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City Comparison · 2026

Manchester vs Birmingham 2026

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%
VS
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%
Verdict

Which City Wins?

Best Real-Terms Salary
Manchester
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
Manchester
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
Manchester
Higher job growth rate and more active job market for ambitious professionals.
Best Overall Value
Manchester
When salary, cost of living and rent are all considered together.

Top Salaries: Manchester vs Birmingham

Job TitleManchesterBirminghamDifference
Software Engineer £61,000 £58,000 +£3,000
Data Analyst £38,000 £36,000 +£2,000
Data Scientist £54,000 £51,000 +£3,000
Machine Learning Engineer £68,000 £64,000 +£4,000
Product Manager £65,000 £60,000 +£5,000
UX Designer £47,000 £44,000 +£3,000
UI Designer £44,000 £41,000 +£3,000
Cybersecurity Analyst £53,000 £50,000 +£3,000
DevOps Engineer £64,000 £60,000 +£4,000
Cloud Architect £80,000 £76,000 +£4,000

Manchester

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

Full Manchester Guide →

Birmingham

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

Full Birmingham Guide →
Live Jobs

Jobs in Manchester

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Jobs in Birmingham

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