How Many People in the UK Are Financially Comfortable?

We wanted to investigate how many people are financially comfortable in the UK. To do this, we looked at median salary data for 147 administrative areas from the Office of National Statistics and cost of living data from livingcost.org to find out what percentage of people in the UK can afford to live by the 50-30-20 rule for budgeting.

What is the 50-30-20 Rule?

The 50-30-20 rule suggests spending:

50% of post-tax earnings on essentials (rent, utilities, food).
30% on wants (weekend trips, entertainment, etc.).
20% into savings (ISAs, emergency funds, etc).

Key Findings

The average take-home monthly pay a single person needs to live comfortably in the UK is £3,020 (esimated pre-tax annual salary: £46,000).

The average take-home monthly pay needed for a family of four to live comfortably is £7,345 (esimated pre-tax annual salary: £147,000).

41% of single people can afford to “live comfortably” in the UK.

27% of families can afford to “live comfortably” in the UK.

Region by Region Findings

Here are our findings by UK region:

Largest Cities

Place	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Single Person)	Percentage Comfortable	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Family of Four)	Percentage Comfortable
London	£5,416	17%	£13,248	11%
Leeds	£3,140	37%	£7,930	21%
Manchester	£3,376	28%	£8,144	22%
Liverpool	£2,986	39%	£7,364	22%
Birmingham	£3,234	43%	£7,638	37%
Sheffield	£2,860	59%	£6,828	28%
Bristol	£3,750	26%	£8,858	17%
Brighton and Hove	£4,982	15%	£7,722	25%
Edinburgh	£3,550	36%	£8,948	16%
Glasgow	£3,182	33%	£7,660	22%

North East

Place	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Single Person)	Percentage Comfortable	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Family of Four)	Percentage Comfortable
North East	£2,514	43%	£6,639	27%
Darlington	£2,156	39%	£7,918	22%
Hartlepool	£2,252	45%	£5,750	34%
Middlesbrough	£2,416	44%	£5,750	33%
Stockton-on-Tees	£2,320	52%	£5,996	34%
County Durham	£2,532	44%	£7,168	21%
Tyne and Wear	£2,532	45%	£7,168	20%
Gateshead	£2,846	38%	£6,950	24%
Newcastle upon Tyne	£2,918	38%	£7,056	22%
Sunderland	£2,484	46%	£6,304	29%

North West

Place	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Single Person)	Percentage Comfortable	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Family of Four)	Percentage Comfortable
North West	£2,782	43%	£6,851	28%
Blackburn with Darwen	£2,938	28%	£6,960	<20%
Blackpool	£2,438	41%	£5,868	26%
Warrington	£3,270	36%	£7,308	33%
Bolton	£2,926	37%	£6,772	29%
Bury	£2,516	55%	£6,646	32%
Manchester	£3,376	28%	£8,144	22%
Oldham	£2,722	47%	£6,640	29%
Rochdale	£2,808	41%	£6,488	32%
Salford	£3,060	38%	£7,744	21%
Wigan	£2,622	50%	£6,398	28%
Burnley	£2,358	51%	£6,356	26%
Chorley	£2,770	48%	£6,736	34%
Lancaster	£2,786	39%	£6,906	24%
Preston	£2,504	51%	£6,378	33%
Liverpool	£2,986	39%	£7,364	22%
St Helens	£2,416	54%	£6,946	26%

Yorkshire and the Humber

Place	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Single Person)	Percentage Comfortable	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Family of Four)	Percentage Comfortable
Yorkshire and the Humber	£2,620	50%	£6,591	29%
Hull	£2,398	48%	£6,044	23%
York	£2,990	41%	£7,704	26%
Barnsley	£2,290	54%	£5,798	41%
Doncaster	£2,184	60%	£6,050	34%
Rotherham	£2,470	49%	£5,808	37%
Sheffield	£2,860	59%	£6,828	28%
Bradford	£2,640	56%	£6,192	29%
Leeds	£3,140	37%	£7,930	21%
Wakefield	£2,610	47%	£6,964	24%

East Midlands

Place	Comfortably Single Person	Percentage Comfortable	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Family of Four)	Percentage Comfortable
East Midlands	£2,881	37%	£6,865	23%
Derby	£2,870	39%	£7,220	22%
Leicester	£3,000	23%	£6,810	17%
Northamptonshire	£2,774	48%	£6,770	23%
Nottingham	£3,072	23%	£7,138	12%
Harborough	£2,948	47%	£6,868	37%
Hinckley and Bosworth	£2,782	43%	£6,630	29%
Lincoln	£2,752	40%	£6,616	21%
Mansfield	£2,852	32%	£6,870	20%

West Midlands

Place	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Single Person)	Percentage Comfortable	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Family of Four)	Percentage Comfortable
West Midlands	£3,305	44%	£6,819	29%
Herefordshire	£2,864	33%	£7,344	21%
Stoke-on-Trent	£2,550	41%	£6,174	25%
Telford and Wrekin	£2,466	42%	£6,056	28%
Staffordshire	£2,930	34%	£6,828	23%
Cannock Chase	£2,844	35%	£6,880	23%
Newcastle-under-Lyme	£2,706	46%	£6,484	24%
Stafford	£2,930	49%	£6,828	23%
Tamworth	£2,922	38%	£6,926	21%
Nuneaton and Bedworth	£2,484	53%	£5,932	37%
Rugby	£2,634	57%	£6,728	38%
Stratford-on-Avon	£2,996	43%	£6,696	34%
Warwick	£2,766	55%	£6,986	36%
Birmingham	£3,234	43%	£7,638	37%
Coventry	£3,240	29%	£7,118	24%
Dudley	£2,840	51%	£6,822	38%
Solihull	£2,886	35%	£8,044	16%
Walsall	£2,762	38%	£6,406	29%
Wolverhampton	£2,714	43%	£6,934	24%
Worcestershire	£2,656	50%	£6,592	31%
Bromsgrove	£2,842	54%	£6,998	43%
Redditch	£2,678	47%	£6,792	26%

