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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Glasgow vs Belfast in 2026: cost index 90 vs 85, rent £850 vs £700, income £31,000 vs £29,000, QoL 62 vs 63.
Glasgow vs Belfast in 2026: cost index 90 vs 85, rent £850 vs £700, income £31,000 vs £29,000, QoL 62 vs 63.
Glasgow ranks #1 with a cost index of 90 and rent of £850/month.
Average cost index across these cities: 88 (-11 vs national average of 99).
Average quality of life: 63/100. Top: Glasgow at 62/100.
Safest city: Belfast (60/100 safety score).
Strip away assumptions, and something unexpected emerges. Glasgow stands out as the top-ranked city in this analysis. With a cost index of 90 and median income of £31,000, it offers below-average costs relative to the rest of United Kingdom. This combination is rare — and valuable.
On quality of life, Belfast leads with a composite score of 63/100 — reflecting its safety (60), healthcare (68), and walkability (72) metrics. And there's one more thing: affordability and QoL don't always move in the same direction, and United Kingdom is a good example of that tension.
The country average QoL score is 61/100. Glasgow leads with 62/100, reflecting its 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.
Glasgow (ranked #1) has a cost index of 90 and rent of £850/mo. Belfast (#2) has index 85 and rent £700/mo — a 5-point gap.