PCSO · LGPS pension · England & Wales
PCSO take-home pay calculator
Work out your Police Community Support Officer take-home pay after LGPS pension, tax and National Insurance. Enter your force salary for an accurate figure.
A warranted officer? Use the police officer calculator →
PCSO pay varies by force. There is no national PCSO pay scale — enter your own salary from your contract or payslip for an accurate result. The presets are approximate typical figures only.
PCSO · Tax year 2026/27 · England & Wales
Your details
Enter your full-time salary — part-time is handled by contracted hours below.
Approximate figures — always check your own contract.
Standard full time is usually 37 hrs/week — enter your contracted hours.
PCSOs are police staff and members of the LGPS. Your contribution rate (5.5%–12.5%) depends on which pay band your salary falls in.
Student loan
The standard code is 1257L. You may be able to claim tax relief on UNISON subs — check your payslip.
Pay periods
Salary sacrifice (pre-tax)
Other deductions (post-tax)
Salary sacrifice reduces your taxable pay (and so your tax and NI). Other deductions are taken after tax.
Monthly take-home
£1,791
Annual take-home
£21,493
Weekly take-home
£413
Annual breakdown
Effective rate (tax + NI): 13.1% of gross pay · Your employer also contributes to your LGPS pension on top
Tax code 1257L · England & Wales income tax 2026/27.
What makes PCSO pay different
As police staff rather than warranted officers, PCSOs sit on local-government pay terms. There is no single national pay scale — your force sets your salary — and your pension is the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), not the Police Pension Scheme 2015 that officers pay into. That means lower pension contribution rates than an officer on a similar salary, but a different scheme structure.
Everything else — the £12,570 personal allowance, income tax, employee National Insurance and student loan repayments — works exactly as it does for any England & Wales employee. Because PCSO salaries are typically in the £24,000–£34,000 range, most PCSOs are basic-rate taxpayers and fall into the lower LGPS contribution bands.
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What this uses
- ✓Your own force salary (entered)
- ✓LGPS contribution bands 2026/27
- ✓Standard personal allowance (£12,570)
- ✓2026/27 income tax rates (England & Wales)
- ✓NI at 8% / 2% (employee Class 1)
- ✓Student loan Plan 1, 2, 4, 5 or PG
PCSO pay — frequently asked questions
How is PCSO take-home pay different from a police officer?
PCSOs (Police Community Support Officers) are police staff, not warranted officers, so two things differ. First, the pension: PCSOs are members of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), not the Police Pension Scheme 2015 — LGPS contribution rates run from 5.5% to 12.5% depending on your salary band. Second, the pay: there is no national PCSO pay scale. Each force sets its own salary, usually on local-government (NJC) pay points, so you should enter your own figure. Income tax, National Insurance and student loan repayments work the same as for any England & Wales employee.
Why do I have to type in my salary?
Unlike police officers, who are on a single national pay scale, PCSO pay is set locally by each of the 43 forces in England & Wales. A PCSO in the Met (with London weighting) can earn several thousand pounds more than one in a county force. Because there is no national figure we can look up, the most accurate approach is to enter the salary from your own contract or payslip. The preset figures are approximate, typical salaries to use only as a starting point.
How does the LGPS pension contribution work?
The Local Government Pension Scheme is a career-average (CARE) scheme. Your employee contribution is a single percentage of your actual pensionable pay, set by which band your pay falls in — for example 5.5% on the lowest band up to 12.5% at the top. Contributions are taken before income tax, so you get tax relief at your marginal rate, and your employer contributes a further amount on top. This calculator applies the LGPS England & Wales contribution bands effective April 2026 (2026/27).
Can I work out part-time PCSO pay?
Yes. Enter your full-time salary in the salary box, then set your contracted weekly hours. The calculator pro-rates your pay, pension, tax and NI to your actual hours. Note that your LGPS contribution rate is based on your actual (pro-rated) pay, which can place part-timers in a lower contribution band.
Are PCSOs in a union rather than the Police Federation?
Correct. PCSOs are not eligible for the Police Federation, which represents warranted officers. Most PCSOs are members of a trade union such as UNISON, and you can enter your union subscription (along with any group insurance, benevolent fund or Police Treatment Centres contributions) in the additional deductions section.