Official ONS earnings · Updated September 2026
The highest paid trades in the UK
Among hands-on trades, air-conditioning and refrigeration engineers earn the most, with a median of £41,166 a year for full-time employees. Electricians earn £39,647, plumbers and heating engineers £37,881 and carpenters £34,014, against £39,039 for all UK full-time employees.
- Electricians: median full-time pay
- £39,647
- Plumbers and heating engineers
- £37,881
- Carpenters and joiners
- £34,014
- All UK full-time employees
- £39,039
The ranking
UK trade salaries, highest to lowest
Median gross annual pay for full-time employees, 2025. The middle half of workers earn within the range shown.
| # | Trade | Median a year | Middle half earn | Per hour | Firms on the register |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Construction project managers | £47,665 | from £37,847 | £23.34 | – |
| 2 | Construction supervisors and foremen | £45,021 | £37,035 – £53,679 | £20.62 | – |
| 3 | Scaffolders(small sample) | £41,548 | – | £18.99 | – |
| 4 | Air-conditioning and refrigeration engineers | £41,166 | from £36,608 | £18.98 | – |
| 5 | Electricians | £39,647 | £32,287 – £49,138 | £19.20 | 50,120 |
| 6 | Plumbers and heating engineers | £37,881 | £31,656 – £45,451 | £18.18 | 42,070 |
| 7 | Other construction trades | £34,822 | £28,235 – £44,552 | £17.65 | – |
| 8 | Plasterers | £34,016 | – | £16.58 | 6,589 |
| 9 | Carpenters and joiners | £34,014 | £28,900 – £40,477 | £17.04 | 16,007 |
| 10 | Bricklayers | £33,030 | from £28,106 | £16.75 | – |
| 11 | Floorers and wall tilers(small sample) | £32,861 | from £26,501 | £16.88 | 8,655 |
| 12 | Painters and decorators | £32,763 | from £28,462 | £16.25 | 11,013 |
| 13 | Roofers | £31,906 | from £26,385 | £15.91 | 13,757 |
| 14 | Glaziers and window fitters | £29,436 | from £25,705 | £14.70 | 5,768 |
| 15 | Construction labourers | £28,591 | £24,654 – £34,378 | £13.85 | – |
| 16 | Gardeners and landscape gardeners | £28,539 | £25,664 – £32,248 | £14.23 | 16,982 |
| All UK full-time employees | £39,039 | £29,262 – £54,009 | £19.74 |
Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2025 (provisional), Table 14, full-time employee jobs, UK. Ranges and hourly rates are shown only where ONS rates the estimate as reliable. “Firms on the register” is the number of active companies in that trade on Companies House (1 September 2026).
Self-employed
What about self-employed tradespeople?
These figures cover employees only. The ONS survey is drawn from PAYE payroll records, so it leaves out self-employed tradespeople, who make up a large share of builders, plasterers, roofers and decorators.
Self-employed trades usually charge more per hour or per day than an employee is paid, but that has to cover tools, a van, insurance, materials risk, holidays and gaps between jobs. There are no reliable official figures for self-employed earnings by trade, so we don't quote any.
Running a firm
Pay is one side. Staying in business is the other.
Our Trade Index found that 10.6% of home-trade companies are proposed for strike-off or in insolvency.
- Gardeners and landscape gardeners7.7% of firms facing removal
- Plumbers and heating engineers8.6% of firms facing removal
- Electricians8.9% of firms facing removal
- Glaziers and window fitters9.7% of firms facing removal
- Carpenters and joiners10.1% of firms facing removal
Thinking of going self-employed? See how many firms each trade already has in our fastest-growing trades report.
Trade salary questions
Figures are medians for full-time employee jobs in the tax year to April 2025 (ONS ASHE 2025 provisional, SOC 2020 occupations). They exclude the self-employed and apprentices not on adult rates. Scaffolders and floorers are marked “small sample” where ONS rates the estimate as less reliable. We'll update this page when ONS publishes the 2026 figures.
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