UK Salaries by Role 2026
Real UK salary ranges by role and experience level. London premium, skills that pay more, and the top UK employers paying above average. From a 12-year recruiter — calibrated, not crowdsourced.
Business & Ops
4 roles
Design
1 role
Engineering
1 role
Finance
3 roles
Healthcare
1 role
Marketing & Sales
7 roles
Account Manager
£52,000
£28,000 – £115,000 · +18% London
Brand Manager
£60,000
£35,000 – £130,000 · +18% London
Content Marketer
£45,000
£25,000 – £115,000 · +18% London
Customer Success Manager
£60,000
£35,000 – £130,000 · +18% London
Marketing Manager
£55,000
£30,000 – £130,000 · +18% London
Sales Executive
£50,000
£28,000 – £100,000 · +18% London
SEO Specialist
£48,000
£25,000 – £115,000 · +18% London
People & Legal
3 roles
Public Sector & Education
1 role
Senior Leadership
2 roles
Tech
20 roles
AI Engineer
£90,000
£50,000 – £200,000 · +28% London
AI Product Manager
£105,000
£55,000 – £220,000 · +28% London
Backend Engineer
£80,000
£45,000 – £175,000 · +24% London
Cloud Engineer
£80,000
£45,000 – £165,000 · +22% London
Cybersecurity Engineer
£80,000
£45,000 – £175,000 · +22% London
Data Analyst
£55,000
£30,000 – £110,000 · +15% London
Data Engineer
£75,000
£40,000 – £150,000 · +20% London
Data Scientist
£75,000
£40,000 – £160,000 · +20% London
DevOps Engineer
£80,000
£45,000 – £165,000 · +22% London
DevOps Engineer
£75,000
£40,000 – £160,000 · +18% London
Engineering Manager
£110,000
£80,000 – £200,000 · +25% London
Frontend Engineer
£75,000
£40,000 – £155,000 · +22% London
Machine Learning Engineer
£95,000
£50,000 – £220,000 · +28% London
Mobile Engineer
£75,000
£45,000 – £155,000 · +22% London
Product Manager
£80,000
£45,000 – £170,000 · +22% London
QA Engineer
£60,000
£30,000 – £130,000 · +18% London
Software Engineer
£70,000
£35,000 – £150,000 · +18% London
Solutions Architect
£110,000
£65,000 – £220,000 · +22% London
Tech Lead
£105,000
£75,000 – £180,000 · +24% London
UX Designer
£60,000
£35,000 – £130,000 · +20% London
Tech Leadership
2 roles
How these salary ranges are calibrated
Ranges are built from publicly stated averages on Reed.co.uk, Indeed UK, LinkedIn Talent Insights, the 2025 Robert Walters Salary Survey and Hays UK Salary Guide, plus ONS earnings data — cross-referenced against placements I've made in 2025 and early 2026. They are point-in-time estimates, not guarantees. Pair every salary check with the UK take-home pay calculator to see what the gross figure actually puts in your pocket. For role-to-role transitions and the salary-step-back conversation when switching sectors, see the UK career change pillar. For UK tech specifically, the UK Tech Salary Calculator applies skill multipliers and city premiums on the bands below, and the UK Tech Career Pivot Estimator models cross-role pay lifts.
UK salary FAQs
How accurate are these UK salary ranges? +
Cross-referenced from Reed.co.uk, Indeed UK, LinkedIn Talent Insights, the 2025 Robert Walters Salary Survey, Hays UK Salary Guide, and ONS earnings data — calibrated against placements I've made in 2025 and early 2026. They're point-in-time estimates, not guarantees, but tighter than the Glassdoor range you'll find with one Google search.
What's the typical London premium on UK salaries in 2026? +
Tech roles average +20-30%, finance +25-35%, marketing/creative +15-20%, operations/admin +10-15%. The premium has narrowed since pre-pandemic — fully-remote roles often pay London bands regardless of location, which is changing the math for candidates outside London.
Should I share my current salary when applying? +
No. UK employers can't legally require it. Pivot to your target range based on the bands here. Sharing your current salary anchors negotiations to your old number; sharing a target anchors to the role's market value, which is usually higher.
How much should I ask for above the band's midpoint? +
Aim for 5-10% above midpoint as your opening ask, with the band's max as your aspiration. Most negotiations close 3-5% above the original offer — opening too close to midpoint leaves money on the table.
Why do these salaries differ from Glassdoor? +
Glassdoor is self-reported and skews to who shares (often unhappy candidates from older cohorts). My ranges are recruiter-side: what I'm placing candidates at right now in 2026, weighted by sector and city. Use Glassdoor for the floor of the range; my numbers for the realistic mid-market.
Related job-search guides + UK calculators
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