Plumber, electrician or doctor: who earns more in Britain now

"Who earns more — a plumber, an electrician or a doctor?" has an unusually precise answer in Britain. The government publishes pay rates by occupation: they exist for work visas and sit in an open appendix to the Immigration Rules.

What does the average worker earn?

Median full-time pay in April 2026 was £40,911 a year, up 4.5% on the year, according to the Office for National Statistics. Managers, directors and senior officials saw the largest rise at 6.7%, followed by caring, leisure and other service occupations at 5.4%, elementary occupations at 4.7% and process, plant and machine operatives at 4.1%.

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What the official rates are

Appendix Skilled Occupations gives each occupation a "going rate" — the minimum an employer must pay a worker on a work visa, which applies where it exceeds the general salary threshold.

One caveat: this is a visa floor, not a market average. An experienced tradesperson may earn considerably more, someone without sponsorship may earn less. But as a measure of what the state thinks an occupation is worth, the rates beat any job advert.

The trades

Electricians and electrical fitters: £38,800 a year, or £19.90 an hour. Plumbers and heating and ventilating installers and repairers: £38,100, or £19.54 an hour. Roofers, roof tilers and slaters: £33,400, or £17.13. Care workers and home carers: £33,400 and £17.13 on the general table, with a separate option setting a floor of £25,000 a year and £12.82 an hour.

Doctors, nurses and teachers

For generalist medical practitioners in England the rate depends on grade: Foundation year 1 £36,616, Foundation year 2 £42,008, specialty registrar at early grades £49,909 and at later grades £61,825, specialty doctor £59,175, salaried GP £73,113, specialist doctor £96,990 and consultant £105,504.

Nurses follow the NHS Agenda for Change bands: in England, band 5 is £29,970, band 6 £37,338 and band 7 £46,148. A qualified secondary school teacher in England outside London is on £31,650.

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So who comes first?

By ceiling, the doctor, by a wide margin: £105,504 for a consultant against £38,800 for an electrician. But that ceiling takes years, and a doctor's first year at £36,616 already sits below the electrician's rate.

By starting pay the picture inverts. An electrician on £38,800 and a plumber on £38,100 out-earn both a band 5 nurse on £29,970 and a secondary teacher on £31,650. A trade here is not a fallback — at the start it pays better than two of the most respected public-sector professions.

Which jobs are officially short-staffed?

The Immigration Salary List currently names nursing auxiliaries and assistants, care workers and home carers, and senior care workers. The general salary threshold for a Skilled Worker visa is £41,700, £37,500, £33,400, £31,300, £28,200 or £25,000 a year, depending on the option claimed.

If you are choosing now

Compare three things: the starting rate, the time to the ceiling, and whether a licence is required. Trades start higher and plateau lower, with work available everywhere. Medicine starts modestly and takes years, but tops out three times higher. Nursing and teaching are quicker to enter and start lowest of all.