National Insurance Calculator
Work out your employee Class 1 National Insurance contributions for the 2026/27 tax year.
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2026/27 National Insurance rates
| Band | Annual earnings | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Below the Primary Threshold | Up to £12,570 | 0% |
| Main rate | £12,571 to £50,270 | 8% |
| Above the Upper Earnings Limit | Over £50,270 | 2% |
Employee Class 1 National Insurance stops once you reach State Pension age. Income Tax is worked out separately, on different bands.
Understanding National Insurance
What this calculator covers and how the numbers are worked out
How it works
National Insurance is a separate deduction from income tax, and this calculator isolates it so you can see exactly what you pay and what it contributes towards. Enter your gross annual earnings and you'll see how much falls into each NI band, the total employee contribution, and a monthly or weekly breakdown - useful for checking a payslip line or understanding what a pay rise really costs you.
Unlike tax, which builds general government revenue, National Insurance contributions specifically build your entitlement to the State Pension and to certain contributory benefits. Employees pay what's called Class 1 National Insurance, deducted automatically from wages by an employer through PAYE, alongside a separate employer contribution that never appears on your payslip.
For 2026/27, employee Class 1 NI is charged at 8% on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 a year, and at 2% on anything above £50,270. There's no upper limit on the 2% band - it applies to all earnings above the threshold, however high. Below £12,570 you pay no NI at all.
Take someone earning £28,000 a year. No NI is due on the first £12,570. The remaining £15,430 falls entirely within the 8% band, since £28,000 is below £50,270, giving annual NI of £1,234.40 - roughly £102.87 a month or £23.74 a week.
Now take someone on £55,000. The 8% rate applies to the £37,700 between £12,570 and £50,270, which comes to £3,016. The remaining £4,730 above £50,270 is charged at 2%, adding £94.60. Total NI is £3,110.60 - noticeably less, proportionally, than someone earning just under the threshold, because the rate drops sharply once you cross £50,270.
NI differs from income tax in an important way: it isn't reduced by pension contributions made through a standard net pay arrangement, because it's calculated on gross earnings rather than taxable income. Only a salary sacrifice pension arrangement - where your contractual salary is actually reduced - lowers the earnings NI is charged on.
Once you reach State Pension age, you stop paying employee National Insurance altogether, even if you carry on working, though your employer's contribution continues unaffected. This calculator assumes you're below State Pension age and paying standard Class 1 contributions; it doesn't cover the Class 2 and Class 4 contributions that apply to self-employed profits instead.
It's worth remembering that National Insurance and income tax are worked out independently, so entering the same gross salary into this calculator and into the income tax calculator will give you two separate figures that need to be added together to see your total deduction - this tool deliberately doesn't combine them, so you can see the NI contribution on its own, for example to check a specific payslip line or to understand how a pay rise affects your NI compared with your tax.
What this calculator covers
- Employee Class 1 National Insurance
- 8% and 2% band breakdown
- Effect of a pay rise on your NI
- Where your pay goes at a glance
Common questions
£1,234.40 a year - 8% on the £15,430 you earn above the £12,570 threshold, which works out at about £102.87 a month.
At that threshold, all your earnings above £12,570 (£37,700) are charged at 8%, giving £3,016 a year - the maximum you'll pay at the 8% rate before the lower 2% rate applies to anything extra.
It's a deliberate feature of the system - earnings above that threshold are charged at a lower 2% rate rather than 8%, so NI as a share of income actually falls for higher earners even though income tax rises.
Only if it's taken through salary sacrifice, which lowers your contractual gross pay. A standard net pay pension contribution reduces your taxable income for income tax purposes but not the earnings NI is calculated on.
Yes, in principle NI is worked out separately for each employment against its own threshold, so working two jobs can sometimes mean paying a little more combined NI than if the same total income came from one job.
Yes. Once you reach State Pension age you pay no more employee Class 1 National Insurance, regardless of how much you earn, though your employer keeps paying their share.
No. Self-employed people pay Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance under different rules, which this calculator doesn't estimate.
Yes. Unlike income tax, National Insurance rates and thresholds are set UK-wide, so Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland all pay the same 8% and 2% rates.
Almost always, but the extra amount depends on which band the rise falls into - a rise entirely within the 8% band costs 8p in NI per extra £1, while a rise that pushes you above £50,270 only costs 2p in NI per extra £1 above that point, even though your income tax on that slice rises to 40%.
More tools
- Take-home pay – full income tax and NI breakdown
- Income tax calculator – see your tax by band
- After-tax salary – net pay from gross
These results are estimates for general guidance and are not financial advice. Always confirm important figures with an official source.
Rates last reviewed: 2 October 2026 · Built around the 2026/27 UK tax year
Based on 2026/27 UK tax rates. Results are estimates and not financial advice.
Related calculators
Related guides
Scotland sets its own Income Tax bands. Here's exactly how they differ from the rest of the UK, and who ends up paying more.
Salary sacrifice can cut your tax and National Insurance bill at the same time — here's how it works and when it's worth it.
What National Insurance actually pays for, how the employee rates work for 2026/27, and how it differs from Income Tax.
A line-by-line guide to what's on a UK payslip, from gross pay and tax code to the deductions that make up the difference to your net pay.
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