Chief inspector salary & take-home pay 2026/27
A chief inspector in England and Wales earns £72,806 to £75,709 outside London in 2026/27, about £3,893 to £4,014 a month after tax, NI and pension. The whole scale sits in the 40% band, and Met and City chief inspectors are on a higher scale.
Take-home
£3,893–£4,014 a month
Gross £72,806–£75,709 a year · pension 13.88%
Chief inspector pay scale 2026/27
Net after PPS 2015 pension, income tax and NI. Tap a pay point to open it in the calculator and add overtime, a student loan or part-time hours.
Chief inspector take-home with London & South East allowances
Met/City chief inspectors are on a higher London scale (£75,619–£78,510) plus £10,079 a year in London allowances (only the £3,260 Weighting is pensionable). South East forces set their own, up to £3,105; the column shows £3,000. Tap a pay point to open it in the calculator and add overtime, a student loan or part-time hours.
Source: Police Regulations 2003, Annex F · PRRB report 2026 · Police Federation pay scales · Checked 23 October 2026 · How we calculate
- No casual overtime: inspecting ranks are salaried under Police Regulations, though rest-day and public-holiday working rules still apply.
- Met & City chief inspectors are on a higher London scale set by Police Regulations: £75,619–£78,510 rather than £72,806–£75,709.
- Pension: outside London every point is in the 13.88% tier; a top-of-scale Met chief inspector crosses £79,587 and pays 14.22% on all pensionable pay.
Project your police pension
See what your PPS 2015 pension could pay at retirement, with the official early-retirement factors, the tax-free lump sum and your net monthly income.
Chief inspector pay: the 58p reality
The entire chief inspector scale sits between £72,806 and £75,709: above the £50,270 higher-rate threshold and below the £100,000 taper. For every extra pound of gross, you keep 58p.
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That applies whether the extra pound comes from a pay award, a specialist allowance or London Weighting.
That is because the marginal income tax rate across all three pay points is 40%, with 2% NI on earnings above £50,270. It determines how a pay award translates at this level, how much a detective or specialist allowance actually adds to your account, and how to think about salary sacrifice pension contributions.
Progression is time-served after promotion, subject to satisfactory performance. The three points are PP1 (£72,806 entry), PP2 (£74,225) and PP3 (£75,709) outside London; the Met and City scale is £75,619, £77,032 and £78,510. The gap between PP1 and PP3 is £2,903 a year gross, worth roughly £1,442 a year net. The financial case for chief inspector is less the intra-scale difference than the pension accrual on a higher salary and the position it creates for superintendent promotion.
Pension at 13.88%, and the London position
Outside London all chief inspector pay is in the 13.88% tier. At PP3 (£75,709) that is £10,508 a year into your pension, a net cost of roughly £6,305 after tax relief.
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That is around £525 a month. The tier runs up to £79,587.
Met and City chief inspectors are on the higher London base scale, all of it pensionable, plus the £3,260 pensionable London Weighting (the £6,819 London Allowance is not pensionable). A top-of-scale Met chief inspector has pensionable pay of £81,770: above the tier ceiling of £79,587, so they pay the top 14.22% rate on their whole pensionable pay.
PP1 is the exception: at £75,619 base plus the Weighting, pensionable pay is £78,879, still inside the 13.88% band but only by £708, so any pensionable addition such as a temporary promotion tips you over.
The rate is not marginal: once you cross, the higher rate applies to your full pensionable pay, not just the slice above the threshold.
Getting to chief inspector, and AVCs
Promotion from inspector to chief inspector is managed at force level: most forces combine work-based assessment, a management portfolio and competitive interview.
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There is less standardisation than in the sergeant and inspector NPPF processes, and establishment numbers are smaller at this rank, so vacancies tend to be fewer and the wait longer.
The step from inspector PP3 (£71,396) to chief inspector PP1 (£72,806) is £1,410 a year gross, around £700 a year net. Superintendent starts at £87,123, which at the 40% marginal rate is still a meaningful step up in take-home.
The 40% marginal rate makes salary sacrifice AVC contributions especially effective: every £1,000 contributed through salary sacrifice costs only £580 net after the income tax and NI saving, before any investment growth. If you can use salary sacrifice to bring taxable income closer to the basic-rate band boundary, it's worth modelling carefully.
Frequently asked questions
What is a chief inspector salary in 2026/27?
In England and Wales outside London, the 2026/27 chief inspector pay scale runs from £72,806 at Pay Point 1 to £75,709 at Pay Point 3. Metropolitan and City of London chief inspectors sit on a higher scale of £75,619 to £78,510 before London allowances.
How much does a chief inspector take home per month?
After PPS 2015 pension (13.88%), income tax and National Insurance, a chief inspector outside London takes home between £3,893 (PP1) and £4,014 (PP3) per month.
Which pension contribution tier applies to chief inspectors?
Outside London, all chief inspector pay points fall into the 13.88% PPS 2015 contribution tier (up to £79,587). In the Met and City of London, top-of-scale chief inspectors with pensionable London Weighting cross £79,587 into the 14.22% tier.
Figures are estimates for guidance only. Assumptions: PPS 2015 pension, tax code 1257L, no student loan, no salary sacrifice, England & Wales. Confirm exact pay with your force HR.