Legal associate professionals: salary in the UK
About £30,266 a year after tax (England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2026/27)
median salary a year, full-time, +7.5% on last year
£3,096 a month About £2,522 a month after tax 33 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 £29,019 in 2021 to £37,148 in 2026 (+28%); 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 | £19,722 | £23,466 | £29,019 | x | x |
| 2022 | £20,229 | £23,395 | £29,416 | x | x |
| 2023 | £21,871 | £25,482 | £31,352 | £41,377 | x |
| 2024 | £22,579 | £26,519 | £33,172 | £42,894 | x |
| 2025 | £22,139 | £26,936 | £34,547 | £44,344 | x |
| 2026 | £24,248 | £28,387 | £37,148 | 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 £37,148 a year and half earn more. That is 9% less than the median for all full-time employees in the UK (£40,911).
One in ten earns less than £24,248.
Ranked by median, it is number 181 of the 362 occupations with a published figure.
The mean (£50,459) is well above the median: a minority in this job earn much more than most.
At the median salary, take-home pay after Income Tax and National Insurance is about £2,522 a month in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and £2,519 in Scotland.
The median for men is £42,686 and for women £33,082, a gap of 23% in men's favour. This compares full-time salaries only and doesn't account for seniority or hours.
Percentiles
| Percentile | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th (P10) | £24,248 | £2,021 |
| 20th | £26,598 | £2,216 |
| 25th (P25) | £28,387 | £2,366 |
| 30th | £29,863 | £2,489 |
| 40th | £32,178 | £2,682 |
| Median (50th) | £37,148 | £3,096 |
| 60th | £41,261 | £3,438 |
| 70th | £47,236 | £3,936 |
| 75th (P75) | x | x |
| 80th | x | x |
| 90th (P90) | x | x |
Men and women
| Median | Mean | Jobs (thousands) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | £42,686 | £62,008 | 11 |
| Women | £33,082 | £44,477 | 22 |
Take-home pay at the median
| Where you live | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| England, Wales, NI | £30,266 | £2,522 |
| Scotland | £30,230 | £2,519 |
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 £37,000
Job titles in this occupation
ONS codes these 57 job titles to SOC 3520 Legal associate professionals. Pay figures are for the whole occupation, not for each title.
- Adjudicator
- Advocates' clerk
- Barrister's clerk
- Caseworker
- Compliance officer
- Conveyancing executive
- Conveyancing manager
- Coroner's officer
- Cost draftsman
- Costs draftsman
- Costs lawyer
- Costs negotiator
- Data protection officer
- Document specialist
- Estate planning consultant
- Examiner
- Fee earner
- Immigration adviser
- Immigration case worker
- Immigration caseworker
- Judge's clerk
- Land registrar
- Law cost consultant
- Law cost draftsman
- Law costs consultant
- Law costs draftsman
- Law costs draughtsman
- Legal assistant
- Legal associate
- Legal case worker
- Legal caseworker
- Legal cost consultant
- Legal costs consultant
- Legal costs draftsman
- Legal manager
- Legal practice manager
- Legal services manager
- Legal services officer
- Legal translator
- Litigation manager
- Litigation officer
- Litigator
- Manager
- Managing clerk
- Member
- Operations manager
- Panel member
- Paralegal assistant
- Paralegal officer
- Practice manager
- Precognition agent
- Precognition officer
- Probate manager
- Solicitor's manager
- Tribunal member
- Tribunalist
- Will writer
Similar occupations
All jobs in Associate professional occupations
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.