Average salary in Cambridge, UK
ONS data for April 2025 · Page updated
Cambridge has a full-time median well above the UK figure and among the highest in England outside London. The university, the science parks and the technology companies around them create a labour market weighted towards highly qualified roles.
- Median full-time pay
- £45,762
- Change on a year earlier
- +5.9%
- Compared with the UK
- +17%
- Full-time jobs
- 91k
How pay is spread in Cambridge
Line: 10th to 90th percentile. Bar: the middle half of earners (25th to 75th). Mark and label: median. Where ONS doesn't publish the 90th percentile, the line stops at the highest published point.
| Full-time annual pay | Cambridge | East | UK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | £27,878 | £23,694 | £23,990 |
| 25th percentile | £34,243 | £29,110 | £29,262 |
| Median | £45,762 | £38,597 | £39,039 |
| 75th percentile | £64,988 | £52,984 | £54,009 |
| 90th percentile | – | £74,962 | £76,903 |
| Mean | £66,351 | £46,540 | £48,512 |
– ONS doesn't publish this figure because the sample is too small to be reliable.
These are gross annual earnings for full-time employee jobs based in Cambridge, wherever the employee lives. The median is the middle salary: half of full-time jobs pay more, half pay less. The mean is pulled up by a small number of very high earners, so the median is the better guide to a typical salary. Figures cover Cambridge City Council's area, not South Cambridgeshire.
What that means after tax
| Gross salary | Income tax | National Insurance | Take-home a year | A month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £45,762 | £6,638 | £2,655 | £36,468 | £3,039 |
| £64,988 | £13,427 | £3,310 | £48,250 | £4,021 |
The median and 75th percentile salaries above, for the 2026/27 tax year: tax code 1257L, no pension contributions, student loan or benefits in kind. Pension contributions through salary sacrifice would reduce both tax and take-home pay.
Who employs people in Cambridge
The University of Cambridge and its colleges, Arm and other technology companies, a large life sciences and biotech cluster, and Addenbrooke's Hospital are among the largest employers.
Negotiating pay in Cambridge
Start-up equity. Many Cambridge technology and biotech employers offer share options alongside a lower base salary. Value options cautiously, ask for the number of options, strike price and latest valuation, and negotiate cash first. See total compensation in the UK.
University pay spines. University roles are paid on a national pay spine. Negotiation is usually about the grade, the starting spine point and recognition of previous experience. Ask for your starting point to reflect your experience, not the bottom of the grade.
A city median is a starting point, not a target. What you should ask for depends on your role, level and the employer. Check the pay ranges by role, or see where your salary sits in Cambridge.
Negotiating a job or pay rise in Cambridge?
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Pay in nearby cities
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2025 (provisional), Table 7.7a (work geography). Gross annual pay for full-time employee jobs, April 2025. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. See how we use this data.