Firefighter take-home pay 2026: net pay for every role

Assumptions behind the figures

Take-home pay depends on several things that vary by person, so every figure here rests on stated assumptions. The tax year is 2026/27. The personal allowance is £12,570, and income tax in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 20% on the next £37,700 of taxable income, 40% up to £125,140 and 45% above (the allowance reduces above £100,000). National Insurance is 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above.

The pension contribution is the FPS 2015 employee rate for the salary band, as used in the site's calculators: 11.09% for pensionable pay up to £36,130, 12.59% up to £45,407, 14.09% up to £66,908, 15.59% up to £190,691 and 17.09% above. It is deducted before income tax, but not before National Insurance. Everyone is assumed to have a 1257L tax code, no student loan or postgraduate loan, no salary sacrifice and only basic pay, so no CPD, allowances, overtime or flexible duty supplement.

Different schemes (Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and legacy schemes such as FPS 1992 and 2006) have their own contribution rates. If you are on one of those, or your rate on your payslip differs from the band shown, replace the pension line in the table with your own. Use the pay calculator to change the inputs, and the methodology page for how the site's models are built.

Net pay for every role: England, Wales and Northern Ireland

The table below gives annual gross basic pay, the pension contribution, income tax, National Insurance and annual take-home pay for all 16 national pay points, with a monthly figure (annual ÷ 12). The FPS 2015 employee band moves from 11.09% for a development firefighter to 12.59% for a competent firefighter, then 14.09% from a Watch Manager development rate and 15.59% for Area Managers. Because of these bands, the gap between gross pay points is larger than the gap between net pay points.

For example, moving from Watch Manager Competent A (£46,980, net £32,049.61) to Competent B (£50,034, net £33,904.25) raises gross pay by £3,054 but net pay by £1,854.64. That is 60.7p per pound: 14.09p goes to the pension, income tax takes 20% of the remaining 85.91p (17.18p) and National Insurance takes 8p. Group Manager Competent B on £66,445 has a net of £43,478.24.

At the top end, an Area Manager Competent B on £77,186 pays £12,033.30 into the pension at 15.59%, £13,493.08 in income tax, including 40% on taxable pay above £50,270, and £3,554.32 in National Insurance. That leaves £48,105.30 a year, £4,008.78 a month, 62.3% of gross.

How the competent firefighter figure is calculated, step by step

Start with £40,358 gross. The pension band is 12.59% (pensionable pay above £36,130 and up to £45,407), so the contribution is £40,358 × 0.1259 = £5,081.07. Taxable pay is £40,358 − £5,081.07 = £35,276.93. After the £12,570 personal allowance the taxable slice is £22,706.93, and at 20% that is £4,541.39 income tax.

National Insurance is charged on gross pay, not pay after pension: (£40,358 − £12,570) × 8% = £27,788 × 0.08 = £2,223.04. Take-home pay is £40,358 − £5,081.07 − £4,541.39 − £2,223.04 = £28,512.50. Divided by 12 that is £2,376.04 a month. If you are paid four-weekly, divide by 13 for £2,193.27 per period.

You can repeat this for any salary. The most common errors are applying National Insurance after the pension deduction (it is not), forgetting that the pension deduction reduces taxable pay, and using last year's thresholds. For a hands-on check, the payslip checker compares your payslip lines with the national figures, and the payslip guide explains each line.

What CPD, overtime and flexible duty do to take-home pay

Add a CPD payment of £1,000 (an illustrative figure within the reported range of £400 to £1,346) for a competent firefighter, and gross pay rises to £41,358. CPD is treated as basic pay, so it is pensionable, and the model takes 12.59% of it: pension £5,206.97, income tax £4,716.21, National Insurance £2,303.04 and take-home £29,131.78. The extra £1,000 gross is worth £619.28 net, or 61.9p per pound.

