Compare Two Salaries UK 2026/27 — Job Offer Take-Home Pay

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Why Compare Take-Home Pay, Not Just Gross Salary

A £5,000 gross pay rise rarely means £5,000 more in your pocket — moving into a higher tax band, losing Personal Allowance above £100,000, or a different region's Income Tax bands (Scotland vs the rest of the UK) can all shrink the real-world gain. Comparing two offers on take-home pay, not headline salary, shows what actually changes for your budget.

What to Check Beyond the Numbers

Pension match: a lower salary with a stronger employer pension match can still be worth more overall.
Benefits in kind: private healthcare, company car or bonus schemes aren't captured here — factor them in separately.
Location: if one offer is in Scotland, its Income Tax bands differ from the rest of the UK even at an identical salary.

Get Independent Financial Advice

The figure above is an estimate of what you're entitled to or what it costs you — deciding what to actually do with it (invest, overpay debt, top up a pension) is a bigger decision worth getting right.

Received a redundancy payout: understand tax-free thresholds and how to make a lump sum work for you long-term.
Planning parental leave: budget around the drop from full pay to statutory rate, and check what protections apply.
Deciding whether to overpay a student loan: for many people investing the surplus outperforms early repayment — but it depends on your plan type and income trajectory.
Reviewing pension contributions: small percentage changes compound significantly over a career.

An FCA-regulated independent financial adviser can model your specific numbers — free directories like Unbiased.co.uk match you with a local IFA.

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Transparency & Methodology

Compare Two Salaries Calculator

Independent, Open-Source Estimator

An independent calculator applying published HMRC/gov.scot/DWP rates deterministically — no AI estimate, no official affiliation.

Methodology & Sources

Figures are public HMRC/gov.scot/DWP rates. For your exact position, use gov.uk/estimate-income-tax.

Not Tax or Legal Advice

Information only. Consult the Chartered Institute of Taxation or an adviser via the FCA Register.

Open Source

Formulas are public. Inspect on GitHub.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my pay rise not worth as much as I expected?

Because Income Tax and National Insurance are banded, part of a pay rise can be taxed at a higher marginal rate than your existing salary — and above £100,000 you also start losing Personal Allowance at 60% effective marginal rate. Comparing take-home pay (not gross) shows the real gain.

How do I compare a Scotland-based job offer to an England-based one?

Enter each offer with its correct region — Scotland uses six Income Tax bands (19–48%) instead of the rest of the UK's three (20/40/45%), so identical gross salaries can produce different take-home pay depending on region.

Does this include pension and student loan in the comparison?

Yes — both are optional per-offer inputs, since employer pension schemes and student loan status vary between jobs and materially affect the real take-home difference.

What should I check beyond take-home pay when comparing offers?

Employer pension contribution match, private healthcare or other benefits in kind, bonus structure, and cost of commuting or relocating — none of which are captured by a salary-only comparison.

Compare Two Salaries

Offer A

Offer B