The official median housekeeper salary in the UK is £26,177 a year for full-time work, or £13.90 an hour, in the ONS's latest earnings survey. Private household roles are quoted far higher by staffing agencies, often £40,000 or more.
The gap comes down to where you work. Here's the full picture, role by role, plus what you take home.
Housekeeper salary UK: the official figure
The ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (2026, provisional) gives full-time housekeepers a median of £26,177 a year and £13.90 an hour, on a median paid week of 37.5 hours. The mean is a little higher, at £26,995. The annual figures cover the tax year to 5 April 2026, for people who'd been in the same job for more than a year.
The spread is narrow. A quarter earn under £23,702 a year and three quarters under £29,534. The ONS rates the median and the lower quarter as precise, and the upper figure as reasonably precise.
Why so much lower than private households? The ONS category covers housekeeping in private homes but also in hotels, schools and hostels, and it includes titles such as cook-housekeeper, companion-housekeeper, valet and lady's maid. It's a broad average across all of those settings, not a private household rate.
For context, the minimum wage from April 2026 is £12.71 an hour at 21 and over. In April 2026, the ONS median for full-time housekeepers was £13.90 an hour, and a tenth of those jobs paid £12.72 an hour or less.
Private, live-in and head housekeeper pay
| Role | Pay (gross) | Basis | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live-out private housekeeper | £15 to £20 an hour | Hourly | One London agency's salary page |
| Live-in private housekeeper | £500 to £800 a week (junior £300 to £500) | Weekly | One London agency's salary page |
| Private housekeeper, high-end homes | £42,000 to £75,000 a year | Full-time, live-out | One private staffing agency's 2026 guide |
| Head housekeeper, principal residences | £70,000 to £95,000 a year | Full-time | One private staffing agency's 2026 guide |
| Nanny-housekeeper | Live-in £500 to £800 a week; live-out £13 to £20 an hour | Weekly or hourly | One London agency's salary page |
| Domestic couple (live-in) | £1,200 to £1,600 a week combined; or £80,000 to £130,000 a year combined for experienced couples | Weekly or annual, combined | One London agency's salary page; one private staffing agency's 2026 guide |
These are guides, not official rates. Agency ranges reflect the roles those agencies fill, often in large private homes, and one of them says its figures come from its own live searches and placements. They aren't averages of the whole market. Couple figures are for two people, so halve them before comparing with a single salary.
Another agency's guide puts private housekeepers at £45,000 to £60,000+ a year, or £20 to £25+ an hour. If you combine housekeeping with childcare, compare with our nanny salaries too.
What a housekeeper salary pays after tax
| Gross a year | Income tax | National Insurance | Take-home a year | Take-home a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £26,177 (ONS median) | £2,721.40 | £1,088.56 | £22,367.04 | £1,863.92 |
| £30,000 | £3,486.00 | £1,394.40 | £25,119.60 | £2,093.30 |
| £35,000 | £4,486.00 | £1,794.40 | £28,719.60 | £2,393.30 |
| £42,000 | £5,886.00 | £2,354.40 | £33,759.60 | £2,813.30 |
| £50,000 | £7,486.00 | £2,994.40 | £39,519.60 | £3,293.30 |
Our figures assume a standard tax code, no pension and no student loan, using the 2026/27 income tax and National Insurance rates. Payroll works it out each pay period, so a payslip can differ by a few pounds, and Scotland has different income tax bands.
If you're in a workplace pension, at least 5% of your qualifying earnings also comes out of your pay. Your employer adds at least 3%, making 8% in total, usually worked out on earnings between £6,240 and £50,270.
Hiring one? See what a housekeeper costs the family, with employer NI and pension.
Live-in housekeepers: check the hours
A live-in housekeeper is entitled to the minimum wage, even if she's treated as one of the family. Only members of the employer's own family are excluded.
With a free room, only £77.70 a week can count towards minimum wage pay (GOV.UK). At 40 working hours and £12.71 an hour, that means at least £430.70 a week paid in money; at 50 hours, at least £557.80. Check the hours against any live-in offer at the lower end of the agency ranges.
Under 21? The rate is £10.85 an hour at 18 to 20 (GOV.UK). You're also entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year, at least 28 days for a five-day week.
What moves a housekeeper's pay up
Setting makes the largest difference in these figures. The agency guides put private household housekeepers well above the official average, which also covers hotels, schools and hostels.
Seniority is next: head housekeepers in principal residences sit at the top of the agency ranges, at £70,000 to £95,000. Combining roles changes the band too, as the nanny-housekeeper and couple rows show, and full-time live-out hours are what the higher annual figures assume.
For live-in roles, one agency notes that pay also varies with the value of the accommodation. If you're heading towards running a household, see what a house manager does and what house management pays. For butler pay, see our butler salary guide.