East Anglia

Place	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Single Person)	Percentage Comfortable	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Family of Four)	Percentage Comfortable
East Anglia	£3,305	38%	£8,051	27%
Bedford	£3,050	46%	£8,004	25%
Luton	£3,244	31%	£8,052	<20%
Peterborough	£2,834	39%	£6,710	28%
Southend-on-Sea	£2,598	57%	£7,338	37%
Cambridge	£3,932	34%	£9,482	23%
Huntingdonshire	£3,234	39%	£6,370	38%
Basildon	£3,192/td>	41%	£8,054	29%
Brentwood	£4,090	37%	£9,234	30%
Chelmsford	£3,226	38%	£8,780	26%
Colchester	£2,960	45%	£7,166	30%
Harlow	£3,678	29%	£8,428	22%
Hertfordshire	£3,434	43%	£8,214	33%
St Albans	£3,936	30%	£8,656	41%
Stevenage	£3,224	44%	£8,588	33%
Watford	£3,762	30%	£10,170	<20%
King's Lynn and West Norfolk	£3,010	32%	£7,210	20%
Norwich	£3,044	31%	£7,100	22%
Ipswich	£3,034	38%	£7,356	<20%

South East

Place	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Single Person)	Percentage Comfortable	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Family of Four)	Percentage Comfortable
South East	£3,471	36%	£7,988	27%
Bracknell Forest	£3,650	37%	£9,012	22%
Brighton and Hove	£4,982	15%	£7,722	25%
Milton Keynes	£3,768	26%	£8,306	22%
Portsmouth	£3,050	38%	£7,518	20%
Reading	£3,654	35%	£8,714	25%
Slough	£3,480	37%	£8,770	20%
Southampton	£3,196	31%	£7,458	21%
Maidenhead	£4,156	55%	£8,546	30%
Wokingham	£3,282	50%	£8,148	43%
Eastbourne	££3,138	53%	£7,896	38%
Hastings	£3,426	<20%	£6,962	<20%
Basingstoke and Deane	£3,228	44%	£8,194	34%
Eastleigh	£3,250	41%	£8,398	29%
Gosport	£3,036	39%	£7,412	24%
Ashford	£3,340	34%	£6,572	31%
Canterbury	£3,362	47%	£7,732	24%
Dover	£2,886	43%	£7,018	32%
Maidstone	£3,022	35%	£8,014	26%
Folkestone and Hythe	£3,022	39%	£6,960	28%
Tonbridge and Malling	£3,212	44%	£7,332	37%
Tunbridge Wells	£3,306	48%	£8,322	33%
Oxford	£4,004	25%	£9,366	<20%
Guildford	£3,872	36%	£8,760	30%
Woking	£3,734	39%	£8,484	32%
Chichester	£3,476	27%	£7,864	20%
Crawley	£3,412	35%	£8,198	28%
Worthing	£3,302	34%	£7,598	23%

South West

Place	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Single Person)	Percentage Comfortable	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Family of Four)	Percentage Comfortable
South West	£3,035	38%	£7,518	26%
Bath and North East Somerset	£3,472	33%	£8,750	<20%
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	£3,344	26%	£10,506	<10%
Bristol	£3,750	26%	£8,858	17%
Plymouth	£2,810	38%	£6,786	23%
Swindon	£3,198	38%	£7,274	29%
Exeter	£3,046	32%	£8,470	19%
Gloucestershire	£2,704	47%	£6,784	31%
Cheltenham	£2,954	47%	£7,518	31%
Gloucester	£2,704	47%	£6,784	35%

Wales

Place	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Single Person)	Percentage Comfortable	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Family of Four)	Percentage Comfortable
Wales	£2,990	37%	£7,100	26%
Wrexham / Wrecsam	£2,648	49%	£6,168	35%
Swansea / Abertawe	£2,798	38%	£6,934	24%
Neath Port Talbot / Castell-nedd Port Talbot	£2,842	42%	£6,902	23%
Bridgend / Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr	£3,032	38%	£7,110	22%
Cardiff / Caerdydd	££3,190	32%	£7,804	21%
Newport / Casnewydd	£3,078	35%	£6,538	33%

Scotland

Place	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Single Person)	Percentage Comfortable	Monthly Take Home to Live Comfortably (Family of Four)	Percentage Comfortable
Scotland	£2,982	43%	£6,297	30%
Aberdeen City	£2,688	47%	£7,130	29%
Dumfries and Galloway	£2,196	58%	£5,460	37%
Dundee City	£2,442	47%	£6,184	28%
Edinburgh	£3,550	36%	£8,948	16%
Glasgow	£3,182	33%	£7,660	22%
Perth and Kinross	£2,602	54%	£5,950	44%
Stirling	£2,568	59%	£6,540	36%

Methodology

To find out how much it costs to live comfortably in each administrative region, we looked at cost of living data from livingcost.org. This provided essential costs for each area, and we extrapolated this using the 50-30-20 budgeting principle to work out how much was needed to live comfortably.

We calculated how many people could live comfortably in each area using the 2024 Office of National Statistics report on earnings and hours worked by local authority.