Labourer Salary in Scotland
Official ONS earnings for Scotland, covering 4,000 jobs.
Median salary — Scotland
£28,613
gross, per year, all employees
▲ 2.6% change on the previous year
Mean
£30,129
Jobs measured
4,000
What a typical labourer takes home
On the median of £28,613, 2026/27 tax year, Scottish rates, no pension or student loan.
Take-home a month
£2,013
Take-home a year
£24,161
Income Tax
£3,169
National Insurance
£1,283
What most labourers actually earn
Half of labourers across the UK earn between £22,889 and £35,104. Earning above £35,104 puts you in the top quarter of the profession.
This range is UK-wide — ONS publishes no regional breakdown of the spread for this occupation.
The full pay range
Each bar is the salary at that percentile — the 25th means a quarter of labourers earn less than this.
Where this figure comes from
- ONS occupation group
- Elementary construction occupations n.e.c.
- SOC 2020 code
- 9129
- Measure
- Gross annual pay, all employees
- Edition
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2026 provisional
ONS publishes a sampling error of 11.3% 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 Scotland against anywhere else, so this page doesn't.
ONS doesn't measure “labourer” as its own category. These figures are for the wider group “Elementary construction occupations n.e.c.”, which includes this role alongside others. ONS measures elementary construction occupations not classified elsewhere.
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.
Labourer salary FAQs
What is the average Labourer salary in Scotland?
The median is £28,613 a year and the mean is £30,129, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Those cover all employees; ASHE publishes no full-time split at regional level.
How much does a labourer earn per hour?
Across the UK the median hourly rate is £14.24 excluding overtime, or £14.39 for full-time employees. ASHE publishes hourly pay by occupation nationally only, so there is no separate rate for Scotland.
What is a good Labourer salary?
Half of labourers earn between £22,889 and £35,104. Anything above £35,104 is in the top quarter for the role.
What is the starting salary for a labourer?
ASHE does not record experience, so there is no official starting salary. What it does show is that the lowest-paid 10% of labourers earn under £11,733 and the lowest quarter under £22,889 — the range a new entrant is most likely to be offered.
Do labourers in Scotland earn more than the UK average?
The median in Scotland is £28,613 against £27,675 across the UK, 3.4% higher. ONS marks the Scotland figure as imprecise, so treat the gap as indicative.
Has labourer pay gone up in the last year?
ASHE puts the year-on-year change in the median at +2.6% for this occupation in Scotland. That compares the latest survey with the one before it and is not adjusted for inflation.
How many labourers are there in Scotland?
ASHE counts around 4,000 employee jobs in “Elementary construction occupations n.e.c.” (SOC 9129) in Scotland. 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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