£45,000 salary → £35,920 take-home (UK, 2024/25)
A £45,000 UK salary in the basic-rate band — 2024/25 tax year, rest-of-UK bands. Below is the exact breakdown, plus what changes with pension contributions and how it compares to nearby salaries.
Take-home summary
Where £45,000 goes (annual)
| Gross salary | £45,000 |
| − Income Tax | £6,486 |
| − National Insurance | £2,594 |
| = Take-home | £35,920 |
Effective total tax rate: 20.2%. Marginal rate on your next £1: 28.0%.
What tax band is £45,000?
£45,000 sits in the basic-rate band. You're in the 20% Income Tax band and pay 8% National Insurance on earnings above £12,570. Every extra £1 you earn keeps 72p in your pocket.
With a workplace pension
Most UK workplace pensions are salary sacrifice or net-pay, which means the contribution comes off your gross before tax and NI. Here's how contributing to a pension changes your take-home:
| Pension | Take-home / year | Take-home / month | Into pension |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | £35,920 | £2,993 | £0 |
| 5% | £34,300 | £2,858 | £2,250 |
| 10% | £32,680 | £2,723 | £4,500 |
Notice that contributing £2,250 into your pension (5%) only reduces take-home by £1,620 — the difference of £630 is tax and NI you would otherwise have paid. That's the "free money" effect of pension salary sacrifice.
How this compares to nearby salaries
| Gross | Take-home / year | Take-home / month | Effective tax rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| £35,000 | £28,720 | £2,393 | 17.9% |
| £40,000 | £32,320 | £2,693 | 19.2% |
| £45,000 (this page) | £35,920 | £2,993 | 20.2% |
| £50,000 | £39,520 | £3,293 | 21.0% |
| £55,000 | £42,457 | £3,538 | 22.8% |
Is a pay rise from (or to) £45,000 worth it?
Below are common comparisons involving £45,000. Each links to a full side-by-side breakdown showing exactly how much of the raise survives Income Tax, NI, and (where relevant) the £100k Personal Allowance taper.
- £45,000 vs £55,000 — if you're offered a raise to £55,000
- £35,000 vs £45,000 — if you're considering moving from £35,000
- £45,000 vs £60,000 — if you're offered a raise to £60,000
What's included and what's not
- Included: UK Income Tax (rest-of-UK bands), National Insurance Class 1 (employee), personal allowance and its £100k taper.
- Excluded by default: student loan repayments (Plan 1/2/4/5/PG), pension contributions, salary sacrifice for childcare/cycle-to-work, benefits in kind, and any non-standard tax code adjustments. Add these on the full calculator.
- Scotland: If you're a Scottish taxpayer, use the Scottish take-home calculator — the Income Tax bands are different, though NI is the same.
Related tools
- Full UK take-home pay calculator — pension, student loan, hours
- Salary sacrifice calculator — see the tax saving on any contribution
- SIPP tax relief calculator — for private pensions
- Browse all salary landing pages
- Compare two salaries side-by-side — is your pay rise worth it?
- How UK take-home pay actually works