Lowest-Paid Jobs in the UK
The 25 occupations with the lowest median full-time salary in the UK, starting at £21,239 for teaching assistants.
| Job | Median salary | Typical range | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teaching assistants | £21,239 | £18,789 to £24,152 | £1,568 |
| Educational support assistants | £21,448 | £18,465 to £25,501 | £1,580 |
| Kitchen and catering assistants | £22,886 | £18,811 to £26,766 | £1,666 |
| Waiters and waitresses | £22,936 | £18,363 to £27,395 | £1,669 |
| Early education and childcare practitioners | £23,717 | £20,610 to £26,521 | £1,716 |
| Cleaners and domestics | £24,130 | £20,942 to £27,960 | £1,741 |
| Receptionists | £24,678 | £22,124 to £28,730 | £1,774 |
| Early education and childcare assistants | £24,742 | £20,341 to £27,945 | £1,778 |
| Sales and retail assistants | £25,056 | £21,970 to £29,846 | £1,797 |
| Higher level teaching assistants | £25,434 | £22,407 to £29,342 | £1,819 |
| Dental nurses | £25,742 | £23,380 to £28,935 | £1,838 |
| Packers, bottlers, canners and fillers | £26,152 | £23,628 to £30,343 | £1,862 |
| Medical secretaries | £26,958 | £24,938 to £30,436 | £1,911 |
| Call and contact centre occupations | £27,035 | £24,282 to £32,536 | £1,915 |
| Care workers and home carers | £27,468 | £22,798 to £32,493 | £1,941 |
| Warehouse operatives | £27,832 | £24,447 to £33,151 | £1,963 |
| Delivery drivers and couriers | £27,854 | £24,583 to £33,472 | £1,965 |
| Refuse and salvage occupations | £27,857 | £25,803 to £31,223 | £1,965 |
| Laboratory technicians | £28,210 | £24,975 to £34,028 | £1,986 |
| Food, drink and tobacco process operatives | £28,243 | £24,471 to £33,889 | £1,988 |
| Groundsmen and greenkeepers | £28,288 | £25,114 to £33,482 | £1,991 |
| Gardeners and landscape gardeners | £28,539 | £25,664 to £32,248 | £2,006 |
| Cleaning and housekeeping managers and supervisors | £28,605 | £25,009 to £34,508 | £2,010 |
| Records clerks and assistants | £28,656 | £25,500 to £33,159 | £2,013 |
| Sales administrators | £28,745 | £25,000 to £33,970 | £2,018 |
These are full-time medians. The National Living Wage is £24,785 a year on a 37.5-hour week, so some pay in this table is close to the legal minimum for adults. Check your own wage with the minimum wage calculator.
Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14, April 2025 (provisional). Figures cover full-time employees on adult rates who have been in the same job for more than a year. Self-employed people are not included. Only occupations with at least 20,000 full-time jobs and a reliable ONS estimate are listed. See every job.
Figures are for the 2026/27 tax year from official sources and are estimates for guidance only, not financial or legal advice. Printed from ukanswers.co.uk.