What are the typical starting salaries and career opportunities in the UK for someone graduating with a Master's in Economics?

The single biggest driver of your starting salary is not the word Economics on your degree certificate, it is which university awarded it and which sector you target immediately after, since the same degree title produces very different outcomes depending on both.

What The Official Data Actually Shows

Discover Uni, the UK government-backed comparison tool built on Graduate Outcomes survey data, reports a £50,000 median salary 15 months after graduation for London School of Economics and Political Science economics graduates, against roughly £31,000 for University of Manchester economics graduates over the same period. These are different cohorts studying different course structures, so treat the gap as a signal about university and career-track effects rather than a guaranteed outcome for any individual.

Typical Roles And Starting Ranges

• Economic or research analyst: £30,000 to £45,000, common at think tanks, consultancies and government departments.
• Financial or investment analyst: £40,000 to £65,000, with investment banking and markets roles often exceeding this range.
• Management consulting: £35,000 to £55,000, higher at large firms based in London.
• Government or policy analyst: £30,000 to £45,000 through the civil service, regulators or international bodies.

What Actually Moves You Up These Ranges

Econometrics, Python, R and SQL skills consistently separate candidates who land the higher end of each band from those who do not, since employers in finance and consulting increasingly recruit for quantitative skill on top of the degree title itself, not instead of it.

This Information Is Also Available On

Discover Uni official course outcome data, UK Government Graduate Labour Market Outcomes statistics

My Advice

Check your specific target university's Discover Uni entry before assuming a generic UK Economics Master's salary range applies to you, since the £19,000 gap between LSE and Manchester graduates in the same data set shows how much this varies. Pair your degree with at least one internship in finance, consulting or a quantitative role during your course; that single addition moves candidates toward the top of every salary band listed here.