UKIZ/LIVE & WORK · SCOTLAND
Could I build a life
in Edinburgh?
Scottish income tax bands apply here.
Reference figures only · the full picture is not built for this place yet
The two numbers everyone starts with
Median gross annual pay, full-time employees
£40,000 a year
City of Edinburgh (workplace-based)
Office for National Statistics — Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) · 2024 · Verified yesterday
Recorded by hand from the published release and rounded.
Average monthly private rent
£1,500 a month
City of Edinburgh, all property types
Office for National Statistics — Price Index of Private Rents · 2025 · Verified yesterday
Recorded by hand from the published release and rounded.
Neither figure is about you. Median pay covers everybody working in City of Edinburgh, from every occupation. Average rent covers every property type. They set the scale; the sections below get closer.
Cost
Not stated: A full cost basket for Edinburgh — Council tax, energy, transport and household costs have not been recorded against named sources for this place. Manchester currently carries the complete basket.
Take-home
What would my life look like on that salary?
Move the salary and the costs to match your own situation. Tax is calculated under Scotland rules, from thresholds published by HMRC and the Scottish Government.
Take-home each month
£2,554
£30,643 a year · Scotland tax
- Income tax
- −£5,163
- National Insurance
- −£2,194
- Pension
- −£2,000
About £1,054 left each month after those costs — 59% of your take-home goes on the baseline.
An estimate for one employee on PAYE with a standard tax code, no benefits in kind and no other income. It is not advice and it is not a payslip. Thresholds come from HMRC, the Scottish Government and the Student Loans Company.
Live
And what is Edinburgh actually like?
Work on data and machines that think, in a city that looks like it was drawn.
Housing costs are the highest in Scotland and the city is dominated by the festival for a month each year. Neither is a small consideration.
- Hills. Arthur's Seat is a genuine hill in the middle of a capital city; the Pentlands are behind it.
- Festival. For one month the city becomes the largest arts festival on earth, for better and worse.
- Coast. Portobello beach at the end of a bus route, and the Fife coast across the bridge.
- Pubs and food. Old bars that have not been refurbished into anything, and a strong modern restaurant scene.
What to know
What UKIZ cannot tell you yet
- · Cost basket, occupation bands and vacancies are not built for this place yet.
UKIZ does not rank places. These figures are put side by side so you can weigh them yourself against what you want from a life.