How much we REALLY earn, from £15k to £1.25m: It's the great British taboo to ask. But now 25 workers - from a drug dealer and OnlyFans model to a nanny, lawyer, estate agent and therapist - reveal every detail
Sex, religion and money are, apparently, the three things us Brits are most reluctant to discuss with our friends, colleagues and, sometimes, even our own families.
As a result, 'How much do you earn?' is probably one of the phrases in the English language most avoided.
Which seems a shame because, what with spiralling inflation, the cost-of-living crisis, unemployment rising every month and the rise of AI, we could all do with opening our eyes a bit when it comes to money and compare our income against the average annual salary (£39,039) for full-time employees in the UK.
And also to have a better handle on which jobs in Britain are rewarding emotionally, which are rewarding financially and which, whisper it, sound a bit like money for old rope.
Well, we have done the dirty work and, after promising to keep all names secret (we are British, after all) asked 25 people what they do, what their job entails and most of all, what they get paid...
Freelance Mortician, 30s - £10,000 a year
I charge between £135 and £185 per body, though I never charge for a child. Embalming is a job you do for love, not profit. I could earn more doing other jobs, but not while I have young children.
Embalming a body is much more than injecting arterial fluid into the neck. You also have to suture the mouth and eyes shut, block any openings with cotton wool and then do the personal care - washing, dressing, shaving, hair styling and applying makeup.
Each embalming takes me from 45 minutes to three hours, sometimes longer if the body is not in a good condition. I am a perfectionist and want the family to be happy.
The OnlyFans creative says her work makes it difficult to find a boyfriend (posed by model)
Kings Counsel, Family Division, 50s - £1.25million
I enjoy my job, take pride in the craft, am pleased to work in an area of the law that has huge social purpose and pays well, but I also do a lot of pro bono work.
To be a good barrister you need to be a persuasive advocate, have an analytical mind, be good at working in a team, have empathy towards the client and have an intuitive reading of the court.
I have been practising for 35 years, work 55 hours a week and take 12 weeks of holiday a year. I am very good at switching off.
Aircraft Dispatcher, Heathrow, 40s - £30,000
I work just 26 hours a week, so my salary sounds reasonable until you understand that getting an aircraft ready to depart means coordinating bags, cargo, catering, passengers, cabin crew and the flight deck — all of it loaded correctly, all of it signed off, the whole thing pushed back safely and on time in one of the world's busiest airports. When a departure goes smoothly, nobody notices.
Over 20 years, the pay has risen by just £10,000 which, in real terms, is a significant cut for a job that requires precision and accountability, ultimately with people's lives at stake.
OnlyFans creative, 20s - £75,000 a year
I first tried OnlyFans when I was at university, made £500 from my bedroom in the first 24 hours and was hooked.
To start, I showed my cleavage and bikini shots, but then I started stripping off and getting a bit cheeky.
Next, I tried porn, but oddly the money didn't really go up that much. OnlyFans is all about doing something that makes you stand out, so I started 'teaming up' with other creatives.
My job makes it much harder to have a boyfriend, but I'm happy doing it for now because I'm saving up. When I stop, I'd like to meet someone likeminded who is relaxed about sex and their body.
Chairman of British pub chain, 70s - £100,000 plus dividend
I wanted to be a fighter pilot like my old man, but when I was 15 years old, I found out I was colourblind, so I changed tack.
I opened my first pub in London when I was 23 and have been in the business for the past 47 years.
Thinking about pubs is a beam I can't turn off, like the lights on my Volvo. So, to balance life, I played squash for 20 years, took up surfing again when I was 51 and try not to talk about work with my family. I am not on any social media, or email and only got a smart phone when I was 60.
The Tesco delivery driver who spoke to the Daily Mail says he is happy with his relatively modest salary (stock photo)
Tesco Delivery Driver, 20s - £20,000
I've been doing this for a few months since leaving teaching, where I earned around £24,000 but had more responsibility and was constantly working at home. Now I earn minimum wage plus a 90p hourly 'skills payment' for driving the van, and my work-life balance is much better.
I enjoy the interaction with customers and colleagues, though evening shifts can feel unsafe. I definitely feel that I am paid sufficiently for what I do. It's lots of heavy lifting, but it's a simple job.
Drug Dealer, 30s - £50,000 (untaxed)
I started selling at 18. Bubble (mephedrone), hash, speed — whatever people wanted then. You move with the times. These days it's cocaine, ketamine, heroin and 'spice' - which is synthetic cannabis. The product range changes; the business model doesn't.
