Lab technician: salary in the UK
ONS occupation: Laboratory technicians (SOC 3111)
About £24,640 a year after tax (England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2026/27)
median salary a year, full-time, +4% on last year
£2,444 a month About £2,053 a month after tax 43 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 £22,695 in 2021 to £29,334 in 2026 (+29%); 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 | £17,286 | £19,210 | £22,695 | £26,624 | x |
| 2022 | £18,546 | £21,033 | £24,216 | £29,204 | x |
| 2023 | £19,843 | £22,388 | £26,259 | £31,681 | x |
| 2024 | £21,314 | £24,000 | £27,048 | £31,806 | x |
| 2025 | £22,442 | £25,020 | £28,193 | £33,949 | x |
| 2026 | £23,433 | £26,031 | £29,334 | £36,454 | 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 £29,334 a year and half earn more. That is 28% less than the median for all full-time employees in the UK (£40,911).
The middle half earn between £26,031 and £36,454; one in ten earns less than £23,433.
Ranked by median, it is number 309 of the 362 occupations with a published figure.
At the median salary, take-home pay after Income Tax and National Insurance is about £2,053 a month in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and £2,057 in Scotland.
Men and women in this occupation have about the same median pay (£29,191 and £29,354).
Percentiles
| Percentile | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th (P10) | £23,433 | £1,953 |
| 20th | £25,375 | £2,115 |
| 25th (P25) | £26,031 | £2,169 |
| 30th | £26,656 | £2,221 |
| 40th | £27,874 | £2,323 |
| Median (50th) | £29,334 | £2,444 |
| 60th | £31,165 | £2,597 |
| 70th | £34,209 | £2,851 |
| 75th (P75) | £36,454 | £3,038 |
| 80th | £38,392 | £3,199 |
| 90th (P90) | x | x |
Men and women
| Median | Mean | Jobs (thousands) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | £29,191 | £34,612 | 22 |
| Women | £29,354 | £31,101 | 21 |
Take-home pay at the median
| Where you live | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| England, Wales, NI | £24,640 | £2,053 |
| Scotland | £24,680 | £2,057 |
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 £29,000
Job titles in this occupation
ONS codes these 68 job titles to SOC 3111 Laboratory technicians. Pay figures are for the whole occupation, not for each title.
- Analytical technician
- Anatomy technician
- Assistant scientific officer
- Assistant scientist
- Assistant technical officer
- Associate practitioner
- Biomedical assistant
- Biomedical support worker
- Chemical assistant
- Chemistry laboratory technician
- Chemistry technician
- Clinical trial associate
- Cytology screener
- Cytoscreener
- Electron microscopist
- Food laboratory technician
- Food technician
- Geological technician
- Geology technician
- Geotechnician
- Health physics monitor
- Health physics surveyor
- Healthcare science assistant
- Histology technician
- Hospital technician
- Junior medical laboratory science officer
- Junior medical laboratory scientific officer
- Lab assistant
- Lab technician
- Laboratory aid
- Laboratory aide
- Laboratory assistant
- Laboratory attendant
- Laboratory bench man
- Laboratory man
- Laboratory officer
- Laboratory science officer
- Laboratory scientific officer
- Laboratory steward
- Laboratory supervisor
- Laboratory team leader
- Laboratory technician
- Laboratory worker
- Material analyst
- Materials analyst
- Medical lab assistant
- Medical laboratory assistant
- Medical laboratory technician
- Metrologist
- Microbiology laboratory technician
- Microbiology technician
- MLA
- Monitor
- Pharmaceutical analyst
- Physics technician
- Quality control assistant
- Radiation monitor
- School laboratory technician
- Science laboratory technician
- Scientific assistant
Show all 68 titles
- Scientific officer
- Scientific technician
- Seed analyst
- Superintendent
- Teaching laboratory technician
- Technical officer
- Technician
- Water tester
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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.