Police inspector salary & take-home pay 2026/27
A police inspector in England and Wales earns £66,000 to £71,396 outside London in 2026/27, about £3,612 to £3,835 a month after tax, NI and pension. Every point pays 40% tax at the margin, and Met and City inspectors are on a higher scale.
Take-home
£3,612–£3,835 a month
Gross £66,000–£71,396 a year · pension 13.88%
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.
Inspector take-home with London & South East allowances
Met/City inspectors are on a higher London scale (£68,788–£74,206) 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
- 58p of each extra £1: every inspector point is in the 40% band, so pay awards and allowances lose 40% tax plus 2% NI.
- Met & City inspectors are on a separate, higher scale set by Police Regulations: £68,788–£74,206 rather than £66,000–£71,396, plus the London payments.
- Detective inspectors are paid on the same scale as uniformed inspectors, with no separate DI premium built into the scale.
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Inspector pay: 40% tax from day one
Every inspector point is well above the £50,270 higher-rate threshold, even once the pension comes off: PP0 taxable pay is £56,839, £6,569 into higher-rate territory.
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Constables and sergeants mostly stay at or below the threshold once the pension comes off. An inspector starts at £66,000 (PP0), with a 13.88% contribution.
For any pay increase, allowance or overtime, the marginal rate is 40% income tax plus 2% NI: only 58p in every extra £1 reaches your bank account.
The pension contribution comes off before tax, so 13.88% of your gross reduces your taxable income first. For a PP3 inspector on £71,396, the contribution of £9,910 a year saves roughly £3,964 in income tax on top of the pension itself. The net cost after tax relief is considerably lower than the headline rate suggests.
The four-point scale and the promotion route
The inspector scale has four pay points, PP0 to PP3. Progression is time-served after promotion, subject to satisfactory performance, with no annual PDR gate as on the constable scale.
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Outside London the points are £66,000, £67,798, £69,589, £71,396 (effective 1 September 2026). Met and City of London inspectors sit on a separate, higher scale set out in Police Regulations: £68,788, £70,589, £72,402, £74,206. If your payslip does not match the national scale and you are in the Met or City, that is why.
Getting to inspector in most forces involves the National Police Promotion Framework (NPPF), previously OSPRE: a sergeant-level portfolio assessment, the NPPF Step Two Inspectors' Legal Examination (150 MCQs in 3 hours, 65% pass mark), then competitive selection for inspector vacancies. The timeline from sitting the exam to being in post can stretch considerably depending on your force's vacancy position.
Direct Entry Inspector exists as a separate route. Officers entering through that programme come in on different initial pay arrangements before aligning to the standard inspector scale over time.
London pay and AVCs at the 40% rate
At inspector level, salary sacrifice Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) become compelling: every £1,000 contributed saves £400 in income tax and £20 in NI, for a net cost of £580.
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If your force offers a salary sacrifice AVC scheme, the inspector salary level is where it starts making serious financial sense. Model the effect on your monthly take-home in the take-home calculator before you decide how much to contribute.
Met and City inspectors get two separate boosts. Their base scale is higher (a PP0 Met inspector starts on £68,788 rather than £66,000, all of it pensionable), and they receive £10,079 a year in London payments on top: the £3,260 London Weighting (pensionable) and the £6,819 London Allowance (non-pensionable).
Put together, a top-of-scale Met inspector has a gross of £84,285 (£74,206 base + £10,079), of which £77,466 is pensionable. At 40% plus 2% NI, the London additions are worth noticeably less in the bank than the headline figures suggest, but the higher pensionable base builds a larger CARE pension every year served in London.
Frequently asked questions
What is a police inspector salary in 2026/27?
In England and Wales outside London, the 2026/27 police inspector pay scale runs from £66,000 on Pay Point 0 to £71,396 on Pay Point 3. Metropolitan and City of London inspectors sit on a higher scale of £68,788 to £74,206 before London allowances.
How much does a police inspector take home each month?
After PPS 2015 pension (13.88%), income tax and National Insurance, an inspector outside London takes home between £3,612 (PP0) and £3,835 (PP3) per month.
Do police inspectors get paid overtime?
No. Inspecting ranks (Inspector and Chief Inspector) in England and Wales are salaried and do not receive casual hourly overtime under Police Regulations, though rest-day and public-holiday working rules apply.
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.