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City Comparison · 2026

Manchester vs Bristol 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
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
Manchester
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
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
Bristol
When salary, cost of living and rent are all considered together.

Top Salaries: Manchester vs Bristol

Job TitleManchesterBristolDifference
Software Engineer £61,000 £63,000 £-2,000
Data Analyst £38,000 £40,000 £-2,000
Data Scientist £54,000 £56,000 £-2,000
Machine Learning Engineer £68,000 £70,000 £-2,000
Product Manager £65,000 £66,000 £-1,000
UX Designer £47,000 £49,000 £-2,000
UI Designer £44,000 £46,000 £-2,000
Cybersecurity Analyst £53,000 £55,000 £-2,000
DevOps Engineer £64,000 £66,000 £-2,000
Cloud Architect £80,000 £82,000 £-2,000

Manchester

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

Full Manchester Guide →

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 →
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Jobs in Manchester

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Jobs in Bristol

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