USA salaries are really unbelievable. That £74,000 which seems to be a poor salary in the USA judging the the OP would be a really very good salary in the UK
Are UK salaries quoted post-tax? USA salaries and wages are usually quoted pre-tax. Obviously not a 5-10x difference, but that still makes comparison more difficult with regions that usually discuss post-tax earnings.
Quoted before income tax and employee national insurance (50%ish) and after employer national insurance (13%). Most people seem to forget about that extra 13 since it disappears before the 'gross' number on the payslip.
Hahaha I wish these numbers were quoted post-tax... unfortunately UK numbers are in my experience all quoted pre-tax, just like in the US. So yes, that £74,000 really is before ~22% tax (income tax + national insurance).