Groundworkers salary in the UK
The median full-time salary for groundworkers in the UK is £37,925 (ONS, 2025). After tax and National Insurance at 2026/27 rates that is about £2,569 a month.
Pay range for groundworkers
This is the ONS occupation group "Groundworkers" (SOC 2020 code 9121). ONS figures for 2025 show that a quarter earn less than £31,416, half earn less than £37,925 and a quarter earn more than £44,540.
| Point in the pay range | Gross a year | Gross a month | Take-home a year | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| 25th percentile | £31,416 | £2,618 | £26,139 | £2,178 |
| Median (50th percentile) | £37,925 | £3,160 | £30,826 | £2,569 |
| 75th percentile | £44,540 | £3,712 | £35,588 | £2,966 |
| 90th percentile | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
Take-home at England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates. Not published means ONS did not publish that figure because the estimate is not reliable enough. ONS rates the median for groundworkers as reasonably precise: its sampling error (coefficient of variation) is 6.8%. ONS estimates about 12,000 full-time employee jobs in this occupation. ONS says job counts like this are indicative only.
Where groundworkers rank
The median for groundworkers ranks 152nd of 362 occupations on this site, in the upper half, and 1st of 29 in elementary occupations. It is £1,114 (2.9%) lower than the UK median of £39,039 for all full-time employee jobs. ONS change on the previous year: the median for groundworkers fell 1.9%, while the UK median for all full-time jobs rose 4.3%.
Jobs with the nearest medians: Librarians (£38,068), Publicans and managers of licensed premises (£38,043), Database administrators and web content technicians (£37,995), Business sales executives (£37,924), Plumbers & heating and ventilating installers and repairers (£37,881) and Mobile machine drivers and operatives n.e.c. (£37,864).
How spread out pay is
The middle half of full-time groundworkers earn between £31,416 and £44,540, a gap of £13,124, or 34.6% of the median. That is £11,623 narrower than the £24,747 gap for all UK jobs, and the 120th widest of the 223 jobs where ONS published both figures, in the lower half of the list.
The mean for groundworkers (total pay divided by the number of employees) is £38,309, which is £384 (1.0%) 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 groundworkers is smaller.
Groundworkers and related jobs
Among these 4 jobs in the same or nearby ONS occupation groups, this one has the highest median. The highest median among them is £37,925 (groundworkers) and the lowest £26,737 (fishing and other elementary agriculture occupations n.e.c.).
| Job | SOC code | Median salary | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Groundworkers | 9121 | £37,925 | £2,569 |
| Farm workers | 9111 | £30,101 | £2,099 |
| Elementary construction occupations n.e.c. | 9129 | £28,591 | £2,009 |
| Fishing and other elementary agriculture occupations n.e.c. | 9119 | £26,737 | £1,898 |
Take-home pay against all jobs
At the median, groundworkers take home about £2,569 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Groundworkers | £37,925 | £2,569 | £2,565 |
| All full-time employee jobs, UK | £39,039 | £2,636 | £2,631 |
Related pages
All jobs in the Elementary 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 9121. 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 £37,925, take-home pay is about £2,569 a month (£30,826 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 £2,565 a month.
ONS figures for full-time jobs (2025) show that a quarter earn less than £31,416, half earn less than £37,925 and a quarter earn more than £44,540. ONS did not publish every point in the range because some estimates are not reliable enough.
No. The median for groundworkers is £37,925, which is £1,114 (2.9%) lower than the UK median of £39,039 for all full-time employee jobs (ONS, 2025). It ranks 152nd of 362 occupations on this site.