Care Worker Salary
Official ONS earnings for the UK, covering 647,000 jobs.
Median salary
£23,045
gross, per year, all employees
Part-time work is common in this occupation, so the figure above sits 24.7% below the £28,738 median for people working full-time.
▲ 7.7% change on the previous year
Full-time only
£28,738
Part-time only
£14,977
Mean
£22,554
Jobs measured
647,000
What a typical care worker takes home
On the full-time median of £28,738, 2026/27 tax year, England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates, no pension or student loan.
Take-home a month
£2,018
Take-home a year
£24,211
Income Tax
£3,234
National Insurance
£1,293
What most care workers actually earn
Half of care workers earn between £14,375 and £30,093. Earning above £30,093 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 care workers earn less than this.
Care Worker salary by region
11 of 11 GB regions have a published figure for this occupation.
| Region | Median | Mean |
|---|---|---|
| Wales | £25,201 | £24,115 |
| South East | £24,735 | £23,038 |
| South West | £23,726 | £23,398 |
| Scotland | £23,545 | £23,632 |
| London | £23,434 | £22,548 |
| North East | £22,754 | £22,191 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £22,340 | £22,164 |
| North West | £22,279 | £21,523 |
| East | £22,186 | £22,460 |
| East Midlands | £21,912 | £21,310 |
| West Midlands | £21,910 | £21,796 |
Where this figure comes from
- ONS occupation group
- Care workers and home carers
- SOC 2020 code
- 6135
- Measure
- Gross annual pay, all employees
- Edition
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2026 provisional
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.
Care Worker salary FAQs
What is the average Care Worker salary in the UK?
The median is £23,045 a year and the mean is £22,554, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Those cover all employees; full-time employees alone have a median of £28,738 and part-time employees £14,977.
How much does a care worker earn per hour?
Across the UK the median hourly rate is £14.04 excluding overtime, or £13.98 for full-time employees. ASHE publishes hourly pay by occupation nationally only.
What is a good Care Worker salary?
Half of care workers earn between £14,375 and £30,093. Anything above £30,093 is in the top quarter for the role.
What is the starting salary for a care worker?
ASHE does not record experience, so there is no official starting salary. What it does show is that the lowest-paid 10% of care workers earn under £7,105 and the lowest quarter under £14,375 — the range a new entrant is most likely to be offered.
How much do the highest-paid care workers earn?
The top 10% of care workers earn more than £36,422 a year, and the top quarter more than £30,093. ASHE does not publish figures above the 90th percentile.
Which part of the UK pays care workers the most?
Wales, at a median of £25,201, is the highest of the 11 GB regions with a precise ONS estimate; West Midlands is the lowest at £21,910. Regions where ONS marks the figure as imprecise are not ranked.
Has care worker pay gone up in the last year?
ASHE puts the year-on-year change in the median at +7.7% for this occupation in the UK. That compares the latest survey with the one before it and is not adjusted for inflation.
How many care workers are there in the UK?
ASHE counts around 647,000 employee jobs in “Care workers and home carers” (SOC 6135) 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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