UK Pay Scales: How earnings compare (2008 data)

1. £0 to £10,000:
Cleaners, hairdressers, some agricultural labourers, people on benefits, fast food restaurant staff, school cooks, fine artists, holiday representatives, swimming pool attendants, broadcasting/film runners.

2. £10,001 to £20,000:
Manual workers, sewer cleaners, call centre staff, mortuary assistants, farmers, electronic assembly line workers, nursery and care workers, imams, Army privates, bus drivers, checkout staff, landscape designers, fishermen, charity fundraisers, junior civil servants, local government administrators, soil scientists, florists, counsellors, air cabin crew, miners

3. £20,001 to £30,000:
Junior MI5 officers, rabbis, vicars, social workers, NHS nurses, naval cooks, electricians, carpenters, binmen, international aid workers, health service managers, media buyers, plant breeders, textile designers, museum administrators, lorry drivers, map makers, journalists.

4. £30,001 to £40,000:
Newly qualified RAF pilots, London Tube drivers, some television presenters, London police officers, pole dancers, sandwich shop managers, bishops, London cab drivers, vets, paramedics, architects, diplomats, timber merchants, trading standards officers, zookeepers, probation officers, opticians, literary agents, immigration officers.

5. £40,001 to £50,000:
Air traffic controllers, solicitors, RAF Flight Lieutenants, theatre managers, office managers, foresters, engineers, TV producers.

6. £50,001 to £75,000:
Marketing and senior managers, senior police officers, commercial airline pilots, Royal Navy captains, education administrators, top PAs, fashion designers, town planners, MPs, senior social workers, tax inspectors, medical sales representatives.

7. £75,001 to £100,000:
Senior managers, senior civil servants, Army brigadiers, secondary school heads, celebrity stylists, some plumbers, advertising executives, senior PRs, distribution managers, accountants.

8. £100,001 to £500,000:
GPs, High Court judges, Prime Minister, business whizzkids, Cabinet ministers, Chief of Defence Staff, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, chief executives, senior company secretaries, NHS chief executives, private psychotherapists, financial advisers, quarry managers.

9. £500,001 to £1,000,000:
Director General of the BBC, heads of larger companies, including the managing director of Arsenal, and the chief executive of Sainsbury's (Justin King).

10. Over £1,000,000:
Chief executives of the UK's biggest firms, celebrities, footballers, bestselling authors, football managers, senior solicitors, investment bankers.

(see a detailed breakdown of salaries)

And here are the Tax scales in the UK (again based on 2008 data):

Starting Rate 10% 0 - 2,230

Basic Rate 22% 2,231 - 34,600

Higher Rate 40% Over 34,600