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City Comparison · 2026

London vs Manchester 2026

Greater London
London
Median Salary £52,800
Cost of Living 100/100
Avg Rent (1 bed) £2,100/mo
Real Take-Home £28,400/yr
Job Growth ↑ 4.2%
Unemployment 3.8%
VS
Greater Manchester
Manchester
Median Salary £36,500
Cost of Living 72/100
Avg Rent (1 bed) £900/mo
Real Take-Home £26,200/yr
Job Growth ↑ 5.8%
Unemployment 4.1%
Verdict

Which City Wins?

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

Top Salaries: London vs Manchester

Job TitleLondonManchesterDifference
Software Engineer £82,000 £61,000 +£21,000
Data Analyst £52,000 £38,000 +£14,000
Data Scientist £72,000 £54,000 +£18,000
Machine Learning Engineer £90,000 £68,000 +£22,000
Product Manager £88,000 £65,000 +£23,000
UX Designer £65,000 £47,000 +£18,000
UI Designer £60,000 £44,000 +£16,000
Cybersecurity Analyst £72,000 £53,000 +£19,000
DevOps Engineer £86,000 £64,000 +£22,000
Cloud Architect £105,000 £80,000 +£25,000

London

London is the UK's financial and economic capital, offering the highest salaries of any UK city but also the highest cost of living.

Full London Guide →

Manchester

Manchester is the UK's second city for business with a thriving digital economy and significantly lower costs than London.

Full Manchester Guide →
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Jobs in London

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Jobs in Manchester

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