April 2025 · 2026-08-21
What the employed version of your work earns in the UK
Nine occupations UK freelancers actually work in, with the official full-time medians from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Not freelance rates (the survey measures employees), but the honest anchor for any day-rate conversation.
Median gross annual pay, full-time, April 2025
The numbers, with their source
| Occupation | Median annual | Median hourly | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Programmers and software developers | £56,914 | £29.58 | ONS SOC 2134 |
| Management consultants and business analysts | £53,295 | £28.16 | ONS SOC 2431 |
| Chartered and certified accountants | £50,062 | £26.02 | ONS SOC 2421 |
| Web design professionals | £48,629 | £23.83 | ONS SOC 2141 |
| Journalists and reporters | £44,534 | £22.54 | ONS SOC 2492 |
| Authors, writers and translators | £39,459 | £20.12 | ONS SOC 3412 |
| Public relations professionals | £37,563 | £20.59 | ONS SOC 2493 |
| Photographers and audio-visual operators | £32,643 | £17.32 | ONS SOC 3417 |
| Graphic and multimedia designers | £32,510 | £17.38 | ONS SOC 2142 |
From salary anchor to freelance floor
| Occupation | Employed median (annual) | Illustrative freelance floor | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Programmers and software developers | £56,914 | £71/h | Run your numbers |
| Management consultants and business analysts | £53,295 | £66/h | Run your numbers |
| Chartered and certified accountants | £50,062 | £62/h | Run your numbers |
A computed illustration, NOT survey data: floor = (median ÷ (1 − 30% tax buffer)) ÷ (46 weeks × 25 billable hours), i.e. matching the employed median as take-home on a realistic freelance calendar with no overhead. Your buffer, hours and overhead belong in the calculator.
Method
Figures are full-time gross medians from ASHE Table 14 (occupation by 4-digit SOC), 2025 provisional edition, parsed directly from the official ONS workbook on the date stamped above. Medians, not means: half earn less, half earn more.
ASHE surveys EMPLOYEES through PAYE, so the self-employed are not in these numbers. An employed hourly median is a floor, not a target: a freelance day rate must also cover the quota of unbilled hours, holidays, equipment and the gaps between clients.
Turn a salary anchor into a freelance rate
Refreshed each autumn with the provisional release and again when the revised edition lands.