# Salary benchmarking tools in the UK: the main options, and what they leave out

> UK salary benchmarking tools compared: ONS, IDR, Croner, Paydata, Brightmine, Mercer, WTW, Payscale, Figures, Ravio, HR Datahub. What each covers.

Source: https://lumihr.co.uk/guides/uk-salary-benchmarking-tools
Author: David Whitfield (https://lumihr.co.uk/about/david-whitfield)
Review by: 22 January 2027

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Salary benchmarking tells you what organisations pay for a job. In the UK the data comes in four kinds: official statistics, surveys that employers take part in, platforms fed by employers' HR systems, and job adverts. This page sets out the main sources, what each is good for, and where each stops.

We do not run a salary benchmarking tool. lumi benchmarks the rest of reward (pension, leave, family policy, health cover, incentives, benefits, wellbeing and reward governance), so it sits beside the sources on this list rather than among them. We have described the others as their own publishers describe them, with links so you can check.

## The short answer

- For an official reference on UK pay by occupation, industry and region, published openly, start with the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings.
- For UK pay reported by employers, through surveys you can take part in, look at IDR, Croner Reward, Paydata and Brightmine.
- For one survey method across many countries, look at Mercer and WTW.
- For pay data inside compensation software, drawn from employers' HR systems, look at Payscale, Figures and Ravio.
- For what employers are advertising for a role now, look at HR Datahub. Advertised pay is not pay in post.
- For a quick read on a single role, look at the recruiters' salary guides from Robert Half, Hays and Michael Page.
- Most of these centre on pay. For how your pension, leave, family policy and benefits compare with organisations like yours, see [our comparison of benefits benchmarking sources](/guides/uk-benefits-benchmarking-options). lumi is one of the options there.

## At a glance

| Source | What it is | Where the data comes from | Beyond base pay | How you get access |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ONS ASHE | The official survey of UK employees' earnings and hours | Employer responses for a sample of employee jobs, drawn from HMRC PAYE records | Overtime and incentive pay in its tables | Published openly on ons.gov.uk |
| Incomes Data Research (IDR) | UK pay awards and pay levels databases, and pay reports | Collected directly from HR professionals | Separate reports on bonus, incentives, cars, medical cover, pensions and allowances | Subscription or reports to buy; free summary for participants |
| Croner Reward | UK salary surveys, an online salary tool and market rate reports | UK organisations taking part in its database | Benefits by job function | Surveys and tools to buy |
| Paydata | UK salary surveys | Its professional associations survey: directly from employers, line by line, for employees in post | That survey: total cash, hours and main benefits | That survey: participants only, by annual subscription |
| Brightmine | UK pay benchmarks (Compensation Planning), beside HR law and compliance content | Over 1 million employer-submitted records, updated monthly, it says | Bonus and benefits decisions; a separate benefits and allowances survey series | Subscription, on quote |
| Mercer Total Remuneration Survey | Global remuneration survey, with a UK edition | Participating organisations | Allowances, incentives, long-term incentives and benefits policies | Buy; participants pay less |
| WTW salary surveys | Salary surveys across industries, countries and job levels | Participating organisations | Separate benefits policy reports and benefits database | Take part or buy |
| Payscale | Compensation data and software | Employers' HR systems, plus third-party surveys | One dataset includes bonus and total cash | Subscription, priced on request |
| Figures | Compensation platform with benchmarks, salary bands and reviews | Customers' HR systems, plus Mercer data | Base, variable pay and benefits, on its pricing page | Subscription, priced by headcount and modules |
| Ravio | Compensation platform with benchmarks, salary bands and pay equity analysis | The HR systems of 1,800+ companies, through 60+ HRIS integrations, it says | Equity, variable pay and 60+ benefits | Subscription by company size and modules; from £5,400 a year for 250 people |
| HR Datahub | Salary benchmarking from UK job adverts | UK job postings | A benefits and incentives chart | Subscription, priced on request; no data to contribute |
| Recruiters' salary guides | Robert Half, Hays and Michael Page | Each recruiter's placements, survey or job-posting data | Varies by guide | Hays and Michael Page: in return for your contact details |
| lumi | Not a salary tool: benchmarks the rest of reward | Members' own reward policy data | Everything except base pay | Annual membership; members contribute their own data |

## The options in more detail

### ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)

The Office for National Statistics describes ASHE as the most comprehensive source of information on the wages and working hours of UK employees. It is based on employer responses for a sample of employee jobs drawn from HMRC PAYE records, and an employer selected for it is legally obliged to respond. Its tables include overtime and incentive pay as well as basic pay. The 2026 release, published on 22 October 2026, puts median weekly earnings for full-time employees at £811.20 in April 2026; the 2026 estimates are provisional.

