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Planning’s 2016 Careers and Salary Survey

Published on: 14 Nov 2016

Planning's latest poll on wages and conditions reveals public sector pay is holding up

Planning survey

Average earnings for private sector planners are slightly down this year but public sector pay is holding up, according to Planning's 2016 Careers and Salary Survey.

Our annual poll on wages and conditions reveals that the median pay bracket for public sector planners, almost 90 per cent of which worked for local authorities, is £35-£40,000. This is the same as 2015’s figure for council planners.

The most commonly reported pay bracket for public sector planners is £30,001-£35,000, a drop from last year's most frequent rate of £35,001-£40,000 for local authority planners, but a return to levels seen two years ago.

In the private sector this year, the median pay bracket is also £35,000 to £40,000, a drop from last year’s level of £40,001 to £45,000.Just 51 per cent of private sector planners earned above £35,000 this year, compared to 63 per cent in 2015.

Above £45,000, the gap between the public and private sectors widens, with more than ten per cent of private sector planners, but less than one per cent in the public sector, earning more than £80,000.

But public sector planners fared better than those in private firms on working hours and holiday. In the private sector, 43 per cent of planners work more than 40 hours a week, compared with 28 per cent of those in the public sector. 

More than three-quarters of public sector respondents received more than 25 days annual leave, compared with fewer than four in ten consultancy workers.


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