Average salary by industry in the UK

Financial and insurance activities is the highest-paying industry in the UK, with a median full-time salary of £58,488 a year — about £19,500 above the £39,039 national median. It's followed by electricity and gas supply (£55,469), information and communication (£52,264) and mining and quarrying (£50,943). Figures are median gross annual pay for full-time employees, ONS ASHE 2025.

Accommodation and food service (hospitality) is the lowest-paying industry, with a median full-time salary of £28,687 a year — roughly £10,350 below the national median. Agriculture (£32,784), arts and recreation (£32,871) and wholesale and retail (£33,158) are also among the lowest-paid sectors. Source: ONS ASHE 2025.

Median full-time pay varies widely by sector — from £58,488 in financial and insurance activities down to £28,687 in hospitality, a spread of nearly £30,000. The UK all-industry median is £39,039. Higher-paying sectors (finance, tech, utilities, professional services) tend to need specialist skills or qualifications; lower-paying sectors are more labour-intensive and service-based. Figures: ONS ASHE 2025, full-time employees.

Both matter, and they compound. The gap between the highest- and lowest-paid industries (about £30,000) is larger than the gap across age bands (about £20,000 between the 18–21 and 40–49 medians). Choosing a higher-paying sector early, then progressing within it through your peak earning years (40–49), is what drives the biggest lifetime difference. See our average salary by age page for the age breakdown.

These are median figures — the middle salary in each industry — for full-time employees on adult rates. The median is more representative than the mean because pay within each sector is skewed upward by top earners; finance and tech especially have long tails of very high salaries. All figures are gross (before tax) annual pay from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2025.