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Disposable income in the UK

Which cities in the UK have the highest and lowest living costs?

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By

Matthew Boyle

&

Sophie Barber

Updated

Fact checked

It’s no secret that prices and salaries vary widely across the UK, and with the cost of living increasing, many Brits are likely to resort to measures such as cost-cutting and taking advantage of financial offers like bank switching deals. Which cities are the best to live in if you want to benefit from the highest disposable income?

What is the average disposable income in the UK?

The average British adult living in a UK city has £782 a month in disposable income after paying taxes, bills and necessary living costs. This is £84 less a month (or £1,007 less a year) compared to 2022, when the average was £866.

What is the average disposable income in cities around the UK?

City Disposable Income
Colchester £1,100
Doncaster £1,068
Milton Keynes £1,053
Coventry £990
Aberdeen £982
Chester £982
Newcastle-upon-Tyne £980
Bradford £961
Cambridge £954
Edinburgh £937
Leeds £933
Norwich £864
Southampton £850
Canterbury £849
Belfast £842
Durham £835
Derby £814
Portsmouth £807
Kingston Upon Hull £779
Cardiff £772
Lincoln £769
Glasgow £764
Sunderland £764
Stoke on Trent £764
Birmingham £740
Dundee £731
Sheffield £731
Liverpool £727
Bristol £698
Newport £674
Exeter £673
Bath £672
Preston £662
Brighton & Hove £600
York £598
Oxford £598
Leicester £589
Manchester £580
Plymouth £574
London £500
Nottingham £482

We studied the income and the cost of living in 41 cities around the UK to find out which cities have the most and least money to spare. For this analysis, disposable income means the money left over after paying for essentials, including taxes, bills and recurring monthly living costs.

The 5 cities with the most disposable income each month

1. Colchester, £1,198
2. Doncaster, £1,068
3. Milton Keynes, £1,053.03
4. Coventry, £990
5. Aberdeen, £982.25

The 5 cities with the least disposable income each month

1. Nottingham, £482
2. London, £500
3. Plymouth, £574
4. Manchester, £580
5. Leicester, £589

Of the cities analysed, those in Colchester had the most disposable income each month, with an average of £1,100, 41% higher than the average in UK cities of £782. They are closely followed by Doncaster residents, who have an average of £1,068 to spare, and Milton Keynes residents, who have an average of £1,053 left over.

At the other end of the spectrum, residents in Nottingham had just £482 a month. Salaries in Nottingham were among some of the lowest in the cities analysed, but they still had higher living costs than 16 other cities, meaning those living here have less disposable income.

Which UK city has the highest living costs?

Unsurprisingly, London has the highest living costs of the UK cities analysed, with an average monthly spend of £2,196 on rent and basic costs. The cost of a single room to rent in London (£1,120.45) is 2.4 times higher than the average, so it’s no shock that living costs are so high in the capital.

The cheapest city on the list for living costs was Hull, where the average single Brit could expect to spend just £858.84 on rent and essentials.

The monthly living costs for a single person in most cities were between £1,000 and £1,600, with just London leaping ahead with living costs of over £2,000.

Just 4 cities on our list had monthly living costs of less than £1,000 a month, and these were Hull, Doncaster, Bradford and Stoke-on-Trent.

The 5 cities with the highest monthly living costs

1. London, £2,196
2. Bath, £1,554
3. Oxford, £1,520
4. Cambridge, £1,515
5. Brighton and Hove, £1,483

The 5 cities with the lowest monthly living costs

1. Hull, £859
2. Doncaster, £895
3. Bradford, £972
4. Stoke-on-Trent, £980
5. Sunderland, £1,025

Which UK city has seen the biggest decrease in disposable income?

Those living in London have 44% less disposable income on average in 2023 compared to 2022. This is largely due to increases in rent but also the cost of living in the capital. This is by far the biggest change of all UK cities, with Newcastle coming in next with a decrease of 22%.

