Required salary calculator
Tell us how much you want to actually take home each after income tax and National Insurance, and we'll find the gross salary you need to earn to land on it, using published 2026/27 rates.
The salary you need
To take home £30,000 a year you need a gross salary of
Required gross (annual)
£36,778
45th percentile of UK earners
Required gross (monthly)
£3,065
≈ annual ÷ 12
Take-home delivered
£30,000
net of tax and NI
| Gross salary | £36,778 |
| Income tax | −£4,842 |
| National Insurance | −£1,936 |
| Take-home pay | £30,000 |
See the full £37,000 take-home breakdown →
Baseline: England, 2026-27, no student loan, no pension. Exact answer to the nearest pound; your figure varies with tax code and region.
Your take-home target
Why a flat markup doesn't work
- UK tax is progressive: the more you earn, the higher the marginal rate on the next pound.
- Between £12,570 and £50,270 you lose about 28% (20% tax + 8% NI); above £50,270 the marginal deduction jumps to roughly 42%.
- Between £100,000 and £125,140 the personal allowance tapers away, creating a 60% effective rate — a much bigger gross for each extra pound of take-home.
- So this calculator runs the full PAYE maths in reverse until the gross salary's net pay matches your target to the nearest pound.
How to use the required salary calculator
Start with the monthly figure you need to cover your costs — rent or mortgage, bills, essentials — and the calculator works backwards to the gross salary you'd need to ask for. This is useful when negotiating a new role, deciding whether to accept an offer, or budgeting against your outgoings.
If the answer lands in the £100,000–£125,140 band, the personal allowance taper makes every extra pound of take-home unusually expensive in gross terms. Because salary-sacrifice pension contributions pull your taxable income back below the taper, that can be a far cheaper way to improve your position than chasing a higher headline salary.
The figures assume England, no student loan and no pension, using the baseline shown on the salary pages. Add your own details with the take-home pay calculator or browse pre-calculated salaries. If your answer lands in the taper zone, see why the £100k–£125k band changes the maths so dramatically .