What salary do I need to take home £1,500 a month?
For the 2026/27 UK tax year, hitting a £1,500 monthly take-home (£18,000 per year) requires a gross salary of about £20,112 — assuming no pension contribution and no student loan. That works out to roughly £1,676 gross per month before Income Tax and National Insurance.
Where the money goes
On a £20,112 gross salary, you'd pay approximately £1,508 in Income Tax and £603 in employee National Insurance across the year. That leaves £18,000 take-home — about £1,500 per month.
Item | Annual | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
Gross salary needed | £20,112 | £1,676 |
Income Tax | -£1,508 | -£126 |
National Insurance | -£603 | -£50 |
Take-home | £18,000 | £1,500 |
How pension contributions change the number
A workplace pension is deducted before tax, so contributing more means you need a higher gross salary to keep the same take-home. To net £1,500 per month with a 5% pension contribution, you'd need to earn about £21,170 gross — around £1,058 more than the no-pension baseline. Contribute 10% and the required gross climbs further.
How student loans change the number
Student loan repayments are taken from earnings above each plan's threshold, so they push up the gross salary you need. With a Plan 2 loan (9% on earnings above £28,470), you'd need about £20,112 gross to still take home £1,500 per month. Plan 1, Plan 4 and Plan 5 sit at similar 9% rates on different thresholds; the Postgraduate Loan is 6% above £21,000.
Example scenario
With 3% pension and Plan 1 student loan, the gross salary needed to take home £1,500 per month is about £20,734 per year — that's £1,508 Income Tax, £603 National Insurance, £622 into your pension and £0 in student loan repayments across the year.