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Chemical and related process operatives: salary in the UK

£34,538

About £28,387 a year after tax (England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2026/27)

median salary a year, full-time, +1.9% on last year

£2,878 a month About £2,366 a month after tax 20 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 £27,473 in 2021 to £34,538 in 2026 (+26%); for all full-time employees in the UK it changed by +31% over the same years.

Figures by year
P10P25MedianP75P90
2021£18,441£22,282£27,473£34,218x
2022£18,992£21,503£27,141xx
2023£21,018£23,700£29,727xx
2024£23,457£27,046£33,191xx
2025£24,238£29,299£33,902£42,439x
2026x£28,215£34,538xx

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 £34,538 a year and half earn more. That is 16% less than the median for all full-time employees in the UK (£40,911).

Ranked by median, it is number 215 of the 362 occupations with a published figure.

At the median salary, take-home pay after Income Tax and National Insurance is about £2,366 a month in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and £2,365 in Scotland.

The median for men is £34,232 and for women £34,589, a gap of 1% in women's favour. This compares full-time salaries only and doesn't account for seniority or hours.

Percentiles

PercentileAnnualMonthly
10th (P10)xx
20th£26,942£2,245
25th (P25)£28,215£2,351
30th£29,199£2,433
40th£31,231£2,603
Median (50th)£34,538£2,878
60th£37,409£3,117
70th£42,910£3,576
75th (P75)xx
80thxx
90th (P90)xx

Men and women

MedianMeanJobs (thousands)
Men£34,232£38,63316
Women£34,589£38,902x

Take-home pay at the median

Where you livePer yearPer month
England, Wales, NI£28,387£2,366
Scotland£28,377£2,365

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 725 job titles to SOC 8113 Chemical and related process operatives. Pay figures are for the whole occupation, not for each title.

Show all 725 titles

Similar occupations

All jobs in Process, plant and machine operatives

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.