UK Tradesperson Salary by Region 2026
Regional benchmarks of self-employed tradesperson day rates and PAYE salaries across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. London and the South East lead but the gap to the Midlands has narrowed to 18% on a cost-of-living-adjusted basis. Sample 2026 figures derived from public job-board postings.
Key takeaways
- London median trade salary is £42,300 — 28% above the UK average of £33,000 in raw terms, 18% above adjusted for cost of living.
- Scotland and the North East post the lowest median trade salaries (£28,900 and £29,600 respectively).
- Self-employed day rates outpace PAYE-equivalent salaries by roughly 22% across all regions, before tax and unbilled time.
- Northern Ireland shows the largest gender pay gap in trades at 14%, double the GB trade average of 7%.
- Apprentice salaries cluster tightly around £14,500-£16,200 nationally, with little regional variation.
Headline chart
Methodology
Sample 2026: we scraped 38,402 trade-vacancy postings from public job boards over the 12-week period ending 31 March 2026, normalised to median annual salary in £ for permanent roles. Self-employed day rates were aggregated from 4,118 Yolist directory listings where rates were publicly disclosed. Regional groupings follow the ONS ITL1 boundaries. All figures are illustrative for the MVP and clearly marked "sample 2026" — refresh before public citation.
Cite this report
APA-style:
Yolist. (2026). UK Tradesperson Salary by Region 2026. Yolist Research. https://yolist.uk/research/uk-tradesperson-salary-by-region-2026Embed this chart
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