Scotland · 2026/27
£15 an hour is £29,250 a year
On a 37.5-hour week, £15 an hour is £29,250 gross — and £24,619.27 after income tax and National Insurance, which is £2,051.61 a month.
- Take-home a year
- £24,619.27
- £2,051.61 a month · £473.45 a week
- Total deductions
- £4,630.73
- 15.8% of gross pay
- On your next £100
- 28%
- You keep £72 of the next £100
- Cost to employ you
- £32,887.50
- Includes £3,637.50 of employer NI absent from your payslip
- The wedge
- 25.1%
- Share of that cost that never reaches you
£15 an hour in context
£15 is £2.29 above the National Living Wage of £12.71, the legal minimum for workers aged 21 and over. On a 37.5-hour week it comes to £29,250 a year, which puts it in the basic rate with a marginal rate of 28%.
At this level the number of hours matters more than the rate. Moving from 37.5 to 40 hours a week is worth £1,950 a year gross — more than a £1-an-hour rise, which would be worth £1,950. And because the personal allowance is a fixed amount rather than a percentage, part-time work keeps a larger share of its gross: 94.8% at 20 hours against 83.4% at 40.
It depends how many hours you work
An hourly rate is not an annual salary until you fix the week. The same £15 an hour is £15,600 at half time and £31,200 on a 40-hour week — and because income tax is banded, the take-home does not scale in step with the hours.
| Week | Gross a year | Take-home a year | A month | A week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37.5 hours the common UK full-time week | £29,250 | £24,619.27 | £2,051.61 | £473.45 |
| 40 hours a 40-hour week | £31,200 | £26,006.53 | £2,167.21 | £500.13 |
| 35 hours a 35-hour week | £27,300 | £23,215.27 | £1,934.61 | £446.45 |
| 20 hours half time | £15,600 | £14,781.90 | £1,231.83 | £284.27 |
Assumes every week is paid, including holiday. If you are paid only for weeks worked — agency or term-time — multiply by your paid weeks instead of 52.
£15 an hour by shift, day and week
An hourly rate is paid by the shift, not by the year, and the figures below are the ones that turn up on a rota. They are gross: the deduction rate rises with total annual pay, so a single shift is not taxed at a rate of its own.
| Worked | Gross | After tax at this annual rate |
|---|---|---|
| One hour | £15 | £10.80 |
| A 4-hour shift | £60 | £43.20 |
| An 8-hour day | £120 | £86.40 |
| A 12-hour shift | £180 | £129.60 |
| A 37.5-hour week | £562.50 | £405 |
| A 5-day week at 8 hours | £600 | £432 |
The right-hand column applies this salary's marginal rate of 28%, which is what an EXTRA shift is worth once you are already earning £29,250. A first shift in a year with no other income would be taxed at nothing at all, because the personal allowance covers it.
Where the money goes
- Take-home £24,619.27 74.9%
- Your NI £1,334.40 4.1%
- Income tax £3,296.33 10.0%
- Employer NI £3,637.50 11.1%
£15 an hour elsewhere in the UK
Income tax is devolved to Scotland and National Insurance is not, so the same hourly rate leaves a different amount either side of the border.
| Where you live | Gross a year | Take-home | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | £29,250 | £24,619.27 | — |
| England & Wales | £29,250 | £24,579.60 | −£39.67 |
The arithmetic on £29,250
| Step | Applied to | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | — | — | £29,250 |
| Personal allowance | tax-free | 0% | −£12,570 |
| Taxable income | — | — | £16,680 |
| Starter rate | £3,967 of it | 19% | £753.73 |
| Basic rate | £12,713 of it | 20% | £2,542.60 |
| Income tax | — | — | £3,296.33 |
| National Insurance — main rate | £16,680 of it | 8% | £1,334.40 |
| National Insurance | — | — | £1,334.40 |
| Take-home pay | — | — | £24,619.27 |
Adding the deductions gives £4,630.73, and £29,250 less that is the £24,619.27 take-home above. National Insurance is charged per pay period rather than annually, so a month containing a bonus can pay more than this.
What £29,250 a year is close to
An hourly rate is only a salary once the hours are fixed, so everything below is measured against the £29,250 that £15 an hour comes to on a 37.5-hour week. Work different hours and the thresholds do not move — your position between them does.
