Project manager salary in the UK
ONS data for April 2025 · Page updated
Business and financial project managers have one of the highest medians of the occupations shown here. Pay rises with the size of budget and team you'll run, and with recognised qualifications such as PRINCE2, APM or PMP.
- Median full-time pay
- £59,834
- 25th percentile
- £46,399
- 75th percentile
- £77,568
- Change on a year earlier
- +5.9%
How pay is spread
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 | Project manager | All UK jobs |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | £35,097 | £23,990 |
| 25th percentile | £46,399 | £29,262 |
| Median | £59,834 | £39,039 |
| 75th percentile | £77,568 | £54,009 |
| 90th percentile | £98,923 | £76,903 |
| Mean | £73,542 | £48,512 |
ONS classifies this role as “Business and financial project management professionals” (SOC 2020 code 2440). Figures cover full-time employees across the whole UK, at every level of seniority, so a senior role in London or at a large employer will usually sit above the median. Pay by region for individual occupations isn't published reliably at city level.
What project managers can negotiate
Quantify the scope. Budget size, team size and the number of stakeholders are the clearest evidence for where a role sits in the range. Ask for them in the interview and use them in your counter.
Permanent vs contract. Many project managers work on day rates. If you're comparing a permanent offer with contract work, add the value of pension, holiday, sick pay and job security to the permanent salary before comparing.
Delivery bonuses. Some employers will agree a bonus tied to delivering a programme on time or budget. It's a way to get more pay without breaking a salary band.
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Other roles
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2025 (provisional), Table 14.7a (occupation, SOC 2020). 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.