Reverse salary estimate

Net-to-gross salary calculator 2026/27

Work backwards from a target take-home amount to the approximate gross UK salary required under stated standard assumptions.

Monthly or annual targetPension and loans supportedIterative estimate
Your target take-homeReverse calculation
£
£
Postgraduate loan

What “net to gross” means

A normal salary calculator starts with gross pay and subtracts estimated deductions. This tool repeats that calculation in reverse until it finds the gross salary that produces your target annual take-home under the selected assumptions.

A target budget is not a salary guarantee. Actual payroll depends on tax code, pay date, earlier pay, benefits and deductions. Treat the solved salary as a negotiation or planning estimate, then check the full package.

Why there may not be one exact answer

Payroll rounds deductions by period and student-loan deductions use thresholds. Several nearby salary figures can therefore produce the same rounded payslip result. The calculator reports a close annual solution rather than pretending to offer penny-perfect payroll.

Useful ways to use the result

  • Turn a household budget into a salary-negotiation floor.
  • Compare the gross cost of different pension or loan assumptions.
  • Check how Scotland changes the salary required for the same target cash.
  • Use the job offer comparison after adding commute and working-hour differences.

For a forward calculation with pay frequency and a complete breakdown, use the UK take-home pay calculator.