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UK salary report · 2026

Payroll Manager Salary

Official ONS earnings for the UK, covering 272,000 jobs.

ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings Grouped occupation Where this comes from →

Median salary

£27,743

gross, per year

▲ 7.1% change on the previous year

Mean

£28,200

Jobs measured

272,000

What most payroll managers actually earn

Half of payroll managers earn between £19,148 and £35,464. Earning above £35,464 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 payroll managers earn less than this.

10th
£10,000
20th
£16,042
25th
£19,148
30th
£21,600
40th
£25,000
50th
£27,743
60th
£30,000
70th
£33,564
75th
£35,464
80th
£37,979
90th
£45,998
Check where your salary sits

Payroll Manager salary by region

10 of 11 GB regions have a published figure for this occupation.

Region Median Mean
London £33,217 £34,124
North East £28,245 £28,871
West Midlands £27,848 £28,323
Scotland £27,451 £29,207
South East £27,031 £27,815
North West £26,923 £29,411
East £26,802 £26,519
South West £26,234 £25,854
Yorkshire and The Humber £25,692 £25,366
East Midlands £25,187 £24,163

Where this figure comes from

ONS occupation group
Book-keepers, payroll managers and wages clerks
SOC 2020 code
4122
Measure
Gross annual pay, all employees
Edition
ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional

ONS doesn't measure “payroll manager” as its own category. These figures are for the wider group “Book-keepers, payroll managers and wages clerks”, which includes this role alongside others.

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.

Payroll Manager salary FAQs

What is the average Payroll Manager salary in UK?

The median is £27,743 a year and the mean is £28,200, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.

What is a good Payroll Manager salary?

Half of payroll managers earn between £19,148 and £35,464. Anything above £35,464 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 272,000 jobs in this occupation.

Official figures show the market. Your salary shows what employers actually pay.

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