Most people have only a vague idea whether their salary is good, bad, or somewhere in the foggy middle. You might have a gut feeling you're underpaid, or a sneaking suspicion your colleague earns more, but without actual data to hand, it's difficult to know where you stand.
This guide cuts through that uncertainty. Using the Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) and sector-level industry surveys, here are realistic salary benchmarks across six major UK sectors, plus what regional variation actually looks like and how to use all of this in a pay conversation with your employer.
Why benchmarking your salary matters
Research by the CIPD consistently shows that pay is one of the top reasons employees leave their jobs. Yet many workers never ask for a pay rise because they don't feel confident they deserve one, or they simply don't know whether their current pay is below market rate.
Knowledge changes that. If you know the median salary for your role and experience level, you're not guessing in a negotiation, you're presenting evidence. That's a fundamentally different conversation.
Before we get into the numbers, a quick note on methodology: salary ranges vary by experience, employer size, location and specialism. The figures below are drawn from ASHE 2024 provisional data and cross-referenced with industry surveys from sources including CIPD, Hays, and Reed. Treat them as informed reference points, not fixed rules.
Technology
Tech remains one of the most lucrative sectors in the UK, though the 2023-2024 period brought a correction after the post-pandemic hiring boom. Redundancies at large tech firms have created a more competitive candidate market, but salaries have held up reasonably well for skilled roles.
Typical ranges for UK tech roles:
- Junior software developer: £28,000 to £40,000
- Mid-level software engineer: £45,000 to £65,000
- Senior engineer or tech lead: £70,000 to £95,000
- Data scientist (mid-level): £50,000 to £75,000
- Product manager: £55,000 to £85,000
London skews these figures significantly. A mid-level engineer in London might comfortably earn £65,000 to £75,000, whilst the same role in Leeds or Bristol might sit at £48,000 to £58,000. Remote-first roles have compressed this gap somewhat, but it hasn't disappeared entirely.
Finance and professional services
The UK financial services sector, anchored by London but extending into Edinburgh, Leeds, and Manchester, remains one of the highest-paying in the economy. ASHE data places financial services amongst the top three sectors by median full-time weekly earnings.
Representative salary ranges:
- Financial analyst (2-4 years' experience): £40,000 to £58,000
- Chartered accountant (ACA/ACCA qualified): £48,000 to £70,000
- Investment banking associate: £75,000 to £110,000 (plus significant bonus)
- Compliance officer (mid-level): £45,000 to £65,000
- Actuarial analyst: £38,000 to £55,000
Bonus structures in investment banking and asset management can dwarf base salaries, which is worth factoring in when comparing total compensation packages.
Marketing and communications
Marketing salaries are notoriously wide-ranging because the sector spans everything from brand strategy to performance marketing, PR, and content. In-demand specialisms right now include paid media, SEO, and marketing analytics.
Benchmarks to work with:
- Marketing executive (1-3 years): £26,000 to £35,000
- Senior marketing manager: £45,000 to £65,000
- Head of marketing: £65,000 to £90,000
- PPC or paid social specialist (mid-level): £35,000 to £50,000
- Brand director: £80,000 to £120,000
Agency vs. in-house is a persistent divide here. Agency roles often pay slightly less at junior levels but offer faster progression and broader experience, whilst in-house roles tend to come with better benefits packages and greater stability.
Healthcare
NHS pay is governed by Agenda for Change (AfC) bands, which makes it unusually transparent. Following the 2023 pay settlement, most AfC staff received a 5% consolidated uplift. For context:
- Band 5 (newly qualified nurse, junior physiotherapist): £28,407 to £34,581
- Band 6 (specialist nurse, senior physiotherapist): £35,392 to £42,618
- Band 7 (advanced practice, ward manager): £43,742 to £50,056
- Band 8a (consultant nurse, service manager): £50,952 to £57,349
- Newly qualified GP: approximately £65,000 to £75,000 (NHS England contract)
Private sector healthcare roles, particularly in social care management and private hospitals, often sit above these figures but come without the pension and job security of NHS employment.
Education
Teacher pay in England received a 6.5% increase in 2023 following prolonged industrial action, though the profession continues to face significant recruitment and retention pressures, particularly in secondary STEM subjects.
Current ranges:
- Newly qualified teacher (England): £30,000 (inner London: £34,514)
- Mid-career teacher (M4-M6): £38,000 to £43,685 (London weighted higher)
- Upper Pay Range: £44,000 to £47,000
- Assistant headteacher: £50,000 to £65,000
- Headteacher (large secondary): £70,000 to £110,000
Further education lecturers and university staff follow different pay frameworks. HE salaries, governed by USS pension-linked contracts, typically range from £35,000 for a junior lecturer to £60,000 plus for a senior lecturer or reader.
Logistics and supply chain
Logistics was one of the surprise stories of the post-pandemic labour market. A acute shortage of HGV drivers in 2021 and 2022 pushed wages up sharply across the sector, and many of those increases have stuck.
- HGV Class 1 driver: £32,000 to £44,000 (agency rates can exceed this)
- Warehouse team leader: £26,000 to £32,000
- Supply chain analyst: £32,000 to £48,000
- Logistics manager: £45,000 to £65,000
- Head of supply chain: £75,000 to £100,000
The sector is also increasingly technical, with demand for professionals who understand automation, ERP systems, and data analytics, roles that attract salaries closer to the tech sector than traditional logistics.
Regional variation: the London premium and beyond
The gap between London and the rest of the UK is real, but it's narrowed slightly in recent years. According to ASHE 2024 data, median full-time earnings in London are roughly 20-25% higher than the England average, but once you account for housing costs, the take-home advantage shrinks considerably.
The highest-paying regions outside London are the South East, East of England, and Scotland (particularly Edinburgh, driven by financial services and tech). The lowest median full-time salaries are found in Northern Ireland, the East Midlands, and parts of Wales.
For those considering a move, it's worth checking which cities outside London offer the strongest job markets before assuming a London role is automatically the better deal.
How to use benchmarks in salary negotiations
Having data is one thing. Using it confidently is another.
Start by gathering at least three salary data points for your specific role, sector, and region. Use ASHE data, the CIPD pay benchmarking tools, and sector-specific surveys from recruiters like Hays, Robert Half, or Reed. Anecdotal evidence from colleagues is useful context but shouldn't be your primary source.
In the conversation itself, anchor to market rate rather than personal need. "Based on ASHE data and Hays' 2024 salary survey, the market rate for this role in Manchester is £X to £Y" is a more persuasive opening than "I need more money because of the cost of living."
If you're considering a move entirely and need to reposition your experience, changing careers without starting from scratch walks through how to frame transferable skills in a way that justifies market-rate pay in a new sector.
And when you do update your CV for a new application, make sure your achievements are framed in terms of commercial impact, not just job duties. A well-structured CV that passes ATS screening will get your salary expectations in front of a human decision-maker far more reliably. It's worth reading up on what recruiters' software is really looking for before you apply.
The bottom line: salary data is widely available, and the employers you're negotiating with already use it. There's no reason you shouldn't too.
Sources
- Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2024 provisional results: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/2024
- CIPD, UK Working Lives and Pay Survey 2024: https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/reports/uk-working-lives/
- NHS England, Agenda for Change pay rates 2023/24: https://www.nhsemployers.org/pay-pensions-and-reward/agenda-for-change/pay-scales
- Department for Education, School teachers' pay and conditions 2023: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-teachers-pay-and-conditions
- Hays, UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2024: https://www.hays.co.uk/salary-guide