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Minimum wage Dundee: the legal rate and what local jobs pay

Full time jobs in Dundee pay a little less than in Glasgow, Edinburgh or Aberdeen. Its rents are lower still, and on the legal minimum that leaves more in your pocket.

By Graeme · Published 29 October 2026 · 6 min read

Last updated · Figures checked

Quick answer · Minimum wage in Dundee, 21 and over

£12.71an hour

The same legal rate as the rest of the UK, rising to £13.21 on 1 April 2027. Working full time, that's about £1,784 a month take home.

Age 21 and over
£12.71, then £13.21
Age 18 to 20
£10.85, then £11.27
One bedroom rent, Dundee and Angus
£573 a month
Left after rent and council tax
£1,078 a month

Rates from 1 April 2026. Rent for September 2026Source GOV.UK

Dundee city street with ordinary shops and a worker's lunch bag
Dundee city street with ordinary shops and a worker's lunch bag.
On this page

The minimum wage in Dundee is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over, and it goes up to £13.21 on 1 April 2027. It's the same rate as everywhere else in the UK. Full time jobs in Dundee pay a bit less than in Glasgow, Edinburgh or Aberdeen, but rent is cheaper too, and on the legal minimum that trade works in Dundee's favour.

The legal rate in Dundee

These are the hourly rates by age. They're set by the UK Government for the whole country, so there's no separate Dundee or Scottish rate to look for.

The same in Dundee as anywhere in the UK

Minimum wage rates

AgeNowFrom 1 April 2027
21 and over£12.71£13.21
18 to 20£10.85£11.27
Under 18£8.00£8.31
Apprentice£8.00£8.31
Hourly rates from GOV.UK. The apprentice rate is for apprentices under 19, or 19 and over in their first year.

What's left after rent and council tax in Dundee

I'll start with the bit that matters most when money is tight. The average one bedroom rent in the Dundee and Angus rental area was £573 a month in September 2026, the lowest of the four big city areas. That's about 32% of a full time minimum wage after tax.

£1,078

a month left on a full time minimum wage after rent and council tax

In Edinburgh the same job leaves £621. That's £457 a month more in Dundee, on exactly the same wage.

Full time on the legal minimum, a month

What's left after rent and council tax

CityTake homeOne bedroom rentCouncil tax and waterLeft
Glasgow£1,784£845£131£808
Edinburgh£1,784£1,036£127£621
Aberdeen£1,784£602£133£1,048
Dundee£1,784£573£132£1,078
Take home at £12.71 an hour, 37.5 hours a week. Rent is the ONS average for a one bedroom home in the city's rental area, September 2026. Council tax is Band A for 2026/27 with water and waste water, before any discount.

Dundee council tax on a low wage

The catch is council tax. Dundee City Council raised its charge by 7.7% for 2026/27, the biggest rise of the four cities. A Band A bill, the lowest band, now comes to £1,588.01 a year with water and waste water, about £132 a month. Every band is on the Dundee council tax bands page.

Ways to bring the bill down

If you live on your own you get 25% off the council tax part. On a low income you may also qualify for , which is worked out by the council and can cover part or all of the bill.

What Dundee jobs actually pay

The earnings survey for April 2026 counts 86,000 employee jobs in Dundee, a much smaller jobs market than Glasgow or Edinburgh. Across all of them, full and part time, leaving out overtime:

  • 1 in 10 pays less than £13.40 an hour.
  • 1 in 5 pays less than £14.35 an hour.
  • The middle job pays £19.66 an hour, almost exactly the Scotland figure of £19.63.

Full time is where Dundee falls behind. The middle full time job based in the city pays £39,379 a year, the lowest of the four cities, and full time workers who live in Dundee earn £38,424. The council by council list is in average salary Scotland.

What a full time minimum wage job takes home

Take home pay is the same in Dundee as in any Scottish city. Here it is for this year and from April 2027, worked out on Scottish income tax and .

Age 21 and over, 37.5 hours a week

Full time pay at the legal minimum

Now (£12.71)April 2027 (£13.21)
Pay before tax, a week£476.63£495.38
Pay before tax, a year£24,784.50£25,759.50
Take home, a year£21,404.11£22,106.11
Take home, a month£1,783.68£1,842.18
Scottish income tax and employee National Insurance on 2026/27 rules, standard tax code, no pension or student loan. The 2027/28 Scottish tax bands aren't set yet.

The real Living Wage gap in Dundee

The , the voluntary rate based on what living actually costs, is £14.10 an hour. That's £1.39 an hour more than the legal minimum, or £2,710.50 over a full time year. In Dundee that's more than 4 months of average one bedroom rent. The real Living Wage Scotland guide explains who pays it.

If you're paid less than the minimum wage

Check that every paid hour is at least the rate for your age. If it isn't, raise it with your employer. Acas gives free, confidential advice on 0300 123 1100, Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, and you can complain to HMRC about an employer that won't pay what you're owed.

Dundee council tax, band by band

See what every band costs in Dundee this year, water included, and how much it went up.

Dundee council tax bands

Quick answers

Questions people ask

Is the minimum wage different in Dundee?

No. The UK Government sets one rate for the whole UK. In Dundee it's £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over.

