Average salary in Cardiff, UK
ONS data for April 2025 · Page updated
Cardiff is Wales's capital and its main professional jobs market. Full-time pay is a little below the UK median but clearly above the Welsh figure, which is one of the lowest of the UK's nations and regions.
- Median full-time pay
- £38,225
- Change on a year earlier
- +5.6%
- Compared with the UK
- −2%
- Full-time jobs
- 161k
How pay is spread in Cardiff
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 | Cardiff | Wales | UK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | £24,696 | £23,621 | £23,990 |
| 25th percentile | £29,585 | £27,865 | £29,262 |
| Median | £38,225 | £35,796 | £39,039 |
| 75th percentile | £51,498 | £47,569 | £54,009 |
| 90th percentile | £67,145 | £60,628 | £76,903 |
| Mean | £43,107 | £40,626 | £48,512 |
These are gross annual earnings for full-time employee jobs based in Cardiff, 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 Cardiff Council's area.
What that means after tax
| Gross salary | Income tax | National Insurance | Take-home a year | A month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £38,225 | £5,131 | £2,052 | £31,042 | £2,587 |
| £51,498 | £8,031 | £3,041 | £40,426 | £3,369 |
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 Cardiff
The Welsh Government, the Senedd and other public bodies are large employers, alongside financial and professional services, media and broadcasting, the universities, and a compound semiconductor cluster in south Wales.
Negotiating pay in Cardiff
Tax is the same as England. Wales can set its own income tax rates, but they currently match England's, so take-home pay on the same gross salary is the same.
National or regional pay bands. Employers headquartered in London often apply a location discount to roles based elsewhere, sometimes 10 to 20%. Ask whether the band for this role is national or regional, and which location your contract will name. A remote or hybrid contract that names your home city can quietly cap your pay for years.
Welsh public sector pay. NHS Wales and Welsh public bodies have their own pay settlements, which sometimes differ from England's. Compare against the Welsh scale for the role, and ask where on it you'll start.
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 Cardiff.
Negotiating a job or pay rise in Cardiff?
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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.