UK salary survey 2026 — the complete guide to salary data sources

A salary survey is a structured dataset showing what people in a given role, industry or region actually earn. Used correctly, salary survey data is one of the most powerful tools available to anyone negotiating a pay rise or benchmarking their team's compensation. Used incorrectly — or using the wrong survey — it can actively mislead you.

This guide compares the main UK salary surveys, explains their methodology and limitations, and shows you how to use them effectively in a real salary negotiation.

The main UK salary surveys compared

Not all salary surveys are created equal. The table below rates each major UK source on accuracy, coverage, how often it is updated, and whether it is free to access.

ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) — the gold standard

The ONS ASHE is the definitive UK salary dataset. It is collected annually from a 1% sample of all employee records held by HMRC — approximately 180,000 employers submitting actual payroll data rather than estimates or self-reports. This makes it uniquely accurate because the figures reflect what people are actually paid, not what they say they earn or what job adverts claim to offer.

Key facts about ONS ASHE:

• Published every October covering the previous April pay period
• Covers full-time and part-time employees separately
• Breaks down by region, age, occupation, industry and gender
• Freely available at ons.gov.uk
• Used by government to set National Living Wage and public sector pay policy
• Does not cover the self-employed

The limitation of ASHE is that it is updated only once a year and the data is always several months old by the time it is published. In a rapidly changing jobs market this can mean the figures lag behind current conditions — particularly in fast-moving sectors like technology.

Recruiter salary surveys — Reed, Hays, Robert Half

Recruiter salary surveys draw on job advert data and, in some cases, data from placements the agency has made. They tend to reflect the active jobs market — what employers are currently willing to pay to attract new candidates — rather than what existing employees earn.

This is an important distinction. Job advert salaries typically run 5 to 15% higher than what existing employees in the same role earn. Employers need to offer above-market rates to attract movers, but rarely voluntarily increase existing staff to match. Recruiter surveys are therefore useful for understanding your leverage when moving jobs, but less useful for benchmarking your current salary against colleagues.

Reed and Hays both publish free annual salary guides covering a wide range of roles and sectors. They are well-produced and cover regional variation in the UK — both are worth downloading as supplementary data alongside ONS ASHE.

Glassdoor and self-reported surveys — useful but unreliable

Glassdoor, Payscale, and similar platforms rely on users voluntarily submitting their salary data. The fundamental problem with self-reported data is selection bias — the people most motivated to submit are those with unusually high or unusually low salaries. Someone earning exactly the market median is less likely to bother than someone who feels dramatically overpaid or underpaid.

Glassdoor data also heavily overrepresents technology, professional services and larger companies — sectors where workers are more likely to use the platform. A nurse or a teacher is far less likely to submit their salary to Glassdoor than a software engineer at a London tech company.

Use Glassdoor to get a rough directional sense of salaries in a specific company or role — but never use it as your primary source in a salary negotiation. An employer's HR team will immediately question the methodology if you cite it.

Industry body salary surveys

Many professional associations publish their own salary surveys, often with more granular data than generic sources. If you work in a profession with a strong industry body, their survey is likely the most relevant benchmark for your specific role. Key examples include:

How to use salary survey data in a pay rise negotiation

The most effective approach is to triangulate across two or three sources — ideally ONS ASHE plus a relevant recruiter or industry body survey. If multiple credible sources point to a similar figure, your case is significantly stronger than if you are relying on one dataset.

What salary percentile should you be aiming for?

Most large employers benchmark their pay against the market median — the 50th percentile. If your employer says they pay "at market rate," this typically means at the median — which means half the market earns more than you.

A reasonable negotiation target is the 60th to 75th percentile for your role and region — above median but not so far above that it becomes difficult to justify. If you have specialist skills, significant tenure, or have taken on substantially more responsibility, the 75th percentile is a defensible ask.