**Good for:** an official, citable reference on pay by occupation, industry and region, in CSV and Excel.

**Limits:** it reports occupations, not your job descriptions, and it does not cover the self-employed. It tells you what employees are paid, not how any one organisation structures its pay.

[ONS: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings](https://www.ons.gov.uk/ashe) · [Employee earnings in the UK: 2026](https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearnings/2026)

### Incomes Data Research (IDR)

IDR's research team collects pay information directly from HR professionals at organisations across the economy. Its Pay Benchmarker gives subscribers two databases, one of pay awards and one of pay levels. Its reports go wider: the Managers' Pay Report 2026, based on data from 38 organisations employing over 384,000 staff, also covers bonus, long-term incentive prevalence, company cars, private medical insurance and pensions, and a separate report covers allowances and additional payments. IDR also runs one-off benchmarking on basic pay or on wider reward elements.

**Good for:** UK pay awards and pay levels reported by employers, at a published price. Pay Benchmarker is £1,508 + VAT a year, with a two-day free trial.

**Limits:** Pay Benchmarker covers salary levels and pay awards; the rest of reward sits in separate reports, priced individually. Organisations that take part receive free summary data and discounts.

[IDR Pay Benchmarker](https://www.incomesdataresearch.co.uk/pay-benchmarker) · [IDR benchmarking](https://www.incomesdataresearch.co.uk/benchmarking)

### Croner Reward

Croner Reward publishes UK salary surveys by region, job function and industry, an online salary tool called SalarySearch, and tailored market rate reports. Its data is collected from UK organisations of all sizes through its network of database participants, and it cites over 50,000 job records across 1,200 job titles and 34 industry sectors. Its job-function surveys benchmark salaries and benefits, and SalarySearch lists the benefits associated with a job. Croner also offers job evaluation.

**Good for:** UK salary data cut by region, function or industry, with job evaluation from the same provider.

**Limits:** the pages we read publish no prices and do not say what participants receive. Ask Croner.

[Croner Reward salary surveys](https://croner.co.uk/services/reward/salary-surveys-benchmarking)

### Paydata

Paydata describes itself as a source of UK salary data for HR professionals. Its Professional Associations and Institutes Pay and Benefits Survey collects data directly from employers, line by line, about employees in post, and covers base pay and total cash, plus hours and main benefits such as company cars, bonus schemes, share incentive plans, shift allowances and family policies.

**Good for:** UK employers that will take part in a survey. That survey is priced by organisation size: a 12-month subscription is £575 + VAT for up to 50 employees and £875 + VAT for 50 or more.

**Limits:** that survey is available only to participants. The pages we read set out the terms of that survey only; ask Paydata about its others.

[Paydata salary benchmarking](https://www.paydata.co.uk/services/pay-benchmarking/) · [Paydata Professional Associations and Institutes survey](https://www.paydata.co.uk/services/pay-benchmarking/salary-benchmarking-surveys/professional-associations-institutes-salary-survey/)

### Brightmine (formerly XpertHR)

Brightmine, part of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, describes its Compensation Planning product as "the freshest data set in the UK". It says its UK pay benchmarks are "based on over 1 million employer-submitted records updated monthly", compare pay across 485 job functions in 27 sectors, and support salary, bonus and benefits decisions. It sells them beside its HR & Compliance Centre (HR insights, legal guidance and compliance data) and Pay Equity Analytics. Its benefits and allowances surveys are described, from its own pages, in [our benefits comparison](/guides/uk-benefits-benchmarking-options#brightmine).

**Good for:** UK employers that want pay benchmarks by job function and sector from the same supplier as their HR law and compliance content.

**Limits:** the pages we read publish no prices (it sells on quote), and do not say how many organisations the records come from.

[Brightmine total rewards](https://www.brightmine.com/uk/solutions/total-rewards/) · [Brightmine products](https://www.brightmine.com/uk/products/)

### Mercer Total Remuneration Survey

Mercer's Total Remuneration Survey collects compensation and benefits data from participating organisations around the world, and is sold with a UK edition. Mercer cites around 50,000 organisations and 25 million observations worldwide. Beyond base salary it covers guaranteed allowances, short-term, sales and profit-sharing incentives, long-term incentives valued by the Black-Scholes method, and a summary of organisations' remuneration and benefits policies.

