What Income Do You Need to Live Comfortably in the UK Right Now?

Posted by Strong_Presence_2408@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 64 comments

I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently and I’m curious what others think.

There’s lots of talk about salaries going up, job hopping for pay rises but it got me wondering what number actually feels comfortable in the UK at the moment.

Not rich, just: bills covered, able to save a bit andnot stressing about money every month.

From what I’ve seen, most full-time salaries seem to sit somewhere between the 30ks and £40ks, which doesn’t leave much room once rent/mortgage and general costs are taken out.

Feels like there’s a decent gap between earning a decent salary and feeling financially secure.

Curious where people would put that number now?

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No_Chemist2922@reddit

Pretty sure you can get by with 40k a year, although you'll have to work till you die and not lose employment at any point in time. As long as you're not in London.

60k provides a little more cushion, and you would already be way above the median (better than half of the people in the country).

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PaulBBN@reddit

It depends on so, so, many different factors.

I'm 33, earning around £43k, Living in a suburb of Doncaster and pretty comfortable.

I know full well, living elsewhere in the country I wouldn't be.

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Salt_Dot4543@reddit

33 here living on 65-70k a year in the south, doesn’t go very far. Mortgage, kids etc. single income for now aswell. Quite mad really.

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Strong_Presence_2408@reddit (OP)

The North/South divide for living expenses is real. Makes a difference on what's left at the end of the month.

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Salt_Dot4543@reddit

Yeah, my job is region oriented when it comes to pay too unfortunately

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Suspicious_Steak_696@reddit

In the south probably 80k for the average family

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Strong_Presence_2408@reddit (OP)

UK median income is £37k to 42k. I was digging into this to get a better understanding. https://www.salarysorted.co.uk/what-is-a-good-salary-uk.
80k right in this middle ground.

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IntrepidMaybe8579@reddit

Absolutely disgusting my job is on the top end and make the same or more than doctors 100k is pretty much a starting minimum with federal radiation certs

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Our living costs are far lower than the US, and our employers do not hold us in slavery by demanding 12 hour 6 day a week working on penalty of being bankrupted by the next doctors appointment if we lose work provided healthcare. Salaries are lower here, but we have lives.

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IntrepidMaybe8579@reddit

And it depends working in that field you typically get 100 per day to cover your housing as youll be living in hotels for the job traveling otherwise alot of people live on the job site in big shared worker man camps and they feed you good ect but it sucks

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IntrepidMaybe8579@reddit

Well its obviously the sacrifice of life which is why it pays so well its on call 24-7 every day all day/night from the moment your employed but the whole point is so you can do 10 years of that and retire oil and gas should never be a full life long career but sadly people think the big numbers last and they dont you can lose your job any day but if your sensible its perfect for young men

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TheRadishBros@reddit

It’s about 40k

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IntrepidMaybe8579@reddit

My job currently if i moved back to the uk pays 35-50k in pounds per year which is absolutely god awful considering thats not enough to support a family comfortably, i work with intense radiation doing oil rig xrays ect to catch things before explosions kill people (which has happened nearby a few times this year including a freind who died from opening a pressurized pipe which caused an explosion and his job was only pipe cleaning) and i cant support a family doing that? Absolutely disgraceful

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TheRadishBros@reddit

How did you find a job in ND while living in the UK, out of interest? I’m currently looking.

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IntrepidMaybe8579@reddit

Im in texas now close to mexico i just happened to be adopted under the US military at 17, but im dying to come home but obviously feeling stuck because of the situation, the only leads ive gotten is as a uk only citizen then either scotland or offshore in the north sea or the middle east which i was looking into but having hell because its not like i can just show up at a companys door with my certificates, but if you wanted to look into it i would definitely help you get there and help you learn stuff im just stuck for not knowing what potential there is over there

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Strong_Presence_2408@reddit (OP)

35-50k for a job like that is scandalous. What's the difference in pay for this role outside the UK?

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Neither_Process_7847@reddit

That would be absurdly low for the position described...

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IntrepidMaybe8579@reddit

Depends where your at i guess but the typical average technician would make 100k or more in the oil and gas industry in north dakota or the permian basin (TX/NM) in usa, this is a very high risk/pressure industry with constant travel and long daily commutes (mine is 5-6hrs driving daily) and 70-100+hrs per week typically on average 85hrs per week so obviously most of that money is the sheer hours you can get because any hours past 40 and your paid 1.5x your hourly wage plus you get 100 per day for free because its supposed to cover your forced travel expenses like hotels, i dont know anyone over there who does it so im not even sure what it pays tbh but so far thats what ive heard from people seeing as oil and gas is a dying industry because of uk politics rn

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NoCold3997@reddit

How long is a piece of string it comes down to personal circumstances and where you live in the uk .I could get by on very little but have a lot of income so loads extra . Somebody else could either be better or worse or the complete opposite

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IntrepidMaybe8579@reddit

Where at? This is abit higher than what i live off about 10k a year but im in a caravan i own in a campsite which is all bills included for 450

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NoCold3997@reddit

I love in Shropshire in a lovely town but paid cash (320k) for my house in 2024 so no mortgage and debt free.

