Salary comparison
Compare Two Salaries (UK) — See the Real Take-Home Difference
Weigh a new job offer, a pay rise or an internal move against your current salary. See, in plain English, exactly how your monthly and annual take-home pay changes for 2026/27 — Income Tax, National Insurance, pension and student loan all handled.
Last updated: 13 July 2026 · Reflects HMRC 2026/27 rates (rest of UK)
Applies to both
The verdict
New offer pays £547 more per month
New offer puts £547 more in your pocket each month — £6,563 more over the year compared to Current job. Heads up: one role crosses the 40% higher-rate band, so each extra £1 of gross gives you less take-home than before.
Monthly difference
+£547
+19.1% of Current job take-home
Annual difference
+£6,563
Net, after tax & NI
Effective take-home rate
76% → 74%
Current job vs New offer
Breakdown
Side-by-side
Δ shows New offer minus Current job. For deductions, lower is better.
How to compare two UK salaries
Comparing job offers, weighing a pay rise, or deciding whether an internal move is worth it all come down to the same question: how much of the extra gross salary do you actually keep? The calculator above answers that in three steps.
- Enter both gross salaries. Use annual or monthly — the toggle handles the conversion. Label each side so the verdict reads like plain English ("New offer pays £412 more per month").
- Set the pension % for each. Pension contributions are modelled as salary sacrifice, which reduces both your Income Tax and your National Insurance. This matters — a job with a better pension can beat a higher headline salary once tax is applied.
- Pick the shared tax year and student loan plan. Both sides use 2026/27 rates by default (personal allowance £12,570, 20% to £50,270, 40% above). Student loans apply to both salaries because your plan doesn't change when you switch jobs.
The verdict block shows the winner, the monthly and annual difference in take-home pay, and a plain-English summary. The side-by-side breakdown underneath shows exactly where each pound goes on both salaries.
Worked example: £45,000 vs £55,000
A £10,000 pay rise sounds like £833 more per month before you look at tax. Here's what actually lands in your account for 2026/27, with no pension and no student loan on either side.
| Line | £45,000 | £55,000 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross salary | £45,000 | £55,000 | +£10,000 |
| Income Tax | −£6,486 | −£9,432 | +£2,946 |
| National Insurance | −£2,594 | −£3,111 | +£517 |
| Take-home (annual) | £35,920 | £42,457 | +£6,537 |
| Take-home (monthly) | £2,993 | £3,538 | +£545 |
A £10,000 gross rise becomes £545 a month, not £833. Why? The last £4,730 crosses into the 40% higher-rate band, and every pound in that band gives you 58p rather than 72p. That's the single most common surprise on this calculator.
What actually changes when you move up a salary band
UK tax is progressive — different slices of your salary are taxed at different rates. Three thresholds do most of the work in a salary comparison:
- £50,270 — the 40% higher-rate band. Below this, £1 of gross pay gives you 72p (20% tax, 8% NI). Above it, £1 gives you 58p (40% tax, 2% NI). NI drops here, but tax more than doubles.
- £100,000 — personal allowance taper. Between £100,000 and £125,140 you lose £1 of tax-free allowance for every £2 earned, creating an effective 60% marginal rate. A £10,000 rise in this band leaves you only around £4,000 better off.
- £125,140 — additional rate 45%. Above this, extra pay is taxed at 45% plus 2% NI. Predictable, and lower marginal rate than the £100–125k band.
When the two salaries you're comparing sit either side of one of these thresholds, the take-home gap always looks smaller than the gross gap. The calculator flags that on the verdict line so it doesn't come as a surprise.
Comparing a job offer: what the calculator can't show
Take-home pay is the biggest number, but rarely the only number. Weigh the monthly delta from the comparison against the things a salary calculator can't price:
- Bonus & commission. A 10% target bonus on £55,000 is £5,500 gross — worth roughly £3,190 net in the higher band. Compare on-target earnings, not just base.
- Employer pension match. A 5% employer match on £55,000 (£2,750/yr) is often worth more than a 2% match on £60,000 (£1,200/yr).
- Share schemes & equity. RSUs, share options, SAYE — none show up in take-home, but all show up on your net worth in a few years.
- Healthcare, dental, life cover. Employer-paid private health cover in the UK is worth £600–£1,500/yr gross-equivalent for most people.
- Commute & hybrid. Two days in the office vs five can be worth £2,000–£5,000/yr in rail fares alone, plus 8–12 hours of your life a week.
Pension contribution: comparing two employers
The calculator treats your pension as salary sacrifice — the standard modern UK setup. That means every 1% you contribute reduces your gross by 1%, which in turn reduces both your Income Tax and your National Insurance. In the higher-rate band, £1,000 into your pension only costs you £580 in take-home. Set each side's pension % to reflect what you'd actually contribute at each employer, not what you currently do.
Student loan when you change jobs
Your student loan plan doesn't reset when you move jobs — you keep repaying at 9% (or 6% for postgraduate) above the plan's threshold. That's why the calculator sets the plan once, at the top, and applies it to both salaries. The pound amount of the repayment will be higher on the higher salary, which the breakdown shows explicitly.
Related calculators & guides
- UK Salary Calculator 2026/27 — see the full breakdown for a single salary.
- Salary Goal Calculator — enter your target monthly take-home and see the gross you'd need.
- Salary after-tax guides — worked examples for £30k, £40k, £50k and more.