Nurse Salary in Scotland
Official ONS earnings for Scotland, covering 137,000 jobs.
Median salary — Scotland
£37,137
gross, per year
▲ 2.4% change on the previous year
Mean
£36,072
Jobs measured
137,000
What most nurses actually earn
Half of nurses in Scotland earn between £26,456 and £46,836. Earning above £46,836 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 nurses earn less than this.
How Scotland ranks for nurse pay
4th
of 11 GB regions with a published figure
London tops the table on £44,742 and East sits at the bottom on £26,815. Scotland is £7,605 short of the top.
Ranking compares published regional medians for the same occupation. It says nothing about cost of living — a higher median doesn't survive contact with rent. The cost of living calculator is the honest next step.
Where this figure comes from
- ONS occupation group
- Nursing Professionals
- SOC 2020 code
- 223
- Measure
- Gross annual pay, all employees
- Edition
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
ONS doesn't measure “nurse” as its own category. These figures are for the wider group “Nursing Professionals”, which includes this role alongside others. 3-digit group: ONS splits nursing into seven unit groups.
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.
Nurse salary FAQs
What is the average Nurse salary in Scotland?
The median is £37,137 a year and the mean is £36,072, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
What is a good Nurse salary?
Half of nurses earn between £26,456 and £46,836. Anything above £46,836 is in the top quarter for the role.
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, covering 137,000 jobs in this occupation.
Similar roles
Official figures show the market. Your salary shows what employers actually pay.
Add your salary anonymously