Weekly, monthly and yearly pay
Minimum wage after tax: what you take home
Choose the year, your age, weekly hours and where you pay tax: the tool gives the take-home pay per month and per week.
Take-home pay at the minimum wage
Take-home per month
£1,780.37
| Gross per year | £24,784.50 |
| Income Tax | £2,442.90 |
| National Insurance | £977.16 |
| Take-home per week | £410.85 |
Tax year 2026 to 2027, tax code 1257L, no pension, student loan or other income.
A worker on the National Living Wage of £12.71 for 37.5 hours a week earns £24,784.50 a year before deductions. In the 2026 to 2027 tax year, with tax code 1257L and no other income, student loan or pension, £2,442.90 goes in Income Tax and £977.16 in National Insurance in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, leaving £21,364.44, or about £1,780.37 a month. In Scotland the starter rate of 19% makes the Income Tax £2,403.23, slightly less. At the 18 to 20 rate the same hours leave about £1,562.75 a month. For 2027 to 2028, the Budget of 28 October 2026 kept the personal allowance at £12,570 and the National Insurance thresholds unchanged, so the National Living Wage announced at £13.21 would leave about £1,838.87 a month outside Scotland. The Scottish bands for 2027 to 2028 had not been published. The minimum wage itself is always checked on pay before tax.
Minimum wage per week, month and year
Legal minimum per hour
£12.71
| Rate that applies | National Living Wage (21 and over) |
| Per week | £476.63 |
| Per month | £2,065.38 |
| Per year (52 weeks) | £24,784.50 |
Rates and rules read by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Take-home at 37.5 hours, by rate
The table uses the 2026 to 2027 thresholds: a personal allowance of £12,570, Income Tax at 20% on the next £37,700 outside Scotland, and employee National Insurance at 8% between £12,570 and £50,270.
| Rate | Gross a year | Income Tax | National Insurance | Per month, outside Scotland | Per month, Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 and over | £24,784.50 | £2,442.90 | £977.16 | £1,780.37 | £1,783.68 |
| 18 to 20 | £21,157.50 | £1,717.50 | £687 | £1,562.75 | £1,566.06 |
| 16 to 17 and apprentices | £15,600 | £606 | £242.40 | £1,229.30 | £1,231.83 |
At the 16 to 17 and apprentice rate, a full-time year of £15,600 sits only a little above the personal allowance, so the deductions are small. At the National Living Wage they come to about 14% of gross pay.
Scotland against the rest of the UK
Taxpayers in Scotland pay Income Tax on earnings at Scottish rates, with bands of their own. For 2026 to 2027 the bands above the personal allowance are 19% on the first £3,967, 20% up to £16,956 and 21% up to £31,092, before the higher rates. At minimum wage pay only the first two or three bands are reached. National Insurance does not change.
| Hours a week at 21 and over | Income Tax outside Scotland | Income Tax in Scotland | Difference a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | £129.68 | £123.20 | £6.48 |
| 30 | £1,451.52 | £1,411.85 | £39.67 |
| 37.5 | £2,442.90 | £2,403.23 | £39.67 |
| 40 | £2,773.36 | £2,733.69 | £39.67 |
| 45 | £3,434.28 | £3,396.76 | £37.52 |
The starter rate is one point below the basic rate on the first £3,967 above the allowance, so it saves at most £39.67 a year. Above total earnings of £29,526, the 21% band starts to take back part of that saving, which is why the gap narrows at 45 hours.
Take-home from April 2027
The Budget's table of rates and allowances kept the personal allowance, the basic rate limit and the National Insurance thresholds for 2027 to 2028 where they were. Combined with the rates announced for April 2027, which still have to be set in regulations, a 37.5-hour week outside Scotland would leave:
| Rate | Gross a year | Take-home a year | Take-home a month | More a month than in 2026 to 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 and over | £25,759.50 | £22,066.44 | £1,838.87 | £58.50 |
| 18 to 20 | £21,976.50 | £19,342.68 | £1,611.89 | £49.14 |
| 16 to 17 and apprentices | £16,204.50 | £15,186.84 | £1,265.57 | £36.27 |
For Scotland no 2027 to 2028 figure is given here: the Scottish bands for that year had not been published. The tool above keeps the 2026 to 2027 Scottish bands as a stand-in and flags it.
Take-home pay at the minimum wage
Take-home per month
£1,838.87
| Gross per year | £25,759.50 |
| Income Tax | £2,637.90 |
| National Insurance | £1,055.16 |
| Take-home per week | £424.35 |
Tax year 2027 to 2028, tax code 1257L, no pension, student loan or other income.
Tax does not count against the minimum
HMRC's guidance lists Income Tax, National Insurance and student loan repayments among the deductions that leave minimum wage pay untouched. So does a worker's own pension contribution paid to a scheme, unless it is made by salary sacrifice, which lowers the pay that counts. The salary sacrifice page explains that difference, and the annual salary page gives the gross figures this page starts from.