Barrister Salary
Official ONS earnings for the UK, covering 28,000 jobs.
Median salary
£34,253
gross, per year, all employees
Part-time work is common in this occupation, so the figure above sits 48.6% below the £50,915 median for people working full-time.
▼ 37.6% change on the previous year
Full-time only
£50,915
Part-time only
£20,339
Mean
£43,732
Jobs measured
28,000
What a typical barrister takes home
On the full-time median of £50,915, 2026/27 tax year, England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates, no pension or student loan.
Take-home a month
£3,341
Take-home a year
£40,088
Income Tax
£7,798
National Insurance
£3,029
What most barristers actually earn
Half of barristers earn between £21,705 and £60,096. Earning above £60,096 puts you in the top quarter of the profession.
The full pay range
Each bar is the salary at that percentile — the 25th means a quarter of barristers earn less than this.
Barrister salary by region
2 of 11 GB regions have a published figure for this occupation.
| Region | Median | Mean |
|---|---|---|
| West Midlands | £68,676 | £67,857 |
| London | £28,113 | — |
Barrister jobs hiring now in the UK
Live adverts. Salaries are shown only where the employer states one.
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Solicitor / Barrister - Disputes£45,000
Pathway Legal · Belfast, Northern Ireland
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Barrister£40,000–£60,000
Reed · Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
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Barrister£80,000–£140,000
RK Accountancy, Finance and Business Support · Birmingham, West Midlands
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Employment Barrister£60,000–£90,000
ENL · Birmingham, West Midlands
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Employment Barrister
Freeths · Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
Where this figure comes from
- ONS occupation group
- Barristers and judges
- SOC 2020 code
- 2411
- Measure
- Gross annual pay, all employees
- Edition
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
ONS publishes a sampling error of 15.0% for this figure and asks that anything above 10% is treated as imprecise — too few people in this region answered the survey for this occupation. The figure is shown because it is the one ONS published, but it is not firm enough to rank this region against anywhere else, so this page doesn't.
ONS doesn't measure “barrister” as its own category. These figures are for the wider group “Barristers and judges”, which includes this role alongside others. ONS group combines barristers with judges.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures are estimates from a survey of PAYE jobs and are not financial advice.
Barrister salary FAQs
What is the average Barrister salary in the UK?
The median is £34,253 a year and the mean is £43,732, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Those cover all employees; full-time employees alone have a median of £50,915 and part-time employees £20,339.
How much does a barrister earn per hour?
Across the UK the median hourly rate is £32.05 excluding overtime, or £32.19 for full-time employees. ASHE publishes hourly pay by occupation nationally only.
What is a good Barrister salary?
Half of barristers earn between £21,705 and £60,096. Anything above £60,096 is in the top quarter for the role.
Has barrister pay gone up in the last year?
ASHE puts the year-on-year change in the median at -37.6% for this occupation in the UK. That compares the latest survey with the one before it and is not adjusted for inflation.
How many barristers are there in the UK?
ASHE counts around 28,000 employee jobs in “Barristers and judges” (SOC 2411) in the UK. Self-employed work is not included.
Is this figure official?
Yes. It comes from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, an accredited official statistic based on employer PAYE records.
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