Working and Hiring in London: Pay, Rent and What Employers Should Know
Employing someone in London on the median full-time salary of £49,692 costs the employer about £57,699 a year in 2026/27, with 15% employer National Insurance and the 3% minimum pension. UK-wide rules apply; London pay is 27% above the UK median.
Hiring someone in London, or thinking of working there? This guide covers London pay levels, rents, the local labor market in figures and what an employee costs. National rules on tax, National Insurance and employment law are in our UK guide.
London in figures, compared with the UK
What a median London salary costs the employer, 2026/27
What it costs to employ someone in London
London follows UK-wide employment law, tax and National Insurance. There is no separate London payroll tax. What changes in London is the pay level. At the London median full-time salary of £49,692, the employer pays £6,703.80 in National Insurance and at least £1,303.56 in pension contributions, for a total cost of £57,699.36 a year. Eligible employers can cut their National Insurance bill by up to £10,500 a year with the Employment Allowance. For notice, leave, sick pay, income tax and the Employment Rights Act 2025 changes, see our guide to hiring in the UK.
Pay in London
The median full-time employee working in London earned £49,692 a year in April 2025, 27% more than the UK median of £39,039. The mean was £70,275. In April 2026, median full-time weekly pay in London grew 8.2%, the fastest of any region, according to the ONS. Pay also differs a lot by borough: the median for jobs in the City of London was £68,663, against £35,187 in Bexley. See pay by borough on our average salary in London page.
Rent and living costs
The average private rent in London was £2,338 a month in September 2026, 66% above the UK average of £1,406. Rents rose 3.5% over the year, the slowest rise of any English region together with the South East. A Zones 1 to 2 monthly Travelcard costs £171.70. Candidates moving to London, or asking for a London salary, will weigh these costs. Our cost of living in London page has rents by borough, transport fares and council tax.
The London labor market
About 9.1 million people lived in London in mid-2024. In June to August 2026, 74.5% of people aged 16 to 64 were in work, slightly below the UK rate of 75.3%. London's unemployment rate was 6.6%, the highest of any UK region, against 4.7% for the UK.
How to hire in London
Hiring in London comes down to two decisions: who you hire, and how you employ them.
- Find the person. Write the role, set the salary against London pay levels, then source and interview candidates. You can run the search yourself with a job post, or use a placement service that delivers a shortlist.
- Choose how to employ them. A UK company running PAYE payroll, an employer of record or a contractor agreement. Each option is explained below.
- Make the offer. The contract has to meet UK employment rules, set out in our UK guide.
Your options for employing someone in London
- UK company: you register a company, run PAYE payroll and pay employer National Insurance yourself. It suits a team of several people in the UK.
- Employer of record (EOR): a third-party provider becomes the legal employer and runs UK payroll for a monthly fee per employee. Your company directs the work.
- Contractor: the person invoices you through their own business. UK rules on employment status still apply, so the relationship has to be genuinely independent.
Euro Remote Talent does not employ people on your behalf. We handle the placement: we find and shortlist the candidate, and you employ them through the route that fits.
How Euro Remote Talent can help
We do placement. We source, screen and interview remote professionals across Europe and the UK, then deliver a shortlist of 3 candidates within 21 days for a flat $6,500, or your deposit back. Prefer to run the search yourself? Post a job for $299 and reach candidates who want to work remotely.
See how placement works, post a job or book a 30-minute call. Browse remote jobs in the UK to see who is hiring there now, or read our guide to hiring in the UK.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change and collective agreements can set different terms. Confirm with a local accountant or lawyer before you hire.
Frequently asked questions
What does it cost to employ someone in London?
On the London median full-time salary of £49,692, the employer adds £6,703.80 National Insurance and at least £1,303.56 pension, for £57,699.36 a year in 2026/27. The rates are the same across the UK.
Is there a London weighting or London minimum wage?
There is no legal London minimum wage. The National Living Wage of £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over applies across the UK. London weighting is set by employers or sector agreements, not by law.
How much more is pay in London than in the rest of the UK?
The median full-time employee working in London earned £49,692 a year in April 2025, 27% more than the UK median of £39,039, according to the ONS.
How much is rent in London?
The average private rent in London was £2,338 a month in September 2026, up 3.5% on a year earlier, according to the ONS. Kensington and Chelsea had the highest average at £3,739.
Can a company outside the UK hire someone in London without a UK entity?
Yes. The usual routes are an employer of record, a third-party provider that employs the person for you, or a genuine contractor agreement. Euro Remote Talent handles the placement: we find, screen and shortlist the person, and you choose the route.
Sources
- ONS, Explore local statistics: London. Checked 3 Nov 2026.
- ONS, Labour market in the regions of the UK: October 2026. Checked 3 Nov 2026.
- ONS via Nomis, ASHE 2025, workplace analysis, London and UK. Checked 3 Nov 2026.
- ONS, Employee earnings in the UK: 2026. Checked 3 Nov 2026.
- ONS, Private rent and house prices, UK: October 2026. Checked 3 Nov 2026.
- HM Land Registry, UK House Price Index Summary: August 2026. Checked 3 Nov 2026.
- TfL, Adult rate prices 2026. Checked 3 Nov 2026.
- HMRC, Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027. Checked 3 Nov 2026.
- GOV.UK, Workplace pensions: what you and your employer pay. Checked 3 Nov 2026.
- GOV.UK, National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates. Checked 3 Nov 2026.
