HEO Salary
HEO Pay and Take-Home (2026/27)
| Measure | Salary | Take-home per month |
|---|---|---|
| Median, England | £38,960 | £2,489 |
| Median, England excluding London | £38,770 | £2,479 |
| SEO/HEO median at the Home Office | £46,270 | £3,021 |
| SEO/HEO median at HMRC | £40,520 | £2,572 |
| SEO/HEO median at DWP | £39,600 | £2,522 |
Civil service pay below the Senior Civil Service is delegated: each department negotiates its own pay ranges within the Cabinet Office pay remit, and they settle in different months. There is no national scale, so the figures here are published medians — what people at this grade actually earn — rather than a rate you are entitled to.
Higher Executive Officer is the first substantial management and professional grade — leading small teams, running policy or operational workstreams, and the usual step up from EO. The published England median is £38,960, and £38,770 outside London.
On £38,960 the take-home is about £2,489 a month, after income tax, National Insurance and a 5.45% alpha pension contribution. That pension tier matters: pensionable earnings above £36,199 move you from 4.60% to 5.45%, so most HEOs pay the higher rate.
Departmental variation is real. The published SEO/HEO median is £46,270 at the Home Office against £38,600 at the Cabinet Office — though those figures group SEO and HEO together, so a department with more SEOs will look higher.