Where to live in London by salary
What a London salary actually leaves you after tax, what that rents, and which neighbourhoods are realistically in range at each level.
Every guide below starts from gross salary, applies UK income tax and National Insurance to get monthly take-home, then applies the conventional guideline that rent should stay at or below 33–35% of that figure. The result is a rent ceiling, and the areas we track are filtered against it.
The honest headline: renting a whole one-bed anywhere in this dataset does not become viable within that guideline until around £55,000, which yields a £1,238/month ceiling and 1 area in range. Below that, sharing is not a compromise — it is the market. Below that threshold the table names the cheapest room in a share and the real percentage of take-home it would consume, rather than showing an empty row.
Two things the percentages do not capture. Council tax and bills are frequently bundled into a room-share rent and almost never into a one-bed, which is worth £100–£150 a month in any honest comparison. And travel is a real cost: a cheaper Zone 4 room on a slow route can end up costing more per month, and considerably more per week in time, than a dearer Zone 2 one.
Every salary level
Rent budget is 35% of monthly take-home. “In range” counts the 95 tracked areas where a one-bed fits inside it; the named areas are the priciest of those, which is what the extra money actually buys.
| Salary | Take-home / mo | Rent budget | 1-beds in range | What it reaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £25,000 | £1,793 | £628 | 0 | No one-bed. Cheapest room: Stratford £944 (53% of take-home) |
| £30,000 | £2,093 | £733 | 0 | No one-bed. Cheapest room: Stratford £944 (45% of take-home) |
| £35,000 | £2,393 | £838 | 0 | No one-bed. Cheapest room: Stratford £944 (39% of take-home) |
| £40,000 | £2,693 | £943 | 0 | No one-bed. Cheapest room: Stratford £944 (35% of take-home) |
| £45,000 | £2,993 | £1,048 | 0 | No one-bed. Cheapest room: Stratford £944 (32% of take-home) |
| £50,000 | £3,293 | £1,153 | 0 | No one-bed. Cheapest room: Stratford £944 (29% of take-home) |
| £55,000 | £3,538 | £1,238 | 1 | Romford £1,200 |
| £60,000 | £3,780 | £1,323 | 10 | Catford £1,300, Ilford £1,300, Forest Gate £1,300 |
| £65,000 | £4,021 | £1,407 | 19 | New Cross £1,400, Streatham £1,400, Cricklewood £1,400 |
| £70,000 | £4,263 | £1,492 | 23 | Kingston £1,450, Crystal Palace £1,450, Lewisham £1,450 |
| £80,000 | £4,746 | £1,661 | 48 | East Dulwich £1,650, Greenwich £1,650, Earlsfield £1,600 |
| £90,000 | £5,230 | £1,830 | 64 | Chiswick £1,800, Barnes £1,800, Elephant & Castle £1,800 |
| £100,000 | £5,713 | £2,000 | 79 | Hampstead £2,000, Islington £2,000, Maida Vale £1,950 |
| £120,000 | £6,326 | £2,214 | 90 | Covent Garden £2,200, Marylebone Village £2,200, Soho £2,200 |
| £150,000 | £7,555 | £2,644 | 95 | Mayfair £2,600, Chelsea £2,400, Kensington £2,400 |
How the take-home figures are calculated
Take-home applies the England and Wales personal allowance of £12,570, the 20% basic rate up to £50,270 and the 40% higher rate above it, plus Class 1 National Insurance at 8% and 2% across the same thresholds. Above £100,000 the personal allowance tapers away by £1 for every £2 earned, and the 45% additional rate starts at £125,140 — both are modelled, which is why take-home rises so slowly between £100,000 and £125,140. It assumes a standard tax code and no student loan repayments, pension contributions or salary sacrifice — all of which reduce take-home in practice, so treat these as a ceiling rather than a payslip. Scottish rates differ and are not modelled. Full detail is on the methodology page.