Shopkeepers and owners - retail and wholesale: salary in the UK
About £28,961 a year after tax (England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2026/27)
median salary a year, full-time, +0.4% on last year
£2,945 a month About £2,413 a month after tax 5 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 £28,267 in 2023 to £35,335 in 2026 (+25%); for all full-time employees in the UK it changed by +17% over the same years.
Figures by year
| P10 | P25 | Median | P75 | P90 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | x | x | x | x | x |
| 2022 | x | x | x | x | x |
| 2023 | x | x | £28,267 | x | x |
| 2024 | x | x | £34,416 | x | x |
| 2025 | x | £28,668 | £35,184 | x | x |
| 2026 | x | £29,186 | £35,335 | 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 £35,335 a year and half earn more. That is 14% less than the median for all full-time employees in the UK (£40,911).
Ranked by median, it is number 208 of the 362 occupations with a published figure.
The mean (£41,259) 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 £2,413 a month in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and £2,412 in Scotland.
Percentiles
| Percentile | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th (P10) | x | x |
| 20th | £27,633 | £2,303 |
| 25th (P25) | £29,186 | £2,432 |
| 30th | £30,233 | £2,519 |
| 40th | £32,821 | £2,735 |
| Median (50th) | £35,335 | £2,945 |
| 60th | £38,320 | £3,193 |
| 70th | x | x |
| 75th (P75) | x | x |
| 80th | x | x |
| 90th (P90) | x | x |
Men and women
| Median | Mean | Jobs (thousands) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | £34,699 | £42,426 | 4 |
| Women | x | £36,832 | x |
Take-home pay at the median
| Where you live | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| England, Wales, NI | £28,961 | £2,413 |
| Scotland | £28,942 | £2,412 |
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 £35,000
Job titles in this occupation
ONS codes these 99 job titles to SOC 7131 Shopkeepers and owners - retail and wholesale. Pay figures are for the whole occupation, not for each title.
- Agricultural merchant
- Antiquarian book seller
- Antiquarian book specialist
- Antiquarian bookseller
- Antique dealer
- Antique trader
- Antiques dealer
- Art dealer
- Book dealer
- Book stall keeper
- Builders' merchant
- Butcher's shop owner
- Car dealer
- Car trader
- Cattle dealer
- Chandler
- Cheesemonger
- Clothier
- Clothier and outfitter
- Coal factor
- Coal merchant
- Confectioner and tobacconist
- Dealer
- Distributor
- Draper
- Drug store keeper
- Drug store owner
- Ebay reseller
- Ebay seller
- Ebay trader
- Fashion retailer
- Filling station owner
- Fish and chip shopkeeper
- Fish merchant
- Fish retailer
- Florist shop owner
- Fried fish shopkeeper
- Fruiterer
- Furnisher
- Furrier
- Game dealer
- Garden centre owner
- General store keeper
- General store owner
- Glass merchant
- Green grocer
- Greengrocer
- Grocer
- Haberdasher
- Hatter
- Horsemeat vendor
- Hosier
- Hosier and haberdasher
- Ironmonger
- Jeweller
- Licensed victualler
- Licensee
- Livestock dealer
- Manager
- Map seller
Show all 99 titles
- Marine store dealer
- Mercer
- Merchant tailor
- Milliner
- Motor accessories dealer
- Motor dealer
- Motor factor
- Motor trader
- News agent
- Newsagent
- Newspaper agent
- Numismatist
- Off-licensee
- Online seller
- Outfitter
- Owner
- Petrol station owner
- Philatelist
- Pig dealer
- Potato merchant
- Poultry dealer
- Retail jeweller
- Retail shop owner
- Retailer
- Seedsman
- Sheep dealer
- Shopkeeper
- Stamp dealer
- Stationer
- Steel stock holder
- Steel stockholder
- Supplier
- Timber merchant
- Tobacconist
- Trader
- Tyre dealer
- Wholesale confectioner
- Wholesaler
- Wine merchant
Similar occupations
All jobs in Sales and customer service 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.