Police salary calculator 2026/27
- National constable pay scale for England and Wales
- Take-home after income tax and National Insurance
- Police pension entered as your own tier rate
- Base pay shown before local and London allowances
Estimated monthly take-home
£2,858
Top of constable scale, base pay £50,257 a year.
| Base salary | £50,257 |
| Police pension (13.44%) | −£6,755 |
| Income tax | −£6,186 |
| National Insurance | −£3,015 |
| Student loan | −£0 |
| Annual take-home | £34,301 |
Base pay only, before London weighting, regional allowances and overtime. Pension is deducted before income tax. Figures use HMRC 2026/27 tax and NI rates. Estimates only, not financial advice. Source: gov.uk
Police pay in England and Wales is set nationally by the Police Remuneration Review Body, so a constable earns the same base pay in Cornwall as in County Durham. The 4.2% award from 1 September 2025 lifted the starting salary to £31,163 and the top of the constable scale to £50,257. A new constable moves up one pay point a year, reaching the top after about six years of satisfactory service.
The figure you see on a recruitment advert is often higher than the national base, because forces add local allowances. London officers get a London weighting and a separate London allowance. Some forces pay a South East or regional allowance. Those sit on top of the base salary shown here and are taxed the same way, so factor them in if you're comparing forces.
Most officers are in the Police Pension Scheme 2015, a career-average defined benefit scheme. Member contributions are tiered by salary and run higher than most workplace pensions, roughly 12.44% to 13.78% of pensionable pay. That's a chunky slice of the payslip, but it buys one of the better pensions in the public sector, with a normal pension age tied to the state pension age. Because contributions come off before income tax, part of the cost is offset by tax relief. Enter your exact tier in the pension field above to see your real take-home.
Constables and sergeants can earn overtime, typically at time and a third for casual overtime, and more at short notice. Night and weekend shifts often attract unsocial hours payments. These are taxed as normal income, so if a lot of your pay comes from overtime, your take-home percentage will look a little lower once the extra pushes part of your income up a band. Our overtime calculator shows the after-tax value of extra hours.