Key takeaways
- A £2,000 rise is not £166 a month: at £35,000 you keep £113.33 a month, at £50,000 you keep £127.75, and at £60,000 just £96.67.
- The £50,000 rise keeps the most — 76.7% — because most of it is charged National Insurance at 2% instead of 8%.
- What you keep is decided by your marginal rate, which is 32% at £35,000, 22% just over the NI threshold, and 42% at £60,000.
- A rise can cross three lines: the 40% band at about £50,270, the £100,000 taper, and £125,140 where the allowance disappears.
A £2,000 pay rise is not £166 a month. At £35,000 you keep £113.33 a month, at £50,000 you keep £127.75, and at £60,000 you keep just £96.67 — because the taxman takes a different share at each salary.
The email arrives: congratulations, your salary is going up by £2,000. You divide by 12 and start spending the £166 a month in your head. Then the first payslip lands and the rise is worth barely more than £100. Nobody has cheated you. A pay rise is taxed like any other pay, and the share you keep depends entirely on where your salary sits in the tax bands. This article works out what a £2,000 rise — and a £3,000 rise — is really worth at three salaries, so you know before you celebrate.
The short answer, at three salaries
All figures below assume the usual auto-enrolment pension (5% of qualifying earnings) and no student loan, so the comparison is like-for-like.
| Rise | Extra take-home / year | Extra / month | You keep | Tax takes | NI takes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £35,000 → £37,000 | £1,360.00 | £113.33 | 68.0% | £380.00 | £160.00 |
| £50,000 → £52,000 | £1,533.00 | £127.75 | 76.7% | £397.30 | £56.20 |
| £60,000 → £62,000 | £1,160.00 | £96.67 | 58.0% | £800.00 | £40.00 |
The table hides one more line: extra pension. At £35,000 the rise adds £100.00 a year to your pension; at £50,000 it adds £13.50 (qualifying earnings are capped at £50,270, so most of the rise is above the cap); at £60,000 it adds nothing, because the whole salary is already above the cap. Pension is not lost money — it is yours, in your pot — but it does not arrive in your bank account, so it counts against what you keep each month.
Why £50,000 keeps more than £35,000
A £2,000 rise at £35,000 keeps 68%. The same rise at £50,000 keeps 76.7% — more, not less.
This surprises people, and it is the most useful thing in the whole article. The reason is National Insurance. Below £50,270, NI is 8%. Above it, NI is 2%. The £50,000-to-£52,000 rise straddles the line: most of it is charged at 2% instead of 8%, so the NI bill on the rise is only £56.20, against £160.00 at £35,000. The tax bill is slightly higher (£397.30 against £380.00, because part of the rise crosses into the 40% band), but the NI saving is bigger. Net result: the middle earner keeps the most.
At £60,000 the picture flips. The whole £2,000 rise is taxed at 40% — £800.00 of tax — and NI is 2% throughout, £40.00. You keep 58%. The lesson is that what you keep from a rise is decided by your marginal rate, and the marginal rate is not a smooth slope: it is 32% at £35,000 (20% tax + 8% NI + pension), 22% at £52,000 once you are over the NI threshold, and 42% at £60,000 (40% tax + 2% NI). The same £2,000 is worth three different amounts depending on where it lands.
What about a £3,000 rise?
The same logic, bigger numbers. A £3,000 rise from £35,000 to £38,000 adds £2,040.00 a year to your take-home pay — £170.00 a month, not £250. You keep 68% of it: £570.00 goes to income tax, £240.00 to National Insurance and £150.00 to extra pension. This is the cross-check the site's own test suite runs on every build: the main calculator and the pay rise calculator must agree on this figure to the penny, and they do.
If you have a student loan, the answer gets worse. A Plan 2 loan takes another 9% of the rise above the £29,385 threshold. On that same £35,000-to-£38,000 rise, the loan takes an extra £270.00 a year, so you keep £1,770.00 — 59% instead of 68%. With a Postgraduate loan stacked on top, the marginal rate climbs further still. Tick your plan in the calculator below to see your own figure; the headline rise is never the whole story.
The three lines a rise can cross
Most rises are simple. Three crossings make them complicated. The first is the higher-rate band: when your taxable pay passes £37,700 — which happens at a gross salary of about £50,270 with a full personal allowance — every further pound is taxed at 40% instead of 20%. A rise that crosses this line is worth much less per pound on the far side than on the near side.
The second is the £100,000 taper. Above £100,000 you lose £1 of personal allowance for every £2 you earn, so your marginal rate is effectively 60% on income tax alone between £100,000 and £125,140. A rise from £98,000 to £102,000 looks like £4,000 and behaves like much less. Pension contributions and salary sacrifice reduce the income counted here, which is why they matter most at exactly this salary.
The third is the point where your personal allowance disappears entirely, at £125,140. Past that, every pound is taxable, and the top rate of 45% applies. None of these crossings makes a rise worthless — you always keep something — but each one changes the maths, and the calculator on this site warns you when your rise crosses one.
How to use a rise well
First, do not spend the gross figure. Budget on the net figure from the calculator below — that is the money that will actually arrive. Second, if the rise pushes you into the 40% band, consider whether to put some of it into your pension: a pension contribution at 40% tax relief is the best return most people will ever get on a pound, and it also pulls you back under the band. Third, if you have a student loan, remember the rise increases your loan deduction too — it is automatic, and it is not optional. Fourth, check the rise actually happened: compare your new payslip's gross pay with the agreed figure, and check that your tax code did not change at the same time. A pay rise and a tax-code change in the same month is how good news gets lost.
And one thing worth saying plainly: a rise that keeps 58% is still a rise. £96.67 a month is £1,160.00 a year you did not have. The point of this article is not to talk you out of asking for more money — it is to make sure you know what more money is actually worth, so you negotiate with the real number instead of the headline.
Work out your rise
Enter your current and new salary to see the true monthly increase, the percentage you keep, and warnings if your rise crosses a band or the £100,000 taper.
Questions
How much of a £2,000 pay rise do I keep?
On a £35,000 salary you keep £1,360.00 a year — £113.33 a month, or 68% of the rise. On £50,000 you keep £1,533.00 a year (£127.75 a month, 76.7%), and on £60,000 you keep £1,160.00 a year (£96.67 a month, 58%). The rest goes to tax, National Insurance and extra pension.
Why do I keep less of a rise at £60,000 than at £50,000?
Because the whole rise at £60,000 is taxed at 40%, while the rise at £50,000 is mostly taxed at 20% and its National Insurance is only 2% above £50,270. The marginal rate is what decides what you keep — and it is highest just above £50,270.
Can a pay rise make me worse off?
Almost never in cash terms — you always keep something. But a rise can push you into the 40% band, into the £100,000 taper where the marginal rate is effectively 60%, or over a benefit threshold. Check the warnings on the calculator before you accept.
Check your own rise
Budget on the net figure from the calculator — that is the money that will actually arrive.
Figures are for tax year 2026/27, tax code 1257L, England, Wales or Northern Ireland, auto-enrolment pension at 5% of qualifying earnings, no student loan unless stated. Rates: GOV.UK — last checked 5 November 2026. This site is not affiliated with HMRC or GOV.UK. Figures are estimates for guidance, not financial advice.