UKIZ/LIVE & WORK · GREATER LONDON
Could I build a life
in London?
Pay is highest here, and so is almost everything else.
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
£47,500 a year
Greater London (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
£2,200 a month
Greater London, 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 Greater London, 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 London — 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 England, Wales and Northern Ireland rules, from thresholds published by HMRC.
Take-home each month
£2,985
£35,820 a year · England, Wales and Northern Ireland tax
- Income tax
- −£6,511
- National Insurance
- −£2,794
- Pension
- −£2,375
About £785 left each month after those costs — 74% 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 London actually like?
Everything is here, at a price — capital, regulators, customers and the rest of the world by lunchtime.
Housing and workspace costs are the highest in the country by a wide margin, and commuting eats the time you saved on density. Many companies now start here and move a function out.
- Museums. World-class national collections, most of them free, most of them quiet on a weekday evening.
- Food. Effectively every cuisine, at every price, cooked by people who grew up eating it.
- Parks. Royal parks, marshes, heaths and canals — the green is real once you leave the postcard streets.
- Music and stage. The largest live circuit in Europe, from pub back rooms to national companies.
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.