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:

Key Findings

Region by Region Findings

Here are our findings by UK region:

Largest Cities

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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.