**Good for:** larger and international employers that want base pay, incentives and allowances by position, on one method across countries.

**Limits:** the counts Mercer publishes are global, not UK-specific. The UK edition is listed from £4,220, and organisations that take part receive a discount.

[Mercer Total Remuneration Surveys](https://www.imercer.com/products/total-remuneration-surveys) · [Mercer UK pay and benefit data, with prices](https://www.mercer.com/en-gb/insights/employee-health-and-benefits/reward-and-benefits/navigate-employee-remuneration-and-engagement-with-ease/)

### WTW salary surveys

WTW publishes salary surveys and benchmarking data across industries, countries and job levels, drawn from organisations that take part in its annual surveys; its salary surveys page cites more than 32 million employees in 11,000 organisations. Organisations can take part, or buy the data. WTW also publishes HR and benefits policies and practices reports, and its benefits design data is a separate product, Benefits Data Source.

**Good for:** multinationals and larger employers that want one survey method across countries and job levels.

**Limits:** the pages we read name no UK-specific surveys and publish no prices. Ask WTW which surveys fit your jobs.

[WTW salary surveys](https://www.wtwco.com/en-gb/solutions/products/salary-surveys)

### Payscale

Payscale sells compensation data and software. Its Peer dataset is reported by employers, drawn directly from participants' HR systems, and Payscale says its benchmarking products do not use the salaries individuals report to its consumer survey. It also resells third-party surveys, including from Aon, Mercer and Korn Ferry. Payscale lists the UK among the markets its Peer Markets data covers in more depth, and one of its datasets includes bonus and total cash compensation.

**Good for:** organisations that want UK and international pay data inside compensation software.

**Limits:** prices are on request, and the counts on its pages are global. Ask for UK-specific coverage of the jobs you need.

[Payscale compensation data](https://www.payscale.com/products/data)

### Figures

Figures is a compensation platform for benchmarking, salary bands and salary reviews. Its benchmark data is collected from its customers through their HR systems and updated monthly, and it integrates Mercer's compensation data into the platform. Its pricing page lists total reward data covering base, variable pay and benefits.

**Good for:** companies that want benchmarks inside the tool they use to build salary bands and run reviews.

**Limits:** the pages we read do not say how deep its UK coverage is, or what it costs. Pricing depends on headcount and the modules chosen.

[Figures benchmark](https://figures.hr/solutions/benchmark) · [Figures pricing](https://figures.hr/pricing)

### Ravio

Ravio is a compensation platform for benchmarks, salary bands and pay equity analysis. It says its benchmark data is "sourced directly from the HR systems of 1,800+ companies", through 60+ HRIS integrations, and covers 300+ roles in 50+ countries, filtered by location, funding stage, industry and headcount. Beyond base salary it benchmarks equity, variable pay and 60+ benefits.

**Good for:** companies that want benchmarks inside the tool they use to build salary bands and run pay reviews, across several countries. Its published customer stories are mostly technology companies.

**Limits:** the pages we read do not say how many of the 1,800+ companies are in the UK. Pricing depends on company size, modules and data needs; Ravio says it starts at £5,400 a year for a 250-person company.

[Ravio compensation benchmarking](https://ravio.com/compensation-benchmarking) · [Ravio pricing](https://ravio.com/pricing)

### HR Datahub

HR Datahub benchmarks salaries from UK job adverts. It draws on more than 40 million current and historical UK job postings, and says it is built on external market data rather than customer submissions, so you do not need to contribute your own data. Its plans list a benefits and incentives chart.

**Good for:** seeing what employers are advertising for a role now, without taking part in a survey.

**Limits:** advertised salaries are what employers offer new hires, not what people in post are paid. Prices depend on company size and are given on request.

[HR Datahub](https://www.hrdatahub.com/) · [HR Datahub pricing](https://www.hrdatahub.com/pricing)

### Recruiters' salary guides

Robert Half, Hays and Michael Page each publish a UK salary guide. Robert Half's is based on pay for professionals it has placed, together with job-posting data, covers 210 roles in 24 UK cities, and excludes bonuses and annual merit increases. Hays's draws on employers and professionals it surveyed across the UK. Michael Page's is based on assignments completed for clients in the first half of 2026, covers more than 900 roles, and includes variable pay and benefits where relevant.