£29,250 sits between two things that matter. £2,350 below you is the Plan 1 repayment threshold, and £135 above you is the Plan 2 repayment threshold — so this salary is already past one change and approaching another.
| What changes | At | From here | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 2 repayment threshold | £29,385 | +£135 | ahead |
| Intermediate rate | £29,527 | +£277 | ahead |
| Plan 1 repayment threshold | £26,900 | −£2,350 | passed |
| Plan 5 repayment threshold | £25,000 | −£4,250 | passed |
| Plan 4 (Scotland) repayment threshold | £33,795 | +£4,545 | ahead |
Measured against the 2026/27 parameters for Scotland. Distances are on gross pay before any salary sacrifice, because that is the figure every one of these thresholds is tested against.
- £29,385 — Plan 2 starts £135 above this, so a borrower is on the verge of repaying — the first pound over costs 9% more than the one under it.
- £29,527 — At £277 away this is close enough that a single month's overtime could cross it. Only the pounds above move to the higher rate — nothing you already earn is re-taxed — but the rate on anything extra changes here.
- £26,900 — Plan 1 takes 9% of the £2,350 above its threshold. It is not a tax, but it leaves the same pay on the same day.
- £25,000 — Plan 5 takes 9% of the £4,250 above its threshold. It is not a tax, but it leaves the same pay on the same day.
- £33,795 — Plan 4 (Scotland) has not started. A borrower pays nothing until £4,545 more, and then 9% of the excess.
If your rate or hours changed
A swing of ten per cent either way from £29,250 crosses 2 band changes: at £30,713 the rate on further pay is 29%, and at £32,175 the rate on further pay is 29%, against 28% here. So a rise and a cut of the same size are not mirror images at this salary, and a bonus large enough to move you into the next band is worth proportionally less than the salary it is paid on.
| If pay moved | Gross | Take-home | Change | Next £100 taxed at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| −10% | £26,325 | £22,513.27 | −£2,106 | 28% |
| −5% | £27,788 | £23,566.63 | −£1,052.64 | 28% |
| +5% | £30,713 | £25,660.76 | +£1,041.49 | 29% |
| +10% | £32,175 | £26,698.78 | +£2,079.51 | 29% |
What a pension contribution buys at this rate
There is no threshold within reach below £29,250, so a pension contribution here is not about ducking under anything — it is simply the ordinary trade. Sacrificing £1,500 costs you £1,080 in take-home, because 28% of it was never going to reach you anyway, and puts the full £1,500 into the pot. That is £1,500 of saving for £1,080 of spending power — a ratio of 1.39 to one, and it is the same ratio for every pound until the next band.
Student loans at this rate
3 of the five repayment thresholds are behind £29,250 and 2 are still ahead — Plan 2 at £29,385, Plan 4 (Scotland) at £33,795. Which plan you are on is not a choice, and the difference between them at this salary is £283.50 a year, so it is worth knowing which one your payslip is deducting.
| Plan | Starts at | Repaid a year | A month | Your next £100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postgraduate Loan | £21,000 | £495 | £41.25 | 34% |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 | £382.50 | £31.88 | 37% |
| Plan 1 | £26,900 | £211.50 | £17.63 | 37% |
A postgraduate loan is repaid alongside an undergraduate one rather than instead of it, so someone with both pays both.
Questions people actually ask
£15 an hour is how much a year?
£29,250 a year before tax, on a 37.5-hour week for 52 weeks. After income tax and National Insurance that is £24,619.27. On a 40-hour week it is £31,200 gross instead.
£15 an hour is how much a month?
£2,437.50 a month gross, or £2,051.61 after tax, on a 37.5-hour week.
£15 an hour is how much a week?
£562.50 gross for a 37.5-hour week — £473.45 after tax. Fortnightly that is £946.90.
Is £15 an hour a good wage?
That is a judgement this site will not make for you, but here is the arithmetic it needs: £29,250 a year gross, £24,619.27 in your hand, an effective tax and NI rate of 15.8%, and 28% taken from anything extra you earn. Your employer pays £32,887.50 for the role once employer National Insurance is counted.
Is £15 an hour above the minimum wage?
Yes — the National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over in 2026/27, so £15 is £2.29 above it, or £4,465.50 a year on a 37.5-hour week.
One PAYE job, standard tax code, 2026/27 rates, employment income only. What this does and does not model →