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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Average salary in Cardiff: £32,600/year — £1,004 below the United Kingdom median. Cost index 96, purchasing power 33958/100. Compare incomes across Wales below.
Average salary in Cardiff: £32,600/year — £1,004 below the United Kingdom median. Cost index 96, purchasing power 33958/100. Compare incomes across Wales below.
Cardiff: cost index 96 (-7 vs national avg 103), rent £940/month.
Wales region average cost index: 103. Cardiff is -7 vs region peers.
Quality of life: 62/100 — safety 62, healthcare 72, walkability 72.
Safety score: 62/100 (crime rate 72.5/1k). National average: 61/100.
One stat flips the usual narrative: Cardiff has a cost index of 96 — 7 points below the United Kingdom national average of 103. Median income is £32,600 with rent at £940/month, putting the rent-to-income ratio at 35%. Financially, that's significant.
Pair that with the housing data, and the pattern sharpens. looking at Wales as a whole, the spread across all 27 cities is 13 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, Cardiff scores a composite score of 62/100 — reflecting its safety (62), healthcare (72), and walkability (72) 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 | Cardiff | 96 | £940 | £32,600 |
| 2 | London | 142 | £2,000 | £42,500 |
| 3 | Cambridge | 129 | £1,450 | £41,000 |
| 4 | Reading | 124 | £1,300 | £40,000 |
| 5 | Oxford | 132 | £1,500 | £39,000 |
| 6 | Brighton | 122 | £1,350 | £37,000 |
| 7 | Edinburgh | 110 | £1,220 | £37,000 |
| 8 | Bristol | 112 | £1,200 | £35,800 |
| 9 | Aberdeen | 98 | £810 | £35,800 |
| 10 | Southampton | 113 | £1,130 | £35,200 |
| 11 | York | 107 | £1,080 | £34,700 |
| 12 | Manchester | 103 | £1,080 | £33,800 |
| 13 | Exeter | 106 | £1,020 | £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 |
Cardiff — cost index 96, rent £940/mo, income £32,600, QoL 62/100.
London — cost index 142, rent £2,000/mo, income £42,500, QoL 56/100.
Cambridge — cost index 129, rent £1,450/mo, income £41,000, QoL 61/100.
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.
The median gross income in Cardiff is £32,600/year — below the United Kingdom national average of £33,604.
The Wales region of average QoL score is 60/100. Cardiff leads with 62/100, 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.
Cardiff: cost index 96, rent £940/mo, income £32,600/yr, QoL 62/100. 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.