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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Average salary in Cambridge: £41,000/year — £7,396 above the United Kingdom median. Cost index 129, purchasing power 31783/100. Compare incomes across East of England below.
Average salary in Cambridge: £41,000/year — £7,396 above the United Kingdom median. Cost index 129, purchasing power 31783/100. Compare incomes across East of England below.
Cambridge: cost index 129 (+26 vs national avg 103), rent £1,450/month.
East of England region average cost index: 103. Cambridge is +26 vs region peers.
Quality of life: 61/100 — safety 74, healthcare 88, walkability 82.
Safety score: 74/100 (crime rate 44.8/1k). National average: 61/100.
One stat flips the usual narrative: Cambridge has a cost index of 129 — 26 points above the United Kingdom national average of 103. Median income is £41,000 with rent at £1,450/month, putting the rent-to-income ratio at 42%. That's a strong position by any measure.
Layer in taxes, though, and the math changes. looking at East of England as a whole, the spread across all 27 cities is 46 points on the cost index. Sunderland sits at the other end with index 83 and rent of £660/mo. This stands out as genuinely impressive.
On quality of life, Cambridge scores a composite score of 61/100 — reflecting its safety (74), healthcare (88), and walkability (82) metrics. Context matters here. affordability and QoL don't always move in the same direction, and United Kingdom is a good example of that tension.
| # | City | Cost Index | Rent/mo | Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cambridge | 129 | £1,450 | £41,000 |
| 2 | London | 142 | £2,000 | £42,500 |
| 3 | Reading | 124 | £1,300 | £40,000 |
| 4 | Oxford | 132 | £1,500 | £39,000 |
| 5 | Brighton | 122 | £1,350 | £37,000 |
| 6 | Edinburgh | 110 | £1,220 | £37,000 |
| 7 | Bristol | 112 | £1,200 | £35,800 |
| 8 | Aberdeen | 98 | £810 | £35,800 |
| 9 | Southampton | 113 | £1,130 | £35,200 |
| 10 | York | 107 | £1,080 | £34,700 |
| 11 | Manchester | 103 | £1,080 | £33,800 |
| 12 | Exeter | 106 | £1,020 | £32,600 |
| 13 | Cardiff | 96 | £940 | £32,600 |
| 14 | Glasgow | 95 | £960 | £32,600 |
| 15 | Birmingham | 97 | £950 | £32,200 |
| 16 | Norwich | 99 | £920 | £32,000 |
| 17 | Leeds | 96 | £950 | £31,600 |
| 18 | Plymouth | 97 | £870 | £31,000 |
| 19 | Nottingham | 94 | £880 | £31,000 |
| 20 | Coventry | 94 | £880 | £30,500 |
Cambridge — cost index 129, rent £1,450/mo, income £41,000, QoL 61/100.
London — cost index 142, rent £2,000/mo, income £42,500, QoL 56/100.
Reading — cost index 124, rent £1,300/mo, income £40,000, QoL 56/100.
Oxford — cost index 132, rent £1,500/mo, income £39,000, QoL 58/100.
Brighton — cost index 122, rent £1,350/mo, income £37,000, QoL 57/100.
The median gross income in Cambridge is £41,000/year — above the United Kingdom national average of £33,604.
The East of England region of average QoL score is 60/100. Cambridge leads with 61/100, reflecting safety, healthcare access, walkability, and green space.
Our index is benchmarked to 100 (national median). Sub-categories cover housing, food, transport, utilities, and healthcare. Data sources include ONS, Land Registry, HMRC.
Cambridge: cost index 129, rent £1,450/mo, income £41,000/yr, QoL 61/100. London: cost index 142, rent £2,000/mo, income £42,500/yr, QoL 56/100.
This analysis uses data from ONS, Land Registry, HMRC to rank cities in United Kingdom. The cost of living index is benchmarked to 100 (national median). Quality of life scores combine safety, healthcare, walkability, air quality, green space, and transit metrics. Salary ranges use national occupation data adjusted for local cost differences. Data is updated regularly to reflect current market conditions.