The average salary by age – how does your income compare?

Your salary will typically change as you get older and gain more experience in the workplace.

The reason for this is twofold. Firstly, becoming more experienced and established in your career will likely lead to promotions that increase your income.

Secondly, many workers will see their salaries adjusted up each year so their pay does not fall behind inflation. Otherwise, some workers will end up with less money in real terms than they did before.

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For most people, these two factors mean that your salary tends to increase over time – and often especially rapidly in the first half of your working life – until you reach retirement.

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), shows this. We delve into the data.

What is the average salary by age?

Finding out what the average salary for your age group is can be a helpful way for you to evaluate your own pay and see how your income compares with your peers.

That knowledge could be the encouragement you need to start trying to boost your income, or start making better financial decisions to build your savings. We look at the average savings by age in a separate article.

The median gross salary for full-time employees in the UK was £39,039 a year, according to the latest ONS data, covering April 2025.

The data showed a rise in average salaries, as April 2025’s figure was 4.3% higher than the previous year (£37,439).

In that same period, prices rose by 3.5%, so the average salary increased 0.8 percentage points more than inflation. That means salaries did increase in real terms year-on-year, but not by much.

But this does not paint a full picture. Income tends to increase as people get older and so the average statistics are skewed by older earners on higher pay and younger people on much less.

Source: Office for National Statistics Earnings and hours worked by age group: ASHE Table 6, October 2025

The ONS’s data shows that, unsurprisingly, young people in full-time employment earn the least in the UK, as the average 16 to 17 year old is typically paid a median of £14,429 a year.

This number is so low because the minimum wage in this age group is lower than for those aged 18 to 20 and those aged 21 and over. Meanwhile, more 16 and 17 year olds will only be working part-time as many work alongside education.

People in their forties are the age group that earn the most in the UK – an average of around £44,244 a year.

Salaries peak at this age because by this point most workers will be in the most productive period of their work life, likely having a lot more experience and becoming more senior in their workplace leading to salary increases.

However, the ONS data shows salaries start to fall once again when employees are in their fifties.

There could be a number of reasons for this. Employees may start to work fewer hours as they edge closer to retirement, they may be leaving work due to health issues, or perhaps they have retired early.

Average earnings by age

There is a slight difference between your salary and your earnings. Salaries tend to be provided in yearly figures, while earnings tend to be provided in weekly figures.

This is because they measure slightly different things. Your salary tends to be your basic pay, the amount paid to an employee before extras are added or deducted.

Your earnings include your salary but also take into account bonuses on earned income, benefits in kind, or arrears of pay.

Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, October 2025

The overall median weekly earnings in the UK is £767 a week, but, as can be seen above, income tends to increase as people get older. Like average salaries, average earnings also peak for people in their forties.

Average earnings by region

The data from the ONS also divides average salary data by region in the UK, and the findings are not surprising considering the country’s significant North/South divide.

The UK region with the highest median weekly earnings is London. The average salary there is £49,692, far more than anywhere else in the country.

Salaries are typically higher in London as it is at the heart of many of the UK’s most profitable industries, including financial services. The cost of living in the capital is also much higher, meaning wages need to be higher..

The second highest-earning UK region is the South East, where the average resident earns £39,983 a year.

Meanwhile, the lowest-earning UK region is the North East, where the typical person will make just £34,403 a year – over £15,000 less than their London peers.

The gender pay gap

Alongside large disparities appearing when looking at the average salary by age and region, there also remains a gap between the median salaries of men and women.

Data from the ONS reveals a gender pay gap of 6.9%, as the median hourly earnings of a man was £20.27, but just £18.87 for a woman.

As for annual figures, a typical man draws a salary of around £38,466 while women only earn an average of £27,850 a year – a difference of £10,616.

Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, October 2025

In terms of full-time and part-time work, there’s another divide. A man working full-time tends to get paid an average of £41,832 a year compared to a woman’s £35,670.

For part-time work, however, the average woman gets paid slightly more than the average man. The ONS’ data shows that women in part-time positions earn an average of £14,878 a year, while a man working part-time tends to get paid £14,277.

The reason that the average salary for women in part-time work is more than an average man’s is likely because a greater number of women work part-time than men, according to the House of Commons Library.

Furthermore, the reason the overall gender pay gap is larger than the differences between both full and part-time work is because part-time work typically pays significantly less than full-time work.

While the figures are still far from being equal, significant progress has been made to bridge this gap in the last few decades.

In 1997, the average woman had hourly earnings that were 27.5% lower than a man’s. By April 2025 that had been reduced to 13.1%.