Decorator day rate calculator, Southampton 2026, after tax
Typical: £191 a day. Work out yours below.
Tell us the take home pay you want.
We show you the day rate to charge in Southampton.
Free. No sign up.
Hiring a decorator in Southampton? See what a fair quote looks like.
A painter and decorator in Southampton typically charges £191 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
how these figures are worked out
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 Southampton sit among the 31 modelled towns?
Each dot is one modelled town, stacked where towns share a rate.
Southampton is number 16 of 31, with 15 above it and 15 below.
The shaded band is the local range decorators here quote inside.
Quotable
What is decorating work like in Southampton?
Southampton is the lowest priced South East town in our dataset at £191, a long way under Guildford at £235.
The port city has a big rental and student market.
Landlord repaints between tenancies are steady volume work at keen prices.
Letting agents hand out repeat work, but they negotiate hard.
Volume can quietly pull your average rate below what your costs demand.
The Hampshire commuter towns and the New Forest edge nearby carry bigger budgets.
Those are closer to the rest of the South East.
Travelling for the right jobs lifts the week's average.
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.
The full answer to how a decorator works out what to charge is on its own page.
What do decorators in Southampton ask about rates?
How much should a decorator charge in Southampton?
Southampton comes out at £191 a day in the model, and local quotes run from £143 to £248.
Working back from a £35,500 take home, the calculator's defaults demand £256 a day.
That sits above the town's typical figure.
That gap is exactly why the calculator starts from your take home target rather than the going rate.
Why are Southampton decorator rates lower than the rest of the South East?
Local pay and house prices.
Local earnings and house prices in Southampton run below the South East towns that top our dataset.
Guildford models at £235 and Portsmouth at £194, against £191 here.
The South East label covers a wide spread, and Southampton sits at its affordable end.
Do landlord and letting agent jobs pay less in Southampton?
Often, yes.
Between tenancy repaints are quick, repetitive and reliable.
Agents use that reliability to push the price down.
Repeat work is worth a little flexibility, but not a rate below your own floor.
Work out that floor in the calculator above, then treat it as the line no contract drags you under.
What do decorators charge in other towns?
The full 31 town list sits beside the day rate a decorator works to, on the homepage.