Social Worker Salary in East Midlands
Official ONS earnings for East Midlands.
Median salary — East Midlands
£37,044
gross, per year, all employees
▲ 5.2% change on the previous year
Mean
£36,070
What a typical social worker takes home
On the median of £37,044, 2026/27 tax year, England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates, no pension or student loan.
Take-home a month
£2,516
Take-home a year
£30,191
Income Tax
£4,895
National Insurance
£1,958
What most social workers actually earn
Half of social workers across the UK earn between £35,841 and £48,907. Earning above £48,907 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 social workers earn less than this.
Where this figure comes from
- ONS occupation group
- Social workers
- SOC 2020 code
- 2461
- Measure
- Gross annual pay, all employees
- Edition
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
ONS publishes a sampling error of 17.2% 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 East Midlands against anywhere else, so this page doesn't.
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.
Social Worker salary FAQs
What is the average Social Worker salary in East Midlands?
The median is £37,044 a year and the mean is £36,070, 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 social worker earn per hour?
Across the UK the median hourly rate is £23.21 excluding overtime. ASHE publishes hourly pay by occupation nationally only, so there is no separate rate for East Midlands.
What is a good Social Worker salary?
Half of social workers earn between £35,841 and £48,907. Anything above £48,907 is in the top quarter for the role.
What is the starting salary for a social worker?
ASHE does not record experience, so there is no official starting salary. What it does show is that the lowest-paid 10% of social workers earn under £24,877 and the lowest quarter under £35,841 — the range a new entrant is most likely to be offered.
How much do the highest-paid social workers earn?
The top 10% of social workers earn more than £54,862 a year, and the top quarter more than £48,907. ASHE does not publish figures above the 90th percentile.
Do social workers in East Midlands earn more than the UK average?
The median in East Midlands is £37,044 against £42,708 across the UK, 13.3% lower. ONS marks the East Midlands figure as imprecise, so treat the gap as indicative.
Has social worker pay gone up in the last year?
ASHE puts the year-on-year change in the median at +5.2% for this occupation in East Midlands. That compares the latest survey with the one before it and is not adjusted for inflation.
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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