I've done this for six years in total. Prison didn't stop my work — it just changed the logistics. Phones were delivered by drone. I was making about £3,500 per week from inside, across three handsets. If someone didn't pay their debt, I had people 'visit' their family on the outside. You do what you have to do to maintain order.
Out here, I think of myself as the brains. I've got a delivery team — we call it Uber Drugs — an 'enforcement' team, and people whose job is market research: watching what the Albanians and Romanians are doing, their prices, and working to undercut them. For ketamine and the rest, there are mixing teams. There's a significant wage bill.
Marketing is Snapchat and TikTok now. The profit is around £1,000 a week, untaxed. I've got a daughter who wants for nothing: designer clothes, jewellery, the lot. My wife, too. People think drug dealing is simple, but it takes a huge amount of work and risk analysis. I'm aware that a third conviction would mean serious time. So I keep my head down and stay off the radar.
Celebrant, 40s - £28,000
I conduct weddings, funerals, life celebrations and occasional career-change ceremonies, earning £700-£1,200 per event. Annual income ranges from £20,000 to £36,000 depending on bookings.
Guests see the ceremony but nothing behind it: the initial meetings, research, writing scripts, helping with vows and speeches, translating bilingual ceremonies, organising logistics, coordinating photography and sometimes MCing entire days. While I feel I am paid enough for weddings, for funerals I do not feel celebrants are paid as fairly as Funeral Directors - we're expected to charge in-line with the Church of England prices, which is around the £220 mark.
Online Physics Teacher, 40s - £100,000
Today I teach up to 10 hours a week and earn more than I ever did working in schoools. I teach physics to live audiences on a platform called MyEdSpace that can run to 26,000 students at once — surreal the first time, but you find your rhythm.
Questions come in live, you respond directly, and the feedback arrives almost immediately: reviews, messages, the occasional note saying a student got into university. I don't miss traditional teaching. Long lessons, working through lunch, emails. I was burning out. Now I love my job.
Psychotherapist, 30s - £15,500
I run a private practice specialising in chronic illness, something I live with myself.
I see five to nine clients a week, charging £40 - £70 on a sliding scale, bringing my income to around £15,500.
But the sessions are just part of the work. There's supervision, weekly professional development, record-keeping, appointment management and finding clients.
The psychotherapist charges up to £70 a session, but these appointments take up just a fraction of their working week (stock photo)
Nanny, 30s - £52,000
I've been a nanny for 12 years, and the role now resembles a 'Nanny PA'. I work from 7.30am sometimes until 10pm, depending on the family's schedule.
A typical day starts with breakfast and the school run. After drop-off, the household takes over: booking activities and holidays, organising tradespeople, managing laundry, labelling clothes and coordinating family logistics. The work is skilled, the hours are long, and the trust families place in you is significant.
Celebrity Publicist, 40s - £102,000
Artists and actors hire me to shape and manage their public image and collaborate with record labels and agents to create a red-carpet-ready version of a person that helps sell albums, tickets and brand partnerships.
The job pays well because the stakes are high. With the right narrative, an artist can sell hundreds of thousands of albums or tickets in a short time. I currently have five clients on retainer. The role has become more challenging as celebrities now compete with influencers for attention.
But in this economy I do think I'm paid sufficiently.
Intensive Care Nurse, 40s - £55,000 (with overtime)
I've been a registered nurse for almost 20 years and a senior charge nurse in intensive care for the past eight. I work a mix of 12.5-hour day and night shifts, usually 40-60 hours a week including overtime.
My role ranges from bedside care for critically ill patients to leading shifts and overseeing staffing, patient flow and safety across a large adult critical care unit. The responsibility is enormous and patient safety ultimately sits with us.
Staffing shortages make work-life balance difficult but I can't imagine doing anything else.
However, my salary doesn't reflect the level of responsibility of trying to keep 15 to 17 critical patients alive. Nowhere in the private sector would that be acceptable.
The role ranges from bedside care for critically ill patients to leading shifts and overseeing staffing, says the nurse (posed by model)
Owner of estate agency business, 60s - £250,000-300,000
Estate agency is not easy money - particularly at the top end of the market where the sales can by unpredictable and intermittent - and involves a lot of psychology, ego massaging and constant client management, as well as commercial skill.
We earn our money by charging 2 per cent of the transaction cost. Clients fight me over it, and some people calling us 'parasites', but those fees are drawn from blood!
If you're really good at it, as I am, the job can be very lucrative.
