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The Day Rate Report

For journalists · United Kingdom · figures checked 30 September 2026

Story angles ready to run

17 trades

modelled across 30 towns, every figure free to reproduce with credit.

Reproduce any of these figures with credit to The Day Rate Report.

Three pre packaged angles from the September 2026 day rate models, every figure computed from the published datasets rather than written down.

How the benchmarks are sourcedEach benchmark is published beside the day rate spread the UK price guides themselves publish for that trade, named and dated on the trade page, checked 30 September 2026. 16 of the 17 trades here carry that published spread.The other 1 have no comparable published day rate anywhere, and say so instead of showing a range.Every benchmark is cross checked against the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2025 and Hudson Contract real payment data.The cross checks sit beside the base, never inside it.

Angle 01 · the trade league table

Electricians are the most expensive trade to hire in Britain at £280 a day, £140 more than general labourers.

All 17 modelled trades on one scale, each benchmark checked against the day rates UK trade price guides publish. Each trade links to its full 30 town table.

Day rate benchmark by trade, all 17 modelled trades
TradeBenchmarkTown spread
Electrician£280£224 to £329
Plumber£270£216 to £318
Bricklayer£260£208 to £306
Gas and Heating Engineer£259£207 to £305
General Builder£253£202 to £298
Carpenter and joiner£240£192 to £282
Roofer£239£191 to £281
Plasterer£230£184 to £271
Tiler£229£183 to £269
Drainage Engineer£225£180 to £265
Decorative Plasterer£225£180 to £265
Groundworker£213£170 to £251
Painter and decorator£200£160 to £235
Handyman£188£150 to £221
Cladding Installer£175£140 to £206
Suspended Ceiling Installer£175£140 to £206
General Labourer£140£112 to £165

Benchmarks are per day, before materials and VAT.

Angle 02 · the postcode premium

Guildford is the most expensive modelled town in Britain to hire a tradesperson and Sunderland the cheapest, a 47 percent premium.

The model uses one geography engine built from ONS regional pay and local house prices, so the same towns top and bottom every trade table.

Lowest and highest of the 30 modelled towns, by trade
TradeSunderlandGuildfordGap
Painter and decorator£75 gap£160£235£75
Carpenter and joiner£90 gap£192£282£90
Groundworker£81 gap£170£251£81
Drainage Engineer£85 gap£180£265£85
Decorative Plasterer£85 gap£180£265£85
Cladding Installer£66 gap£140£206£66
Suspended Ceiling Installer£66 gap£140£206£66
Plumber£102 gap£216£318£102
Electrician£105 gap£224£329£105
Plasterer£87 gap£184£271£87
Tiler£86 gap£183£269£86
Roofer£90 gap£191£281£90
General Builder£96 gap£202£298£96
Bricklayer£98 gap£208£306£98
General Labourer£53 gap£112£165£53
Gas and Heating Engineer£98 gap£207£305£98
Handyman£71 gap£150£221£71

Lowest and highest of the 30 modelled towns for each trade. On a narrow screen the gap moves under the trade name rather than being dropped.

For any other pair of towns, the compare page sets every trade side by side.

Angle 03 · the North and South gap

Southern towns pay £26 a day more than northern towns for the same decorator.

South here means the 13 modelled towns in the South East, South West and East of England.

North means the 7 modelled towns in the North East, North West and Yorkshire.

The Midlands, Scotland and Wales sit outside this comparison.

Median modelled day rate, 13 southern towns against 7 northern towns
TradeNorthSouthGap
Painter and decorator£26 gap£180£206£26
Carpenter and joiner£31 gap£216£247£31
Groundworker£27 gap£192£219£27
Drainage Engineer£29 gap£202£231£29
Decorative Plasterer£29 gap£202£231£29
Cladding Installer£23 gap£157£180£23
Suspended Ceiling Installer£23 gap£157£180£23
Plumber£35 gap£243£278£35
Electrician£36 gap£252£288£36
Plasterer£29 gap£207£236£29
Tiler£29 gap£206£235£29
Roofer£31 gap£215£246£31
General Builder£32 gap£228£260£32
Bricklayer£33 gap£234£267£33
General Labourer£18 gap£126£144£18
Gas and Heating Engineer£33 gap£233£266£33
Handyman£24 gap£169£193£24

Figures are medians of the modelled towns in each group, derived and labelled as such. On a narrow screen the gap moves under the trade name rather than being dropped, because the gap is what this table is about.

The sourcing, in full

Where the numbers come from

  1. 01Each benchmark is checked against the day rates UK trade price guides publish, and every trade page shows that published spread with the date it was checked.
  2. 02One method, every trade. We publish the benchmark and the spread beside it, and we do not claim the benchmark was derived from those guides.
  3. 03One trade has no comparable guide figure published anywhere. Those pages state that plainly instead of showing a spread.
  4. 04Earnings data from ONS ASHE 2025 and real payments according to Hudson Contract sit beside every base as cross checks.
  5. 05Town figures spread the base with ONS regional pay and local house price data from the same dated registers.
  6. 06No figure publishes without a named, dated source.

Read the full methodology →

Pictures, not just tables

Charts you can use

Every angle above as a picture, sized for a story, with the credit and the address already drawn into it.

  • What each trade charges a dayThe 17 national benchmarks ranked, angle one.PNG ↓SVG ↓
  • The 47 per cent postcode premiumAll 30 towns ranked, Guildford to Sunderland, angle two.PNG ↓SVG ↓
  • The North and South gapMedian northern rate against median southern rate, by trade, angle three.PNG ↓SVG ↓
  • Where a day costs mostThe 30 towns mapped, with every rate printed beside it.PNG ↓SVG ↓

Free to reproduce under CC BY 4.0, and the credit is already in the picture.

Reproduce these figures

Free to use in articles, research and broadcasts under CC BY 4.0. Credit The Day Rate Report and link to thedayrate.co.uk.

Cite the reportThe Day Rate Report, UK trade day rate datasets, 30 September 2026, https://thedayrate.co.uk/press/
Citing one tradeThe Day Rate Report, Electrician day rates, 30 September 2026, https://thedayrate.co.uk/electrician-day-rates/Use the format printed on that trade's own page.
Embed this figure

The report card carries the trade league table headline, and the link goes to this press page.

<a href="https://thedayrate.co.uk/press/"><img src="https://thedayrate.co.uk/og/press.png" alt="UK day rates for 17 building trades, from The Day Rate Report" width="1200" height="630"></a>
See the card, 1200 by 630

Questions, corrections or a figure you want checked before you run it, write to press@thedayrate.co.uk.

Download · CSVall-day-rates.csvEvery one of the 17 trades in all 30 towns, one row each, with the benchmark and the published spread beside it.

Free CSV downloads, one per trade. Each file carries the full 30 town table behind that trade page.

For your readers

For readers who want their own number rather than the national picture, there is one place to send them.

The Rate Sorted calculator works a day rate out from a tradesperson's own overheads.