Which cities in the UK have the best and worst salaries?
The cost of living crisis has made the last half a year extremely tough for both families and businesses. Rising energy and gas prices have put a huge strain on low-income families and small businesses, which has made it more important than ever to compare business electricity prices and get the best rate from your business electricity suppliers.
With wages varying across the UK, we wanted to find out which cities had the best wage in comparison to their cost of living. We’ve looked at the median annual salaries, the cost of living, and average working hours to find out the best UK cities to work in.
Guildford named the highest earning city with a median annual salary of £4,000 more than London
We’ve looked at the median annual salaries in the UK to find out which cities have the highest average salary.
1. Guildford – £38,040 median annual salary
Guildford takes the top spot with the highest median salary in the UK, with the rate just over £38,000 a year. Sitting southwest of London, Guildford’s median annual salary is £4,000 more than London, which sits in second place. Guildford has great links into London, which makes it an ideal place for people who work in the capital, but do not want to live there.
2. London – £33,970 median annual salary
The capital of England takes second place with a median salary of just under £34,000 a year. Not only is London the most populated city in the UK, but it’s also one of the most popular in Europe. It is also a great place for business, with the London Business School considered one of the best Universities for business in the world. Despite everything that London has to offer, it’s median annual salary is still not high enough for the top spot, which is particularly surprising given London has the highest cost of living in the UK.
3. Reading – £30,925 median annual salary
Completing our top three is Reading with a median annual salary of just under £31,000. Reading is best known for its annual music festival, however, it is also a popular location to live in due to its transport links to London. The University of Reading was also ranked 5th in the UK for business, management, and marketing graduate prospects.
With a salary score of 7.86, Edinburgh has been named the best city to work in.
We’ve looked at which UK cities have the best annual salary in comparison to their average working hours and cost of living score.
1. Edinburgh – 7.86 salary score
In top spot is the capital of Scotland with a salary score of 7.86 out of 10. Edinburgh has the lowest average working hours per week at just 35, joint with four other cities. Edinburgh also has a median annual salary of over £30,000.
2. Cardiff – 7.14 salary score
The capital of Wales takes second place with a salary score of 7.14 out of 10. The average working hours in Cardiff is an hour more than in Edinburgh, and although the median annual pay is lower, the cost of living is also lower.
3. Aberdeen – 6.67 salary score
Completing our top three is another Scottish city, Aberdeen, with a salary score of 6.67 out of 10. Although Aberdeen had the joint highest average working hours, the cost of living was the fourth lowest in the UK. Aberdeen’s median salary was the second highest in Scotland and the 12th highest in the UK at just over £27,000.
Nottingham has been named the worst city to work in with a salary score of 2.62/10.
Using the same data, we wanted to find out the cities with the worst annual wage when compared to their working hours and cost of living score.
1. Nottingham – 2.62 salary score
Nottingham takes the top spot with a salary score of 2.62 out of 10. Nottingham’s median annual salary is the lowest in the UK at just over £22,000. Despite its low salary, Nottingham’s cost of living score is the 12th highest in the UK.
2. Plymouth – 2.74 salary score
Plymouth takes second place with a salary score of 2.74 out of 10. Plymouth’s annual salary is the fourth lowest in the UK at almost £23,500, and its cost of living index score is slightly higher than Nottingham’s.
3. Derby – 3.81 salary score
Completing our top three is Derby with a salary score of 3.81 out of 10. Like all cities in our top three, the average working hours in Derby is 37 hours per week. Derby’s median salary and cost of living score are both below average, at £26,700 and 61.3 respectively.
Methodology
We used data from the Office of National Statistics to find the median annual salaries and average working hours a week.
We also used Numbeo to find the cost of living scores for different cities in the UK. We used the UK cities in Numbeo’s list to create our seeding list.
We then put this data into a weighted table, giving each score a normalised score out of 10. We then took an average of these scores to get an overall salary score out of 10.
Response was very quick. quotes were very competitive and the advice from Liam was exactly what was needed. a great service!
Very quick & easy contact, sourced new rates quickly & transfer process was simple .
Utility Bidder takes all the hassle out of sorting through the mine field of service providers and provides a professional and time efficient way of securing a competitive price for my energy needs.
Having previously spoken with a rival broker whose consultants I felt were pressuring me into signing a contract immediately, Kirsty Schofield was a breath of air. She found a cheaper and shorter contract to suit my needs and was very friendly and efficient. She made renewing my energy contract a pleasant experience instead of a dreaded chore.”
First class service from Sarah at Utility Bidder, I have been with them for a couple of years now and wouldn’t go elsewhere and would certainly recommend.
Don’t take our word! Listen to our customers
Award-winning energy comparison
We’re dedicated to helping businesses like yours save more on energy. It only takes a couple of minutes to compare quotes.