Care workers and home carers salary in the UK
The median full-time salary for care workers and home carers in the UK is £27,468 (ONS, 2025). After tax and National Insurance at 2026/27 rates that is about £1,941 a month.
Pay range for care workers and home carers
This is the ONS occupation group "Care workers and home carers" (SOC 2020 code 6135). ONS figures for 2025 show that one in ten earn less than £17,938, a quarter earn less than £22,798, half earn less than £27,468, a quarter earn more than £32,493 and one in ten earn more than £38,265.
| Point in the pay range | Gross a year | Gross a month | Take-home a year | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | £17,938 | £1,495 | £16,435 | £1,370 |
| 25th percentile | £22,798 | £1,900 | £19,934 | £1,661 |
| Median (50th percentile) | £27,468 | £2,289 | £23,297 | £1,941 |
| 75th percentile | £32,493 | £2,708 | £26,915 | £2,243 |
| 90th percentile | £38,265 | £3,189 | £31,070 | £2,589 |
Take-home at England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates. ONS rates the median for care workers and home carers as precise: its sampling error (coefficient of variation) is 1.5%. ONS estimates about 301,000 full-time employee jobs in this occupation. ONS says job counts like this are indicative only.
Where care workers and home carers rank
The median for care workers and home carers ranks 316th of 362 occupations on this site, in the bottom quarter, and 15th of 25 in caring, leisure and other service occupations. It is £11,571 (29.6%) lower than the UK median of £39,039 for all full-time employee jobs. ONS change on the previous year: the median for care workers and home carers rose 7.5%, more than the 4.3% rise in the UK median for all full-time jobs.
Jobs with the nearest medians: Customer service occupations n.e.c. (£27,848), Warehouse operatives (£27,832), Street cleaners (£27,633), Roundspersons and van salespersons (£27,401), Print finishing and binding workers (£27,315) and Industrial cleaning process occupations (£27,306).
How spread out pay is
The 90th percentile (£38,265) is 2.1 times the 10th (£17,938). That is a narrower spread than for all UK full-time jobs, where it is 3.2 times. The middle half of full-time care workers and home carers earn between £22,798 and £32,493, a gap of £9,695, or 35.3% of the median. That is £15,052 narrower than the £24,747 gap for all UK jobs, and the 161st widest of the 223 jobs where ONS published both figures, in the lower half of the list.
The mean for care workers and home carers (total pay divided by the number of employees) is £27,577, which is £109 (0.4%) higher than the median. The two are close, so very high or very low salaries are not pulling the average far from the middle. For all UK full-time jobs the mean is 24.3% above the median, so the gap for care workers and home carers is smaller.
Care workers and home carers and related jobs
Among these 7 jobs in the same ONS minor group, this one has the 6th highest median. The highest median among them is £33,465 (ambulance staff (excluding paramedics)) and the lowest £25,742 (dental nurses).
| Job | SOC code | Median salary | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ambulance staff (excluding paramedics) | 6132 | £33,465 | £2,301 |
| Houseparents and residential wardens | 6134 | £31,871 | £2,206 |
| Undertakers, mortuary and crematorium assistants | 6138 | £30,894 | £2,147 |
| Senior care workers | 6136 | £29,381 | £2,056 |
| Nursing auxiliaries and assistants | 6131 | £29,084 | £2,038 |
| Care workers and home carers | 6135 | £27,468 | £1,941 |
| Dental nurses | 6133 | £25,742 | £1,838 |
Take-home pay against all jobs
At the median, care workers and home carers take home about £1,941 a month, against £2,636 on the UK median for all jobs. Scotland has its own income tax bands, so take-home pay on the same salary is different there.
| Group | Median a year | Take-home a month | Take-home a month in Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Care workers and home carers | £27,468 | £1,941 | £1,945 |
| All full-time employee jobs, UK | £39,039 | £2,636 | £2,631 |
Related pages
All jobs in the Caring, leisure and other service occupations table, average salary by area, the take home pay calculator, salary to hourly calculator and pay rise calculator.
How this is worked out
Pay: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), 2025 provisional, SOC 2020 unit group 6135. Take-home: 2026/27 rates, tax code 1257L, no pension or student loan. How to read these figures.
Sources
- ASHE Table 14: earnings by occupation (4-digit SOC), 2025 provisional (ONS)
- ASHE Table 7: earnings by place of work, local authority, 2025 provisional (ONS)
- SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions of unit groups (ONS)
- Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances (GOV.UK)
- Scottish Income Tax (GOV.UK)
- National Insurance: how much you pay (GOV.UK)
Figures checked on 12 October 2026. ONS plans to publish its next ASHE figures on 22 October 2026. Read how we calculate or tell us about a mistake.
Frequently asked questions
On the median full-time salary of £27,468, take-home pay is about £1,941 a month (£23,297 a year) after 2026/27 income tax and National Insurance, with tax code 1257L and no pension or student loan. In Scotland, where income tax is different, it is about £1,945 a month.
ONS figures for full-time jobs (2025) show that one in ten earn less than £17,938, a quarter earn less than £22,798, half earn less than £27,468, a quarter earn more than £32,493 and one in ten earn more than £38,265.
No. The median for care workers and home carers is £27,468, which is £11,571 (29.6%) lower than the UK median of £39,039 for all full-time employee jobs (ONS, 2025). It ranks 316th of 362 occupations on this site.