**Good for:** a quick read on pay for a single role. Hays and Michael Page give access in return for your contact details.

**Limits:** Robert Half's and Michael Page's figures come from their own placements and assignments, and Robert Half's exclude bonuses and annual merit increases.

[Robert Half UK salary guide](https://www.roberthalf.com/gb/en/insights/salary-guide) · [Hays UK salary guide](https://www.hays.co.uk/salary-guide) · [Michael Page UK salary guides](https://www.michaelpage.co.uk/salary-guides)

### lumi

lumi is not a salary benchmarking tool, and it is on this page for that reason. It is a UK-only member community that benchmarks the rest of reward. Each member answers a common question set about its own reward policy and structure, and in return sees how its answers compare with a peer group of other UK organisations. Coverage runs across eight areas: pay policy, governance and transparency, time off and family, incentives and recognition, benefits and lifestyle, health and protection, pensions and savings, and wellbeing. The current count of metrics and contributing organisations is on the [register](/register).

**Good for:** the questions a salary survey leaves open: how your pension contribution, holiday, sick pay, family leave, medical cover or bonus design compares with organisations like yours.

**Limits:**

- lumi does not benchmark base salary levels. That is deliberate. You will need one of the sources above alongside it.
- It is UK only.
- It presents where you sit and what the trade-offs are. It does not tell you what to do.
- Results appear only where enough organisations have answered; smaller bases are suppressed.
- Members contribute their own data, which takes time at the outset.

## What salary benchmarking does not cover

A salary benchmark answers one question: what do organisations pay for this job? It does not tell you how your pension contribution, holiday entitlement, sick pay, family leave or health cover compares with organisations like yours. Some of the sources above reach beyond base pay (Mercer's survey covers incentives and benefits policies, one of Paydata's surveys collects main benefits, IDR publishes reports on bonus and allowances), but their centre of gravity is pay.

For the rest of reward, [our comparison of benefits benchmarking sources](/guides/uk-benefits-benchmarking-options) sets out the CIPD, Aon, WTW, Mercer, Brightmine, IDR and lumi on that question.

## How to choose

Four questions settle most cases.

1. **Pay in post, or pay advertised?** Surveys and HR-system data report what people in post are paid. Job-advert data shows what employers are offering new hires, which is not always the same.
2. **Published openly, or paid?** The ONS publishes ASHE openly, and Hays and Michael Page give their guides in return for your contact details. None of these is matched to your own jobs the way a survey you take part in is.
3. **Will you take part?** Several sources, including IDR, Paydata, Mercer and WTW, collect your data and give participants results or a discount. HR Datahub and the ONS need nothing from you.
4. **UK or global?** Mercer, WTW, Payscale and Figures cover many countries. The ONS, IDR, Croner Reward, Paydata and HR Datahub are UK sources.

Many reward teams use more than one: official data for context, a survey or platform for the jobs that matter most, and a separate benchmark for benefits and policy.

## Common questions

**What is the best salary benchmarking tool in the UK?**
There is no single answer. It depends on whether you need pay in post or advertised pay, UK or global coverage, and whether you will take part in a survey. The table above sets out how each source differs.

**Is there free salary data for the UK?**
The ONS publishes the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings openly on ons.gov.uk, under the Open Government Licence, with earnings by occupation, industry and region in CSV and Excel. Hays and Michael Page give access to their salary guides in return for your contact details. Neither is matched to your own jobs the way a survey you take part in is.

**Are advertised salaries the same as pay?**
No. Advertised salaries show what employers are offering new hires. Surveys and HR-system data show what people in post are paid. The two can differ.

**What is the difference between salary benchmarking and benefits benchmarking?**
Salary benchmarking compares pay levels for jobs. Benefits and policy benchmarking compares what you provide and on what terms: pension contributions, leave, family policy, health cover, bonus design. They need different data and usually different sources.

**Does lumi benchmark salaries?**
No. lumi benchmarks the rest of reward: pension, leave, family policy, health cover, incentives, benefits, wellbeing and reward governance. It is built to sit alongside a salary source.

## Talk it through

If you would like to see how lumi covers the rest of reward, and whether it suits your organisation, [book a call](/book-a-call).

*Descriptions of other providers are taken from their own published material, checked on 22 October 2026, and for Brightmine and Ravio on 3 November 2026. If anything here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.*