Just 2 cities in the analysis have seen an increase in disposable income compared to 2022. These are Norwich, with a decrease of 4% and Chester, with a decrease of 9%.

Overall, disposable income in UK cities has decreased by just under 10% year on year since 2022, and the average UK city dweller has just over £1000 less in disposable income for the year.

The 5 cities with the biggest increase in disposable income

1. London, 44% decrease
2. Newcastle, 22% decrease
3. Leicester, 19% decrease
4. Edinburgh, 18% decrease
5. Exeter, 15% decrease

The 5 cities with an increase or small decrease in disposable income

1. Chester, 9% increase
2. Norwich, 4% increase
3. Brighton and Hove, less than 1% decrease
4. Hull, 2% decrease
5. Cardiff, 2% decrease

Full data for disposable income and living costs

City Average monthly net income after tax (£) Single room in 3 bed apartment price Single person monthly costs without rent Total costs Disposable Income
Colchester £2,298 £483 £715 £1,198 £1,100
Doncaster £1,963 £219 £675 £895 £1,068
Milton Keynes £2,303 £509 £741 £1,250 £1,053
Coventry £2,034 £345 £699 £1,044 £990
Aberdeen £2,035 £331 £722 £1,053 £982
Chester £2,130 £459 £689 £1,148 £982
Newcastle-upon-Tyne £2,103 £379 £744 £1,123 £980
Bradford £1,932 £300 £672 £972 £961
Cambridge £2,469 £666 £850 £1,515 £954
Edinburgh £2,310 £590 £783 £1,373 £937
Leeds £2,155 £447 £775 £1,222 £933
Norwich £2,031 £435 £733 £1,167 £864
Southampton £2,042 £431 £761 £1,192 £850
Canterbury £2,268 £444 £975 £1,419 £849
Belfast £1,920 £377 £701 £1,078 £842
Durham £2,011 £428 £749 £1,176 £835
Derby £1,913 £334 £765 £1,099 £814
Portsmouth £1,957 £451 £698 £1,150 £807
Kingston Upon Hull £1,638 £243 £616 £859 £779
Cardiff £1,958 £457 £729 £1,186 £772
Lincoln £1,949 £275 £905 £1,180 £769
Glasgow £1,983 £424 £795 £1,219 £764
Sunderland £1,789 £328 £698 £1,025 £764
Stoke on Trent £1,744 £291 £689 £980 £764
Birmingham £1,939 £496 £704 £1,199 £740
Dundee £1,793 £328 £733 £1,062 £731
Sheffield £1,938 £422 £786 £1,207 £731
Liverpool £1,897 £389 £782 £1,170 £727
Bristol £2,061 £570 £793 £1,363 £698
Newport £1,846 £375 £798 £1,173 £674
Exeter £1,904 £509 £723 £1,231 £673
Bath £2,226 £685 £869 £1,554 £672
Preston £1,736 £425 £649 £1,074 £662
Brighton & Hove £2,083 £671 £812 £1,483 £600
York £1,951 £596 £758 £1,353 £598
Oxford £2,118 £707 £813 £1,520 £598
Leicester £1,725 £432 £704 £1,136 £589
Manchester £1,850 £483 £787 £1,270 £580
Plymouth £1,711 £361 £776 £1,137 £574
London £2,696 £1,120 £1,075 £2,196 £500
Nottingham £1,643 £381 £780 £1,161 £482

Methodology

  • For rent, we found the total price per room of a 3-room apartment to get an approximate figure for the rent a single person could expect to pay.
  • To get the disposable income figure for each city, we used ONS data to calculate the average monthly income in each city after taxes, then the monthly single person’s rent and living costs were subtracted from the average monthly income after tax.
  • For our research, disposable income refers to the money left over after paying all essential costs, including taxes, rent, bills and living costs.

Sources

  • ONS
  • Numbeo

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