PayPrecise household comparisons: release 3, checked 2026-09-28 Original analysis: https://payprecision.co.uk/average-household-income-uk/ HOUSEHOLD BENCHMARKS DWP HBAI FYE 2025, April 2024–March 2025. Weekly net equivalised medians: GBP 719 before housing costs (BHC), GBP 623 after housing costs (AHC). Individuals are ranked by their adjusted household income. These are not the observed averages for each household type. Population means on the same basis: GBP 855 BHC and GBP 750 AHC per week. DWP summary Table 1.2b, sheet 1_2b, 2024/25 rows 42 and 77, column L; medians in column F. Mean BHC annual equivalent: 855 * 52 = GBP 44,460. Source values rounded to pounds. Published two-decimal weights, DWP Table 4: BHC first adult 0.67, additional adult or dependent child 14+ 0.33, child under 14 0.20. AHC first adult 0.58, additional adult or older dependent child 0.42, child under 14 0.20. Monthly equivalent = weekly median * summed factor * 52 / 12. Both source medians and weights are rounded, so results are approximate. Annual conversion uses 52 weeks as a stated convention. Do not infer housing costs by subtracting the two medians. No adjustment to September 2026 prices. This is not a minimum or comfortable-living budget. For income comparison, deduct Council Tax/domestic rates from the entered net income; floor BHC at zero. AHC then subtracts the source-defined housing costs and can be negative. Use the official definition for all income and deductions; do not deduct everyday consumption. This calculator shows a ratio to the median, not a percentile. TAX SCENARIOS 184 rows: 23 combined salaries, GBP 40,000–150,000 in GBP 5,000 steps; four earnings splits (100/0, 75/25, 60/40, 50/50); two tax regions (rUK = England/Wales/Northern Ireland; scot = Scotland). Tax year 2026/27. Two adults below State Pension age, category A employee NI, employment salary only. Calculate Income Tax and employee NI for each salary separately, including the Personal Allowance taper. One-earner baseline puts the same combined salary with one earner. Difference = selected net annual total minus one-earner net annual total. Positive values favour the selected split. No pensions, student loans, Marriage Allowance, other income, benefits, childcare, commuting or living costs. Annualised thresholds, not a pay-period payroll model; monthly = annual / 12. Do not compare these net employment figures directly to HBAI disposable income. Salary cannot simply be transferred between partners for tax purposes. Inputs are model assumptions, not observed household characteristics. The extra-work-cost illustration divides the net difference by 12 and asks how much ADDITIONAL cost in the two-earner arrangement would absorb that tax-only difference. It is not an estimate of costs. The single-salary equivalent solves for a gross salary whose annual take-home equals the selected two-earner total. A 64-step bisection uses the same region, tax year and deductions as the original scenario. This is a different gross salary, not another equal-gross comparison. Each regional example matches two salaries taxed in that same region. Gross salary is displayed rounded; calculations solve before rounding. It does not predict salaries available in the labour market. SEPARATE CHILD BENEFIT EXAMPLE England/Wales/Northern Ireland, 2026/27, GBP 80,000 combined gross salary, two qualifying children, 52 weeks. Adjusted net income equals employment salary with no pensions, loans, other income or deductions. Both adults below State Pension age. Child Benefit: GBP 27.05 first child + GBP 17.90 second child per week; annual entitlement GBP 2,337.40. One GBP 80,000 earner repays all through HICBC; two GBP 40,000 earners owe no charge. Net employment difference GBP 7,681.80, plus GBP 2,337.40 retained benefit = GBP 10,019.20 total retained-income difference. Eligibility assumed for the whole year. Benefits are not included in the 184 salary-only scenarios or calculator. No childcare support value is included in this example. SOURCES hbai: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2025/households-below-average-income-an-analysis-of-the-uk-income-distribution-fye-1995-to-fye-2025 methodology: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2025/households-below-average-income-background-information-and-methodology-report-fye-2025 hbaiTables: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2025 hbaiSummary: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69c28ffcb920af63be1c7767/summary-hbai-1994-95-2024-25-tables.ods childBenefitRates: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-tax-credits-child-benefit-and-guardians-allowance/tax-credits-child-benefit-and-guardians-allowance childBenefitCharge: https://www.gov.uk/child-benefit-tax-charge tax: https://www.gov.uk/income-tax-rates thresholds: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rates-and-thresholds-for-employers-2026-to-2027 ons: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth/bulletins/householddisposableincomeandinequality/financialyearending2024 nextOns: https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/averagehouseholdincomeukfinancialyearending2025 REPRODUCTION Source model: https://payprecision.co.uk/assets/js/payprecise-household-income.js Tax engine: https://payprecision.co.uk/assets/js/payprecise-pay-engine.js benchmark(adults, childrenUnder14, olderDependentChildren, 'before' or 'after') earningsSplit(totalGross, firstEarnerPercent, 'rUK' or 'scot') singleEarnerEquivalent(totalGross, firstEarnerPercent, 'rUK' or 'scot') Calculations retain precision internally. Annual tax comparison tables and tax downloads round to pennies; narrative headlines, equivalent gross salaries and approximate household benchmarks round to pounds. Monthly calculator take-home amounts round annual net / 12 to pennies, and the displayed monthly difference subtracts those amounts in integer pennies. This difference can be 1p away from the exact annual gain / 12. Downloaded differenceMonthly retains the annual-gain / 12 convention. No presentation rounding feeds into the annual tax calculation or the equivalent-salary solver. REUSE Original PayPrecise calculations: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Attribute PayPrecise and link to the article. Official source inputs: Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0, attributed to DWP, HMRC and ONS. PayPrecise is not affiliated with these organisations.