Curator: salary in the UK
ONS occupation: Archivists and curators (SOC 2472)
About £30,879 a year after tax (England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2026/27)
median salary a year, full-time, +10.6% on last year
£3,167 a month About £2,573 a month after tax 8 thousand full-time jobs
Gross pay before tax, including bonuses, commission and overtime. Not included: benefits in kind such as a company car. About the data
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.
Pay by year
The median went from £28,346 in 2021 to £38,000 in 2026 (+34%); for all full-time employees in the UK it changed by +31% over the same years.
Figures by year
| P10 | P25 | Median | P75 | P90 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | x | x | £28,346 | x | x |
| 2022 | x | x | £31,630 | x | x |
| 2023 | x | x | £33,566 | x | x |
| 2024 | x | £29,814 | £32,524 | x | x |
| 2025 | x | £31,026 | £34,346 | x | x |
| 2026 | x | £31,749 | £38,000 | x | x |
ONS figures for each year, not adjusted for inflation. Years before 2021 used a different occupation classification, so they can't be compared. Earlier years are ONS's revised figures; the latest is provisional.
Half of full-time employees in this occupation earn less than £38,000 a year and half earn more. That is 7% less than the median for all full-time employees in the UK (£40,911).
Ranked by median, it is number 174 of the 362 occupations with a published figure.
At the median salary, take-home pay after Income Tax and National Insurance is about £2,573 a month in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and £2,570 in Scotland.
Percentiles
| Percentile | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th (P10) | x | x |
| 20th | x | x |
| 25th (P25) | £31,749 | £2,646 |
| 30th | £33,405 | £2,784 |
| 40th | £35,513 | £2,959 |
| Median (50th) | £38,000 | £3,167 |
| 60th | £41,366 | £3,447 |
| 70th | x | x |
| 75th (P75) | x | x |
| 80th | x | x |
| 90th (P90) | x | x |
Men and women
| Median | Mean | Jobs (thousands) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | x | £42,439 | x |
| Women | £35,315 | £36,318 | x |
Take-home pay at the median
| Where you live | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| England, Wales, NI | £30,879 | £2,573 |
| Scotland | £30,834 | £2,570 |
After Income Tax and National Insurance for 2026 to 2027, with the standard tax code and no pension or student loan. Work out your own take-home pay · Take-home pay on £38,000
Job titles in this occupation
ONS codes these 17 job titles to SOC 2472 Archivists and curators. Pay figures are for the whole occupation, not for each title.
- Archivist
- Arts education officer
- Collection officer
- Collections manager
- Conservation technician
- Conservator
- Curator
- Curatorial assistant
- Education officer
- Inspector of ancient monuments
- Investigator
- Keeper
- Museum conservation officer
- Museum educator
- Museum keeper
- Museum officer
- Museums officer
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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.