Librarians salary in the UK
The median full-time salary for librarians in the UK is £38,068 (ONS, 2025). After tax and National Insurance at 2026/27 rates that is about £2,577 a month.
Pay range for librarians
This is the ONS occupation group "Librarians" (SOC 2020 code 2471). ONS figures for 2025 show that a quarter earn less than £32,191 and half earn less than £38,068.
| 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 | £32,191 | £2,683 | £26,697 | £2,225 |
| Median (50th percentile) | £38,068 | £3,172 | £30,929 | £2,577 |
| 75th percentile | Not published | Not published | Not published | Not published |
| 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 librarians as acceptable, so use it with caution: its sampling error (coefficient of variation) is 13%.
Where librarians rank
The median for librarians ranks 149th of 362 occupations on this site, in the upper half, and 80th of 91 in professional occupations. It is £971 (2.5%) lower than the UK median of £39,039 for all full-time employee jobs. ONS change on the previous year: the median for librarians rose 9.3%, more than the 4.3% rise in the UK median for all full-time jobs. 74 of 358 occupations had a change this large in either direction. ONS figures for one occupation come from a sample, so they can move a lot from one year to the next.
Jobs with the nearest medians: Nannies and au pairs (£38,447), Mining and quarry workers and related operatives (£38,301), Managers and proprietors in agriculture and horticulture (£38,182), Publicans and managers of licensed premises (£38,043), Database administrators and web content technicians (£37,995) and Groundworkers (£37,925).
How spread out pay is
ONS published the 25th percentile (£32,191) but not the 75th, so we cannot show the middle half of the range for librarians.
The mean for librarians (total pay divided by the number of employees) is £44,525, which is £6,457 (17.0%) higher than the median. When the mean is above the median, a smaller number of higher salaries are pulling the average up. For all UK full-time jobs the mean is 24.3% above the median, so the gap for librarians is smaller.
Librarians and related jobs
Among these 4 jobs in the same or nearby ONS occupation groups, this one has the 2nd highest median. The highest median among them is £40,594 (welfare professionals n.e.c.) and the lowest £31,183 (clergy).
| Job | SOC code | Median salary | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welfare professionals n.e.c. | 2469 | £40,594 | £2,729 |
| Librarians | 2471 | £38,068 | £2,577 |
| Archivists and curators | 2472 | £34,237 | £2,348 |
| Clergy | 2463 | £31,183 | £2,164 |
Take-home pay against all jobs
At the median, librarians take home about £2,577 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Librarians | £38,068 | £2,577 | £2,574 |
| All full-time employee jobs, UK | £39,039 | £2,636 | £2,631 |
Related pages
All jobs in the Professional 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 2471. 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 £38,068, take-home pay is about £2,577 a month (£30,929 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 £2,574 a month.
ONS figures for full-time jobs (2025) show that a quarter earn less than £32,191 and half earn less than £38,068. ONS did not publish every point in the range because some estimates are not reliable enough.
No. The median for librarians is £38,068, which is £971 (2.5%) lower than the UK median of £39,039 for all full-time employee jobs (ONS, 2025). It ranks 149th of 362 occupations on this site.