Road construction operatives: salary in the UK
About £33,364 a year after tax (England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 2026/27)
median salary a year, full-time, +6.1% on last year
£3,454 a month About £2,780 a month after tax 17 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 £30,810 in 2021 to £41,451 in 2026 (+35%); 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 | £22,023 | £25,549 | £30,810 | £35,424 | x |
| 2022 | £21,229 | £25,876 | £31,987 | £37,698 | x |
| 2023 | x | £27,962 | £33,830 | £38,686 | x |
| 2024 | £26,269 | £32,684 | £37,696 | £43,899 | x |
| 2025 | x | £32,238 | £39,055 | £46,439 | x |
| 2026 | £30,474 | £34,053 | £41,451 | £49,537 | 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 £41,451 a year and half earn more. That is 1% more than the median for all full-time employees in the UK (£40,911).
The middle half earn between £34,053 and £49,537; one in ten earns less than £30,474.
Ranked by median, it is number 139 of the 362 occupations with a published figure.
At the median salary, take-home pay after Income Tax and National Insurance is about £2,780 a month in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and £2,774 in Scotland.
Percentiles
| Percentile | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th (P10) | £30,474 | £2,539 |
| 20th | £33,021 | £2,752 |
| 25th (P25) | £34,053 | £2,838 |
| 30th | £36,035 | £3,003 |
| 40th | £39,078 | £3,256 |
| Median (50th) | £41,451 | £3,454 |
| 60th | £44,875 | £3,740 |
| 70th | £48,605 | £4,050 |
| 75th (P75) | £49,537 | £4,128 |
| 80th | £51,276 | £4,273 |
| 90th (P90) | x | x |
Men and women
| Median | Mean | Jobs (thousands) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men | £41,601 | £43,746 | 17 |
| Women | x | £36,976 | x |
Take-home pay at the median
| Where you live | Per year | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| England, Wales, NI | £33,364 | £2,780 |
| Scotland | £33,285 | £2,774 |
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 £41,000
Job titles in this occupation
ONS codes these 63 job titles to SOC 8152 Road construction operatives. Pay figures are for the whole occupation, not for each title.
- Asphalt layer
- Asphalt raker
- Asphalt spreader
- Asphalter
- Chipper
- Concrete assembler
- Concrete erector
- Concrete finisher
- Concrete floor layer
- Concrete layer
- Concrete leveller
- Concrete worker
- Concreter
- Flagger
- Highways maintenance hand
- Highways operative
- Highways superintendent
- Kerb layer
- Kerb setter
- Lengthman
- Maintenance hand
- Paver
- Pavior
- Paviour
- Public realm operative
- Reinstatement worker
- Reinstater
- Road constructor
- Road contractor
- Road inspector
- Road layer
- Road lengthman
- Road liner
- Road lining contractor
- Road maker
- Road man
- Road marker
- Road mender
- Road repairer
- Road surface worker
- Road surfacer
- Road worker
- Roadman
- Roads inspector
- Roadsman
- Screeder
- Slab layer
- Stone layer
- Street mason
- Surface layer
- Surface man
- Tamperman
- Tar layer
- Tar man
- Tar paver
- Tar pavior
- Tar paviour
- Tar spreader
- Tarmac layer
- Tarmac raker
Show all 63 titles
- Tarmac worker
- Tarmacer
- Traffic management operative
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.