Decorator day rate calculator, Manchester 2026, after tax
Typical: £188 a day. Work out yours below.
Tell us the take home pay you want.
We show you the day rate to charge in Manchester.
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Hiring a decorator in Manchester? See what a fair quote looks like.
A painter and decorator in Manchester typically charges £188 a day.
To take home £35,500 a year after real costs you need £256 a day.
Both are labour only, from the rate model and the calculator's default assumptions.
Change the inputs and your own number takes over. Quote that one.
Quotable
According to the Office for National Statistics, local pay differs enough by area to move a day rate.
Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings
Data from HM Land Registry's UK House Price Index sets the second local input, per the October 2026 review.
Reviewed on .
These figures use the same sums as the free calculator. The two always agree.
Where these figures come from
Rate estimates blend the national median decorator day rate from five UK directories.
Those five are Checkatrade, HaMuch, MyBuilder, CostEstimator, MyJobQuote.
To that we add official ONS regional earnings and local house price data.
Sources: ONS ASHE 2025, UK House Price Index April 2026.
Rates reviewed October 2026.
Where does Manchester sit among the 31 modelled towns?
Each dot is one modelled town, stacked where towns share a rate.
Manchester is number 19 of 31, with 18 above it and 12 below.
The shaded band is the local range decorators here quote inside.
Quotable
What is decorating work like in Manchester?
Manchester is really two decorating markets wearing one name.
One is the older inner terrace, hard used and often rented.
It is licensed by the council in several parts of the city.
The other is the enormous stock of city centre apartments finished in the last decade.
There the work is interiors and communal areas.
The price is quoted per unit rather than per day.
The city models at £188, above Liverpool at £175 and close to Leeds at £185.
Why do tradespeople undercharge?
Pricing off the going rate.
Pricing off what everyone else charges feels safe.
But the going rate says what customers are used to paying, not what your business needs.
The calculator on this page starts from the take home you want and adds your real costs.
The number it gives is the one to quote.
We argue why the going rate is not a fair rate on its own page.
What do decorators in Manchester ask about rates?
What is the going day rate for a decorator in Manchester?
Across the city the modelled figure is £188, with local quotes running £141 to £244.
The number your business actually requires is £256 on the default assumptions.
So much work here is priced per apartment.
The day figure is the one you convert back to, rather than the one you quote.
How do I turn a price per flat into a day rate in Manchester?
Divide the offered price by the days the unit really takes.
Include the travel and the waiting for access.
Compare that answer with the rate the calculator gives you before you accept the next batch.
A price that works on one flat can fail badly across twenty once lifts and key collection are counted.
Is apartment work worth taking on at volume?
It can be excellent, and it can quietly lose money, and the deciding factor is access rather than the paint.
Waiting for a concierge or a lift is time on site that no schedule of rates pays for.
Count it in the days you cannot bill and the true rate appears by itself.
What do decorators charge in other towns?
The homepage shows what decorators charge a day across the UK, town by town.