UK City vs City Cost-of-Living Comparison
Same gross salary, two cities. See take-home pay (with Scottish Income Tax if applicable), typical 2-bed rent, Council Tax Band D, and "net of essentials" disposable income.
Your scenario
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Side-by-side breakdown
How the comparison works
- Take-home pay uses the canonical salary engine - same engine as the main salary calculator. Scotland uses Scottish Income Tax bands (Starter / Basic / Intermediate / Higher / Advanced / Top); England, Wales and Northern Ireland share the UK-wide bands.
- Typical 2-bed rent = ONS Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) 2-bed average for the local authority (or closest comparable area). Approximate - actual rent varies materially by postcode within a city.
- Council Tax Band D = latest published Band D rate by local authority, per gov.uk Council Tax statistics. The calculator uses the annual figure throughout.
- Net of essentials = take-home minus 12 months of rent minus Council Tax Band D. This excludes utilities, food, transport, savings - it's a pure "after the non-discretionary regional costs" figure for cross-city comparison.
- Not modelled: utility costs, transport (some Tube/Metro / car costs are much higher in London + Edinburgh / Glasgow + Manchester), childcare costs (London childcare can add £1,200-£2,000/month), state school catchment quality.
Source data
- Rent: ONS Private rent and house prices, UK
- Council Tax Band D 2026/27: gov.uk Council Tax statistics + local-authority published rates
- Salary engine: salarytax.uk methodology - HMRC + gov.scot verified rates
- Estimates. For specific postcode + property type use a live letting agent + local council Council Tax band lookup.