Now add 48 hours of overtime at £27.65 (£1,327.20). Overtime is not counted as pensionable in this illustration, so the pension stays at £5,206.97, but tax and National Insurance rise. Gross £42,685.20 gives income tax £4,981.65, National Insurance £2,409.22 and take-home £30,087.37, an additional £955.59 net for £1,327.20 gross, 72p in the pound, because overtime here bears 20% tax and 8% National Insurance but no pension deduction. Check how your service treats overtime for pension purposes.

A Station Manager Competent A on the flexible duty system receives a pensionable 20% supplement: £53,604 × 1.2 = £64,324.80. On the model that gives a 14.09% pension contribution of £9,063.36, income tax of £9,536.57 and National Insurance of £3,297.10, so take-home is £42,427.77 (£3,535.65 a month), against £36,272.28 without the supplement, a difference of £6,155.49. See flexi duty allowance explained.

Scotland: different income tax

Scottish taxpayers pay income tax using Scottish bands: for 2026/27, 19% from £12,571 to £16,537, 20% to £29,526, 21% to £43,662, 42% to £75,000, 45% to £125,140 and 48% above. National Insurance is the same as elsewhere in the UK. The site's Scottish model also uses a different pension contribution table (for example 13.63% for pay from £36,331 to £57,090), so the Scottish figures combine both differences.

On that model a Scottish competent firefighter takes home £28,163.08 a year (£2,346.92 a month), against £28,512.50 in England. Higher earners see a larger gap because of the 42% band from £43,663: a Station Manager Competent B on £57,402 takes home £37,414.85 against £38,806.61. Treat the pension element as an input, since scheme regulations set the real rate.

If you live in Scotland, check that your tax code has an S prefix. The Scotland firefighter salary guide has the SFRS context. The full Scottish table for the first ten pay points is below.

Why your payslip will differ

Several common items move real take-home away from the table. A tax code other than 1257L changes your allowance. A student loan or postgraduate loan adds a repayment deduction. Union subscriptions, cycle-to-work or other salary sacrifice, car parking, and voluntary deductions all reduce net pay. Pay periods matter too: four-weekly pay produces 13 payslips, monthly produces 12, so a monthly comparison hides that.

The pension band is the other big one. Your contribution rate depends on your scheme, on your pensionable pay and on how the tier is applied. Members of legacy schemes have different rates, and the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish schemes have their own regulations. Our pension contributions calculator helps you test bands, and the firefighter tax code guide explains code changes.

If your payslip is more than a few pounds different from the expected figure, run it through the payslip checker. The paid Personal Pay Report produces a personalised breakdown and a list of questions for payroll, and the firefighter student loan guide explains loan deductions.

Monthly, four-weekly and weekly: matching the figure to your pay period

Fire and rescue services pay either monthly or four-weekly, and the site's payslip tools support both. Monthly pay divides the annual figure by 12; four-weekly pay divides it by 13, so a four-weekly payslip is smaller than a monthly one even though the annual total is identical. Budget on the annual figure so the number of payslips does not mislead you.

The table converts the annual take-home figures for five common pay points into monthly, four-weekly and weekly amounts. Weekly is the annual figure divided by 52.143. These are averages: the exact figure on a given payslip changes with tax code adjustments, month lengths under cumulative tax, and any variable pay. Ask your payroll team which pay period applies and when the pay date falls, or see how firefighters are paid for the general position.

If you have moved from monthly to four-weekly pay, or from a service that pays in arrears, expect a timing difference on your first payslips. It is a timing difference only: the annual total is unchanged. Keep a note of each payslip's gross, tax and National Insurance so you can compare against the tables here.

Using take-home pay for real decisions

Mortgage lenders assess affordability using gross income and your commitments, and treat basic salary, allowances and overtime differently, so use the mortgage borrowing calculator and the mortgage guide rather than take-home alone. For budgeting, use net monthly pay as the baseline and treat overtime and one-off payments such as arrears as extra.

When comparing job offers, compare after-tax figures and the pension. A move from £40,358 to £44,742 (Competent Crew Manager) increases gross pay by £4,384 but net pay by £2,714.93, 61.9p per pound. That is a useful sense-check against the pay progression guide, and the overtime after tax guide shows what overtime is worth net.