What is the average salary by age – and how do you compare?

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

As you climb the ranks and become more established in your career, your salary may increase, and so could your net worth. All the while, inflation will mean employers are pressured to increase wages so as not to cut pay in real terms.

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), shows how your earnings tend to increase with age – especially rapidly in the first half of your working life. We delve into the data.

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What is the average salary by age?

Finding out what the average salary for your age group 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 in April 2025, according to the latest data from the ONS. That is an increase of 4.3% from last year, when average full-time pay was £37,439.

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.

Young people in full-time employment earn the least, with 16 to 17 year olds only earning a median of £14,429 a year as their minimum wage is lower than that for those aged 18 to 20, and for those aged 21 and over.

Meanwhile, people in their forties earn the most – around £44,244 a year on average. This is likely because by this age most people have established themselves in a career and will probably be awarded better pay.

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

The reason for this decline could be a number of things, such as employees starting to work fewer hours as they edge closer to retirement, leaving work due to health issues, or perhaps even retiring early.

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

Average earnings by age

There is a 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.

The biggest step up in weekly earnings is between 22 to 29 year olds and 30 to 39 year olds, with a gap of £157 a week.

This is likely because a large influx of young people enter the labour market once they are around 21 or 22 years old and will therefore be beginning their careers in entry-level positions with lower comparative pay.

By the time they reach their thirties, they will be more established and therefore likely better compensated.

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 is £49,692 in the capital, blazing ahead of the rest of 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 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 that the average annual salary for a man is £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 pays significantly less than full-time work.

However, 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%.