How much is left on minimum wage in Dundee after rent?

About £1,078 a month, working full time at £12.71, after an average one bedroom rent of £573 and a Band A council tax and water bill. That's more than in Glasgow, Edinburgh or Aberdeen.

How much did Dundee council tax go up?

Dundee City Council raised council tax by 7.7% for 2026/27. A Band A bill with water and waste water is £1,588.01 a year.

What do jobs in Dundee pay?

In April 2026, 1 in 10 jobs based in Dundee paid less than £13.40 an hour and the middle job paid £19.66. The middle full time job paid £39,379 a year.
Proof and further detailOpen the 13 original sources
  1. 01National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates , UK Government. The legal hourly minimums from 1 April 2026: £12.71 for workers aged 21 and over, £10.85 for ages 18 to 20, and £8 for under 18s and eligible apprentices.How I used it: The full time illustration is £12.71 multiplied by 37.5 paid hours and 52 weeks: £24,784.50 gross a year. It is an illustration, not a claim that every minimum wage worker receives those hours.
  2. 02National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage rates from April 2027 , UK Government. The legal hourly minimums from 1 April 2027: £13.21 for workers aged 21 and over, £11.27 for ages 18 to 20, and £8.31 for under 18s and eligible apprentices.How I used it: The full time illustration is £13.21 multiplied by 37.5 paid hours and 52 weeks: £25,759.50 gross a year, £975 more than the same hours at the 2026 rate.
  3. 03Scottish Income Tax: rates and bands, 2026 to 2027 , Scottish Government. The bands used to work out take home pay: a £12,570 personal allowance, then 19% to £16,537, 20% to £29,526 and 21% to £43,662.
  4. 04National Insurance rates and categories , UK Government. Class 1 employee National Insurance, category A: nothing below £242 a week, 8% between £242 and £967, and 2% above.
  5. 05Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics, 21 October 2026 , Office for National Statistics. Average monthly private rents for September 2026, for one bedroom homes and all homes, with the change on a year: Greater Glasgow £845 one bedroom, Lothian £1,036, Aberdeen and Shire £602, Dundee and Angus £573, and Scotland £702.How I used it: Scotland is published by Broad Rental Market Area, not by council, so each city uses the area it sits in. ONS notes Scottish rents are mostly advertised new lets. The money left each month is full time take home pay at the legal minimum, less the one bedroom average and a 2026/27 Band A council tax and water bill divided by 12, before any discount.
  6. 06Council Tax by band 2025-26 and 2026-27, council tax datasets , Scottish Government. Council tax by band for all 32 Scottish councils in 2025-26 and 2026-27, including the cash and percentage change between the two years.How I used it: The amounts are used as displayed to the nearest penny in the two national workbooks, which record the figures reported by each local authority. Cash and percentage changes are calculated from those two published amounts. Scottish Water charges are excluded from every council tax comparison and added separately from Scottish Water's published table.
  7. 07Unmetered charges 2026-27 , Scottish Water. Unmetered water and waste water charges for 2026-27: £201.30 and £233.58 at Band A, £434.88 combined. These are collected with council tax.
  8. 08Council Tax discounts, exemptions and reductions , mygov.scot. The single adult, student, disability, severe mental impairment and low income routes that can reduce or remove a Council Tax bill.
  9. 09Council Tax Reduction in Scotland: 2025-2026 , Scottish Government. Council Tax Reduction can cover any share of Council Tax liability up to 100%, depending on income and household circumstances.
  10. 10Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2026 provisional: place of work by local authority (ASHE Table 7) , Office for National Statistics. For jobs based in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Scotland in April 2026: the number of employee jobs, hourly pay leaving out overtime at the 10th and 20th percentiles and the median for all employees, and median annual and weekly pay for full time employees.How I used it: Tables 7.1a, 7.6a and 7.7a. Workplace figures count a job where the work is, so they include people who commute in. They are compared with residence figures only to show that difference.
  11. 11Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2026 provisional: place of residence by local authority (ASHE Table 8) , Office for National Statistics. Median gross annual and weekly pay for full time employees living in Scotland and in each of the 32 councils in April 2026: £41,591 a year and £825.40 a week for Scotland. Also the Scotland mean (£48,435), the 10th to 90th percentiles, hourly pay leaving out overtime (£21.59), the median for all employees (£34,559) and the UK median (£40,911).How I used it: Tables 8.1a, 8.5a to 8.7a and their quality tables. Annual figures are rounded to the nearest pound. Annual pay only covers employees who had been in the same job for at least a year. Council figures with a coefficient of variation above 10% are starred, because ONS advises caution. Orkney's annual median is not published.
  12. 12Real Living Wage rates and frequently asked questions , Living Wage Foundation. The voluntary real Living Wage of £14.10 an hour outside London and £15.45 in London, announced on 15 October 2026 for accredited employers to pay by 1 May 2027. It is calculated from living costs rather than set as the legal wage floor.How I used it: At 37.5 paid hours for 52 weeks this is £27,495 gross a year, £2,710.50 more than the same hours illustration at the 2026 legal minimum.
  13. 13Pay and work rights helpline and complaints , UK Government. The Acas helpline, 0300 123 1100, Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, and that complaints about the minimum wage go to HMRC.

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