Scotland · 2026/27
£16 an hour is £31,200 a year
On a 37.5-hour week, £16 an hour is £31,200 gross — and £26,006.53 after income tax and National Insurance, which is £2,167.21 a month.
- Take-home a year
- £26,006.53
- £2,167.21 a month · £500.13 a week
- Total deductions
- £5,193.47
- 16.6% of gross pay
- On your next £100
- 29%
- You keep £71 of the next £100
- Cost to employ you
- £35,130
- Includes £3,930 of employer NI absent from your payslip
- The wedge
- 26%
- Share of that cost that never reaches you
£16 an hour in context
£16 is £3.29 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 £31,200 a year, which puts it in the basic rate with a marginal rate of 29%.
At this level the number of hours matters more than the rate. Moving from 37.5 to 40 hours a week is worth £2,080 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: 93.4% at 20 hours against 82.6% at 40.
It depends how many hours you work
An hourly rate is not an annual salary until you fix the week. The same £16 an hour is £16,640 at half time and £33,280 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 | £31,200 | £26,006.53 | £2,167.21 | £500.13 |
| 40 hours a 40-hour week | £33,280 | £27,483.33 | £2,290.28 | £528.53 |
| 35 hours a 35-hour week | £29,120 | £24,525.67 | £2,043.81 | £471.65 |
| 20 hours half time | £16,640 | £15,540.07 | £1,295.01 | £298.85 |
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.
£16 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 | £16 | £11.36 |
| A 4-hour shift | £64 | £45.44 |
| An 8-hour day | £128 | £90.88 |
| A 12-hour shift | £192 | £136.32 |
| A 37.5-hour week | £600 | £426 |
| A 5-day week at 8 hours | £640 | £454.40 |
The right-hand column applies this salary's marginal rate of 29%, which is what an EXTRA shift is worth once you are already earning £31,200. 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 £26,006.53 74.0%
- Your NI £1,490.40 4.2%
- Income tax £3,703.07 10.5%
- Employer NI £3,930 11.2%
£16 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 | £31,200 | £26,006.53 | — |
| England & Wales | £31,200 | £25,983.60 | −£22.93 |
The arithmetic on £31,200
| Step | Applied to | Rate | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | — | — | £31,200 |
| Personal allowance | tax-free | 0% | −£12,570 |
| Taxable income | — | — | £18,630 |
| Starter rate | £3,967 of it | 19% | £753.73 |
| Basic rate | £12,989 of it | 20% | £2,597.80 |
| Intermediate rate | £1,674 of it | 21% | £351.54 |
| Income tax | — | — | £3,703.07 |
| National Insurance — main rate | £18,630 of it | 8% | £1,490.40 |
| National Insurance | — | — | £1,490.40 |
| Take-home pay | — | — | £26,006.53 |
Adding the deductions gives £5,193.47, and £31,200 less that is the £26,006.53 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 £31,200 a year is close to
An hourly rate is only a salary once the hours are fixed, so everything below is measured against the £31,200 that £16 an hour comes to on a 37.5-hour week. Work different hours and the thresholds do not move — your position between them does.
£31,200 sits between two things that matter. £1,673 below you is the intermediate rate, and £2,595 above you is the Plan 4 (Scotland) repayment threshold — so this salary is already past one change and approaching another.
| What changes | At | From here | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intermediate rate | £29,527 | −£1,673 | passed |
| Plan 2 repayment threshold | £29,385 | −£1,815 | passed |
| Plan 4 (Scotland) repayment threshold | £33,795 | +£2,595 | ahead |
| Plan 1 repayment threshold | £26,900 | −£4,300 | passed |
| Plan 5 repayment threshold | £25,000 | −£6,200 | passed |
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.
- £29,527 — Crossing it does not re-tax what you already earn — only the pounds above it move to the higher rate, which is the single most misunderstood thing about Scottish income tax.
- £29,385 — Plan 2 takes 9% of the £1,815 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 £2,595 more, and then 9% of the excess.
- £26,900 — Plan 1 takes 9% of the £4,300 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 £6,200 above its threshold. It is not a tax, but it leaves the same pay on the same day.
If your rate or hours changed
A swing of ten per cent either way from £31,200 crosses a band: at £28,080 the rate on further pay is 28%, against 29% 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% | £28,080 | £23,776.87 | −£2,229.66 | 28% |
| −5% | £29,640 | £24,898.93 | −£1,107.60 | 29% |
| +5% | £32,760 | £27,114.13 | +£1,107.60 | 29% |
| +10% | £34,320 | £28,221.73 | +£2,215.20 | 29% |
What a pension contribution buys at this rate
£31,200 is £1,673 above the intermediate rate, and that is the number a pension contribution is measured against here. Sacrificing exactly £1,673 takes your taxable pay back to £29,527, costs £1,187.83 in take-home, and puts £1,673 into your pension — 1.41 pounds saved for every pound of spending power given up. That ratio is the ordinary one for this band, which is itself the useful finding — there is no windfall here, just the normal trade. Employer National Insurance of 15% is saved on the sacrificed amount too, which some employers add to the pot and some keep.
Student loans at this rate
4 of the five repayment thresholds are behind £31,200 and 1 is still ahead — Plan 4 (Scotland) at £33,795. Which plan you are on is not a choice, and the difference between them at this salary is £448.65 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 | £612 | £51 | 35% |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 | £558 | £46.50 | 38% |
| Plan 1 | £26,900 | £387 | £32.25 | 38% |
| Plan 2 | £29,385 | £163.35 | £13.61 | 38% |
A postgraduate loan is repaid alongside an undergraduate one rather than instead of it, so someone with both pays both.
Questions people actually ask
£16 an hour is how much a year?
£31,200 a year before tax, on a 37.5-hour week for 52 weeks. After income tax and National Insurance that is £26,006.53. On a 40-hour week it is £33,280 gross instead.
£16 an hour is how much a month?
£2,600 a month gross, or £2,167.21 after tax, on a 37.5-hour week.
£16 an hour is how much a week?
£600 gross for a 37.5-hour week — £500.13 after tax. Fortnightly that is £1,000.25.
Is £16 an hour a good wage?
That is a judgement this site will not make for you, but here is the arithmetic it needs: £31,200 a year gross, £26,006.53 in your hand, an effective tax and NI rate of 16.6%, and 29% taken from anything extra you earn. Your employer pays £35,130 for the role once employer National Insurance is counted.
Is £16 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 £16 is £3.29 above it, or £6,415.50 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 →