Self employed builder earnings UK
Typical day rate: the median of five UK directories, reviewed October 2026.
Work out your own yearFree. No login.
Where £50,600 goes
200 paid days at £253. Sample costs, 2026/27 tax.
- Van, tools, insurance, admin£8,238
- Income Tax£5,958
- National Insurance£1,788
- Kept, 68p in every £1£34,616
What an employed builder earns
The National Careers Service publishes no builder profile.
So there is no official employed figure to set beside this one.
£79 more a day is £10,384 more a year
£332 is the day rate the calculator says £45,000 take home needs.
Same costs, same 200 paid days.
230 working days. 200 get paid.
The other 30 go on quoting, the merchant run and cancelled jobs.
The same year, town by town
Each bar is a year kept at that town's modelled day rate. Dashed line: the typical rate.
All 31 towns
| Town | Kept a year |
|---|---|
| London | £43,073 |
| Guildford | £41,101 |
| Oxford | £40,092 |
| Cambridge | £39,500 |
| Brighton | £38,168 |
| Bath | £36,836 |
| Reading | £36,540 |
| Bristol | £35,652 |
| Milton Keynes | £35,652 |
| Cheltenham | £35,060 |
| Edinburgh | £34,912 |
| York | £33,728 |
| Exeter | £33,580 |
| Portsmouth | £33,432 |
| Northampton | £33,136 |
| Southampton | £32,988 |
| Cardiff | £32,544 |
| Norwich | £32,544 |
| Manchester | £32,396 |
| Birmingham | £31,952 |
| Leeds | £31,804 |
| Coventry | £31,212 |
| Leicester | £31,212 |
| Glasgow | £31,064 |
| Sheffield | £30,916 |
| Derby | £30,176 |
| Liverpool | £30,028 |
| Newcastle | £29,584 |
| Nottingham | £29,584 |
| Stoke-on-Trent | £28,548 |
| Sunderland | £27,068 |
Your year, with your numbers
Your day rate, your days, your costs. Tax done for you.
Work out your own yearQuestions builders ask
Is that before or after tax?
After. 2026/27 Income Tax and National Insurance come off first.
Is £202 a day good for a builder?
It keeps £27,068 a year over 200 paid days, after sample costs and tax. The typical day is £253.
Where do self employed builders keep the most?
London, at £43,073 a year from £315 a day. Sunderland is lowest, at £27,068.
Does it include materials?
No. Day rates are labour only, and materials go on top.
Why is my year lower than this?
Usually fewer paid days, not a lower rate. The calculator shows which.
Making Tax Digital and VAT have their own thresholds. We are not accountants.
Check them on gov.uk:
Want a job, not a business?
The National Careers Service covers pay.
Typical day rate: the median of five UK directories, reviewed October 2026.
Town rates are modelled from them. Costs are the calculator's sample figures.