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City Comparison · 2026

Birmingham vs Bristol 2026

West Midlands
Birmingham
Median Salary £33,200
Cost of Living 68/100
Avg Rent (1 bed) £800/mo
Real Take-Home £25,100/yr
Job Growth ↑ 4.9%
Unemployment 4.8%
VS
South West England
Bristol
Median Salary £38,200
Cost of Living 78/100
Avg Rent (1 bed) £1,100/mo
Real Take-Home £26,500/yr
Job Growth ↑ 5.1%
Unemployment 3.5%
Verdict

Which City Wins?

Best Real-Terms Salary
Bristol
Best take-home pay after accounting for rent and cost of living.
Best for Affordability
Birmingham
Lower cost of living index means your money goes further every day.
Highest Headline Salary
Bristol
Higher median salary before cost of living is taken into account.
Lowest Rent
Birmingham
More affordable average rents leave more of your salary in your pocket.
Best for Career Growth
Bristol
Higher job growth rate and more active job market for ambitious professionals.
Best Overall Value
Bristol
When salary, cost of living and rent are all considered together.

Top Salaries: Birmingham vs Bristol

Job TitleBirminghamBristolDifference
Software Engineer £58,000 £63,000 £-5,000
Data Analyst £36,000 £40,000 £-4,000
Data Scientist £51,000 £56,000 £-5,000
Machine Learning Engineer £64,000 £70,000 £-6,000
Product Manager £60,000 £66,000 £-6,000
UX Designer £44,000 £49,000 £-5,000
UI Designer £41,000 £46,000 £-5,000
Cybersecurity Analyst £50,000 £55,000 £-5,000
DevOps Engineer £60,000 £66,000 £-6,000
Cloud Architect £76,000 £82,000 £-6,000

Birmingham

Birmingham is the UK's second largest city undergoing significant regeneration with growing financial services and digital sectors.

Full Birmingham Guide →

Bristol

Bristol consistently ranks as one of the UK's best cities for quality of life with above-average salaries and a booming tech sector.

Full Bristol Guide →
Live Jobs

Jobs in Birmingham

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Jobs in Bristol

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