional occupations | £51,064 | £50,683 |
| Science, research, engineering and technology professionals | £52,764 | £54,513 |
| Health professionals | £49,919 | £47,984 |
| Teaching and other educational professionals | £51,939 | £49,233 |
| Business, media and public service professionals | £48,204 | £51,601 |
| Associate professional occupations | £39,651 | £40,000 |
| Science, engineering and technology associate professionals | £37,639 | £37,287 |
| Health and social care associate professionals | £32,147 | £30,662 |
| Protective service occupations | £50,812 | £50,566 |
| Culture, media and sports occupations | £33,836 | £37,502 |
| Business and public service associate professionals | £42,754 | £43,264 |
| Administrative and secretarial occupations | £31,805 | £31,918 |
| Administrative occupations | £31,966 | £32,042 |
| Secretarial and related occupations | £29,123 | £29,346 |
| Skilled trades occupations | £37,917 | £37,419 |
| Skilled agricultural and related trades | x | £29,678 |
| Skilled metal, electrical and electronic trades | £42,678 | £40,875 |
| Skilled construction and building trades | £37,597 | £36,959 |
| Textiles, printing and other skilled trades | £29,112 | £31,200 |
| Caring, leisure and other service occupations | £31,174 | £28,497 |
| Caring personal service occupations | £31,428 | £28,276 |
| Leisure, travel and related personal service occupations | £28,768 | £29,358 |
| Community and civil enforcement occupations | x | £33,575 |
| Sales and customer service occupations | £28,962 | £28,276 |
| Sales occupations | £28,507 | £27,532 |
| Customer service occupations | £29,297 | £29,445 |
| Process, plant and machine operatives | £35,098 | £34,936 |
| Process, plant and machine operatives | £33,310 | £32,767 |
| Transport and mobile machine drivers and operatives | £37,437 | £37,730 |
| Elementary occupations | £29,321 | £29,135 |
| Elementary trades and related occupations | £30,118 | £29,853 |
| Elementary administration and service occupations | £29,146 | £29,000 |
Regions are where people work, not where they live. Figures are for full-time employees on adult rates who had been in the same job for more than a year, including bonuses and overtime.
Average salary in other regions
More
Source: ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2026 provisional, Table 14.7a (full-time employees, gross annual pay, UK, tax year ending 5 April 2026). Provisional figures may be revised.