Disposable income in the UK: What’s left over after living costs?

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

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 £939 a month in disposable income in 2024 after paying taxes, bills and essential living costs. This is £34 more a month (or £413 more a year) compared to 2023, when the average was £905. Disposable income can be used for savings, holidays or other spending.

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

City Disposable income
Colchester £1,392
Milton Keynes £1,280
Cambridge £1,235
Newcastle upon Tyne £1,211
Leeds £1,196
Chester £1,170
Canterbury £1,151
Coventry £1,146
Aberdeen £1,131
Bradford £1,123
Edinburgh £1,088
Belfast £1,020
Lincoln £1,019
Derby £1,009
Southampton £978
Doncaster £958
Birmingham £955
Portsmouth £953
York £926
Norwich £919
Newport £906
Bath £905
Bristol £903
Sheffield £894
Glasgow £887
Cardiff £885
Dundee £874
Liverpool £871
Stoke-on-Trent £861
Sunderland £827
Brighton and Hove £824
Swansea £812
London £784
Oxford £777
Kingston upon Hull £749
Durham £734
Exeter £729
Leicester £716
Manchester £712
Preston £708
Nottingham £638
Plymouth £592

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. It assumes a single UK adult is renting a room within a shared property in a UK city.

The 5 cities with the most disposable income each month

1. Colchester, £1,392
2. Milton Keynes, £1,280
3. Cambridge, £1,234
4. Newcastle, £1,211
5. Leeds, £1,196

The 5 cities with the least disposable income each month

1. Plymouth, £592
2. Nottingham, £638
3. Preston, £708
4. Manchester, £711
5. Leicester, £716

Of the cities analysed, those in Colchester had the most disposable income each month, with an average of £1,392, 48% higher than the
average in UK cities of £939. They are closely followed by Milton Keynes residents, who have an average of £1,280 to spare, and Cambridge residents, who have an average of £1,234 left over.

At the other end of the spectrum, residents in Plymouth had just £592 a month while those in Nottingham were not far ahead with £638 a month. Average salaries in Nottingham and Plymouth were among some of the lowest in the cities analysed, but they still had higher living costs than many other cities on the list, 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 £2,320 on rent and basic costs. The cost of a single room to rent in London (£1,231) is 2.5 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 Bradford, where the average single Brit could expect to spend just £1,066 on rent and essentials. Other cities with low living costs include Lincoln (£1,086) and Hull (£1,088).

The monthly living costs for a single person in most cities were between £1,000 and £1,650, with just London leaping ahead with living costs of over £2,000.

The 5 cities with the highest monthly living costs

1. London, £2,320
2. Bath, £1,636
3. Oxford, £1,625
4. Cambridge, £1,597
5. Edinburgh, £1,555

The 5 cities with the lowest monthly living costs

1. Bradford, £1,066
2. Lincoln, £1,086
3. Hull, £1,088
4. Sunderland, £1,098
5. Stoke-on-Trent, £1,102

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

Canterbury residents have had the biggest increase in disposable income, up 30% on average since last year. They are followed by those in Lincoln, who have seen a signidicant increase of 28% in disposable income on average according to the research. In third place is Newport, where residents have seen disposable income boosted by 15% on average since 2023.

Those living in Doncaster have 20% 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 Durham coming in next with a decrease of 15%, followed by Hull with a decrease of 14%.

The 5 cities with the biggest increase in disposable income

1. Canterbury, 30% increase
2. Lincoln, 28% increase
3. Newport, 15% increase
4. Chester, 14% increase
5. London, 13% increase

The 5 cities with the biggest decrease in disposable income

1. Doncaster, 20% decrease
2. Durham, 15% decrease
3. Hull, 14% decrease
4. Plymouth, 12% decrease
5. Exeter, 8% decrease

Full data for disposable income and living costs

City Monthly salary after tax Monthly living costs Single room cost Total living costs Disposable income
Colchester £2,628 £811 £425 £1,236 £1,392
Milton Keynes £2,634 £811 £542 £1,353 £1,280
Cambridge £2,832 £889 £707 £1,597 £1,235
Newcastle upon Tyne £2,394 £796 £388 £1,184 £1,211
Leeds £2,457 £780 £481 £1,261 £1,196
Chester £2,426 £811 £446 £1,257 £1,170
Canterbury £2,463 £811 £502 £1,312 £1,151
Coventry £2,312 £764 £401 £1,165 £1,146
Aberdeen £2,313 £819 £363 £1,182 £1,131
Bradford £2,189 £811 £256 £1,066 £1,123
Edinburgh £2,642 £916 £639 £1,555 £1,088
Belfast £2,175 £749 £406 £1,155 £1,020
Lincoln £2,105 £811 £275 £1,086 £1,019
Derby £2,167 £811 £347 £1,158 £1,009
Southampton £2,321 £811 £532 £1,342 £978
Doncaster £2,227 £811 £458 £1,269 £958
Birmingham £2,198 £762 £481 £1,243 £955
Portsmouth £2,220 £811 £456 £1,267 £953
York £2,343 £811 £606 £1,417 £926
Norwich £2,197 £811 £467 £1,277 £919
Newport £2,086 £811 £369 £1,180 £906
Bath £2,541 £811 £825 £1,636 £905
Bristol £2,344 £825 £615 £1,441 £903
Sheffield £2,196 £847 £455 £1,302 £894
Glasgow £2,251 £853 £511 £1,364 £887
Cardiff £2,220 £778 £557 £1,335 £885
Dundee £2,023 £811 £338 £1,149 £874
Liverpool £2,148 £845 £432 £1,277 £871
Stoke-on-Trent £1,964 £811 £292 £1,102 £861
Sunderland £1,925 £811 £288 £1,098 £827
Brighton and Hove £2,371 £829 £718 £1,547 £824
Swansea £2,069 £811 £446 £1,257 £812
London £3,104 £1,090 £1,231 £2,320 £784
Oxford £2,412 £896 £738 £1,635 £777
Kingston upon Hull £1,837 £811 £277 £1,088 £749
Durham £2,174 £811 £629 £1,440 £734
Exeter £2,156 £811 £617 £1,427 £729
Leicester £1,941 £830 £394 £1,225 £716
Manchester £2,090 £843 £536 £1,379 £712
Preston £1,955 £811 £436 £1,247 £708
Nottingham £1,844 £809 £397 £1,205 £638
Plymouth £1,925 £811 £522 £1,333 £592

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.

Click here for more research. For all media enquiries, please contact –

Matt Mckenna
UK Head of Communications
T: +44 20 8191 8806

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