Mergers and Acquisitions Tax Director, 30s - £150,000
I advise private equity firms on tax-efficient investment structures, helping them plan within the rules.
I speak with clients across the world, including major brands and high-net-worth individuals. The global nature of the work means no two days are the same.
The rise of AI has made some people think this work can be done cheaply or automatically, which is a concern for an industry built on expertise and billable hours. While my salary may seem like a decent number, I am available to my clients almost 24 hours a day, including holidays, so I really deserve more.
Biohazard and specialists cleaning company owner, 40s - annual income projected this year, £500,000.
I am based in Kent and deal mainly with unattended deaths, empty properties and hoarders' cleans. Nothing fazes me anymore. I can open any cupboard, oven, fridge and am prepared for absolutely anything to be inside.
What I love most is helping people during difficult times. I'm not just transforming someone's property, I'm giving them their life back, and that brings huge satisfaction.
I believe I'm paid fairly for the job that I do. There are a lot of risks involved and that's reflected in the costs clients are charged.
Personal Stylist, 50s - £42,000
I retrained in my early forties, and this felt like the career I'd been searching for all along. After eight years I've worked with over 1,000 women, taught at the London College of Style, worked backstage at fashion shows and hosted a radio show. My income varies between £35,000 and £50,000: I do think I'm fairly paid but a lot of work goes into each client experience behind the scenes.
Kundalini Yoga and Meditation Teacher, 40s - £30,000
Every weekday at 6.45am I teach a 45-minute class to students around the world. Some join live, others watch later. That routine provides a stable income which just covers my living expenses and has given me complete 'location freedom'. Recently I put all my stuff into storage and began travelling — India, Sri Lanka, the UAE and now Kenya — teaching beside the beach.
Aesthetics Clinic Owner, 50s - £120,000
I inject faces with filler in my clinic but I also fly around the world teaching other practitioners how to do cosmetic work.
I have 25 years' medical experience — in the NHS and in surgical roles — but much of the job is now psychology, business managing and helping people with their own self-worth. It means that sometimes the most important thing to say to a client is: 'No, that is not a good idea'.
DJ, 40s - £50,000
I've been a DJ for 30 years, and the industry has changed dramatically. Some club venues have closed, and Gen Z are less focused on nightlife. Weddings now make up a large share of my income, but bookings come much later and guest lists have shrunk. The middle market has largely disappeared — events are either budget or luxury.
CEO, Luxury Car Concierge Company, 50s - £150,000-£225,000
I run a luxury car rental and automotive concierge business, overseeing everything from selecting ultra-luxury vehicles to managing VIP clients around the world. The pressure is intense, as expectations are sky-high and service must be flawless. When clients arrive by private jet, there's no room for mistakes.
Television Subtitler, 50s - £33,500
I've been subtitling for 25 years - starting at the BBC and later for various companies - on everything from dramas, to documentaries, to quiz shows.
Today I work from home, with a sea view, but I used to be office-based, working with clunky software, VHS tapes and paper scripts.
It is demanding when deadlines are tight, but the job has expanded my general knowledge. I now know, for instance, that a polar bear was recorded swimming non-stop for nine days, covering 426 miles.
Private Investigator, 50s - £24,000
I started the business at 50. Before that I was a dementia specialist with a well-known charity. The turning point was being mugged at knifepoint in Oxford. My reaction was to start studying. Psychology first, then forensic psychology, then criminal psychology, then private investigation.
I've also written a book. My psychology background turns out to be more useful than people would expect. Understanding why people do what they do, how they behave under pressure, what they're likely to conceal, is a huge part of the job.
Milliner, 40s - £25,000
I design and make bespoke hats — the kind worn to Royal Ascot, weddings and so on. My studio is at the bottom of my garden.
A client comes to me with her outfit and we work from there. It's an entirely personal service, which is the part I love most. By the time someone leaves with a finished piece, it couldn't belong to anyone else.
I'm self-employed and work five days a week but only during term time and I couldn't be happier. I love what I do so I'm amazed I get paid at all but in comparison to other skilled workers I wouldn't mind slightly more.
Child Sleep Specialist, 40s - £45,000
I've worked as a child sleep specialist for just over six years after retraining from children's nursing. I work with children aged 0-16 and increasingly see complex issues in older children linked to anxiety. Demand has grown dramatically. Social media has raised awareness but also confusion, so I offer tailored one-to-one advice. The first few years were financially tough while I built up experience and a client base. Now that I'm well established, the pay feels more in line with my level of expertise.
