Average Tour Guide Salary in Edinburgh, United Kingdom for 2026

In this article, we will look at the average Tour Guide salary for 2026 in Edinburgh and how that compares to other countries and professions. We'll also look at interesting salary data points like median salary, 25th and 75th percentile salaries, salary amounts based on experience, bonus ranges and more!

The data in this article has been compiled using official government salary data, salary surveys, and other sources such as job postings which contain salary information.

All salary information is in the local currency, which is the British pound. To keep things simple, we are using the GBP currency code instead of the currency symbol £.

How Much Does a Tour Guide Make in Edinburgh?

A Tour Guide working in Edinburgh will typically earn around 46,200 GBP per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 23,600 GBP to the highest average salary of 71,600 GBP.

These are average salaries for a Tour Guide in Edinburgh and include benefits such as housing and transport. It's also possible for a Tour Guide to earn more or less than the average salaries shown above.

Tour Guide salaries will vary a lot based on your experience, location, skills, and gender. Keep reading below to research more data on each of these areas.

Distribution of Tour Guide Salaries in Edinburgh

So we've looked at the average salaries a Tour Guide will earn in Edinburgh. The next interesting data point is the distribution of salaries.

Salary ranges

We already know that a Tour Guide can earn between 23,600 GBP and 71,600 GBP on average in Edinburgh. This is known as the range in statistics.

The difference between the maximum and minimum values is a good indicator of variability in salaries, and can be used by employers to figure out how much they can expect to pay, and for employees to know how much they can earn.

Median salary

The median salary for a Tour Guide in Edinburgh is 45,000 GBP. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 45,000 GBP, and 50% of the population earn more than 45,000 GBP.

If you are earning more than the median salary, that's a good indicator that you are being paid well.

If you're not earning more than the median salary, your objective should be to increase your earnings to be at least as high as the median salary (which you can do by asking for a pay rise, looking for a better paying job, etc).

Percentiles

Percentiles are similar to the median salary, but instead of looking at the middle value, they look at the values in the top and bottom half of the distribution.

For the average Tour Guide salary in Edinburgh, 25% of the population are earning less than 29,400 GBP while 75% of the population earn more than 29,400 GBP.

75% of the population earn less than 55,600 GBP, and 25% of the population earn more than 55,600 GBP.

Like the median salary, the 25th and 75th percentile salaries can be used to determine which quartile you fall into so that you know whether you are being paid well enough compared to others in your profession and location.

Tour Guide Salary by Experience Level in Edinburgh

The most important factor in determining your salary after the specific profession is the number of years experience you have. It stands to reason that more years of experience will result in a higher wage.

We have researched the average Tour Guide salary based on years of experience to give you an idea of how the average changes once you've worked for a certain amount of time.

• 0 - 2 Years Experience. A Tour Guide in Edinburgh that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 29,900 GBP.
• 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Tour Guide salary would increase to 34,700 GBP.
• 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as a Tour Guide, the average salary would be 50,300 GBP.
• 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 56,600 GBP.
• 15 - 20 Years Experience. A Tour Guide with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 65,500 GBP.
• 20+ Years Experience. For a Tour Guide with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 66,400 GBP.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

Tour Guide Salary by Education Level in Edinburgh

As well as experience in a job, your education plays a big role in how much you can earn. A lot of higher paying positions require a high level of education, but how much can a degree increase your salary?

In our research we have compared the salaries of employees in the same job and career level with different levels of education to see how much more you can earn at each education level.

The salary you can earn based on your education is very specific to both your location and the career path you choose.

In our research, we looked at the average salary for a Tour Guide in Edinburgh based on the education level of the employees in order to find out whether a better education level would increase your salary.

• High School. A Tour Guide in Edinburgh with a high school education can earn an average salary of 34,700 GBP.
• Certificate or Diploma. A Tour Guide in Edinburgh with a certificate or diploma education can earn an average salary of 49,400 GBP.
• Bachelor's Degree. A Tour Guide in Edinburgh with a bachelor's degree education can earn an average salary of 68,800 GBP.

Average Salary by Education Chart

Tour Guide Salary Compared by Gender

In the modern age, we know that there should never be a pay gap between men and women. Unfortunately, in many professions, there is still a significant difference between the salaries earned by men when compared to the salary of women in the same job.

In Edinburgh, a male tour guide will earn an average of 42,000 GBP, while a female tour guide will earn around 43,500 GBP.

This means that a male tour guide earns approximately 3% less than a female tour guide for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in Edinburgh

Tour Guide Average Pay Raise in Edinburgh

In many countries, an annual pay raise is often given to employees to reward their service with a salary increase.

From our research, we can see that the average pay raise for a Tour Guide in Edinburgh is around 11% every 16 months.

The national average pay raise across all professions and industries in United Kingdom is around 9% every 15 months.

In this case, we can see that the number of months between the average pay raise is higher than the typical 12 months.

To make the data more meaningful, we can calculate what the approximate annual pay raise would be using a simple formula:

Annual Increase = ( Increase Rate ÷ Months ) × 12

So for this example, it would be:

Annual Increase = ( 11 ÷ 16 ) × 12  = 8%

What this means is that a Tour Guide in Edinburgh can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 8% every 12 months.

Annual Pay Raise by Industry in Edinburgh for 2026

In the chart below, you can see the average annual pay raise percentages for each of the major industries in United Kingdom.

You will see that companies in bigger and more lucrative industries tend to have the higher annual pay raises.

Tour Guide Bonus and Incentive Rates in Edinburgh

Another part of your overall compensation in a job is how much bonus you receive. Some job roles will be more likely to pay a bonus than others and also more likely to have higher bonus rates.

Generally speaking, jobs that are more involved with direct revenue generation will receive higher bonuses based on the performance towards revenue goals.

A Tour Guide is a moderate bonus based job, with 57% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

43% reported that they had not received any bonuses in the previous 12 months.

For the employees that did receive a bonus in the previous 12 months, the reported bonuses ranged from 3% to 6%.

Government vs Private Sector Salaries

Another commonly asked question is whether you get paid a higher salary working in the public (government) sector or the private sector.

Public sector employees in United Kingdom earn approximately 7% more than private sector employees in the same role.

Salaries for Jobs Similar to a Tour Guide

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to a Tour Guide in Edinburgh.

Salary Comparison by City

If you want to compare salaries with different cities in United Kingdom, you can use the links below to explore the data for each specific city we have researched.

Salary Comparison by State

The table below includes links to the average salary for each state in United Kingdom.