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IntrepidMaybe8579@reddit

And its still that much? Is it alot of property taxes ect for being near schools ect? Thats crazy i would damn well expect to be finished working almost entirely once i bought a house outright maybe work a couple days here and there

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NoCold3997@reddit

That figure is me being generous and incudes utilities, food and play money...i didnt say it was that much i said i could vope on that very easy . .I retired years ago and im 56 now

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IntrepidMaybe8579@reddit

Ah ok so once you fully own a house its only about keeping up with general survival like food ect and utilities? Good news because out here some people buy their dream home cheap then all of a sudden it gets built up really really quick around them and suddenly their paying loads extra yearly taxes for all the local amenities they never wanted

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NoCold3997@reddit

Yes no taxes and mostly the amenities are already there. We have council tax ( which everybody pays regardless of owning property or not and differs county by county)

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IntrepidMaybe8579@reddit

Not too bad then really so all. Have to do now is count my coin bottle and pay over a quarter million 🤣

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NoCold3997@reddit

Yep there is that but saying that there's much cheaper houses in some parts of the uk.

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IntrepidMaybe8579@reddit

I would most definitely be happy with bare minimum was trying to potentially move home to homestead out in the sticks off grid maybe around norfolk but its alot to take in regarding laws but definitely some nice cheap plots of land

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Strong_Presence_2408@reddit (OP)

I'm a big believer in paying off a mortgage as early as possible is a great bedrock for building wealth - let alone the peace of mind benefits.

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NoCold3997@reddit

Yep last time I had a mortgage was in 1999...b3en mortgage free since then but moved many times.

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Jezbod@reddit

I live alone in North Yorkshire earning around £40K.

House is a two bedroom, end of terrace and life is very comfortably thank you!

Get out of the large cities, it is far cheaper, as long as you have a local job. Mine is 6 miles away in the next town.

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Strong_Presence_2408@reddit (OP)

God's own country... great part of the world. I also live outside of a large city and enjoy that way of life.

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evenstevens280@reddit

I could live pretty comfortably on £50k where I am right now (South West)

But I would prefer £60k+ in order to be able to build up enough savings buffer whilst also living comfortably at the same time.

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Strong_Presence_2408@reddit (OP)

£50k vs £60k gives a noticeable jump in monthly flexibility after tax. That’s usually where people start to feel less restricted.

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Thalamic_Cub@reddit

I grew up thinking 30k was going to be my goal in life to feel secure financially. Any more than that was 'well off'.

For a household in SE England I reckon £60-70k would be where you stop being as worried and can relax a bit - provided your expenses haven't crept up too.

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Strong_Presence_2408@reddit (OP)

It's the outgoings that can creep up and get us. Like you, that 30k target was my era too - times have change a bit since then.

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DeifniteProfessional@reddit

I'm on £40K exactly, no pension contributions, taxable benefit worth about £20 per month. I don't have money, so housing costs are rent. I think I'm on the lowest possible "safe" for my area (which is NOT London) (I wouldn't call myself comfortable) where I have enough for small things like car repairs. I am actually currently living with family, looking to rent my own place this year. Below is my current budget:

Income: £2690

Outgoings:

Rent: £1200

Gas/Electricity/water: £270 (this is high I admit, but I budget high as I'm a very heavy electricity user and our current household bill is about £300 as it is)

Council tax: £140

Car fuel: £200

Car tax: £2

Car insurance: £50

Other travel/commuting costs: £50

Food & drink (everything except for pubs/eating out): £350

Personal costs, subscriptions, etc: £100

Phone & internet: £65 (I WFH in IT and need fast internet connections)

Spare for savings, unexpected issues, entertainment: £328

And you can almost guarantee I'm missing a random thing that costs me like £200 a month.

But yeah basically if my car dies, I'm taking out a loan and paying that off for longer than the repair/new car lasts.

Comfortable? Nah. Living - sure. I think I would need to be in the next tax bracket to be comfortable, which is sickening to think about.

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Strong_Presence_2408@reddit (OP)

There's always some random thing that evades the the review when we are sharpening the pencil.

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PayApprehensive6181@reddit

How come you're paying £1200 rent to family?

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clbbcrg@reddit

Comments on here live on a different planet .. you all must waste so much money if you need £80k to just be comfortable.. get a grip

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Born-Ad2653@reddit

few million

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Sea-Still5427@reddit

Speaking as a single person, £30K to get by (c.2K a month - healthy diet, pay the bills, maintenance on home, car and self, small entertainment budget but not really saving). £50K would give scope to save a bit and go on holiday occasionally.

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Upbeat_Branch_4231@reddit

Full time salaries that high? LOL! I check the government Job Centre web site daily and they are quoting salaries of nearer 25K or even minimum wage, unless we're talking experienced doctors etc. I myself can only find part time at minimum wage, which provides me with about 12K per annum. And no that is not enough to live on.

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Efficient_Chance7639@reddit

Welcome to the nightmare of massive minimum wage hikes and changes to employment laws. Hiring full time people is sadly a no-go for many companies these days.

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Upbeat_Branch_4231@reddit

Nonsense. Its just an excuse to pay the CEOs more. I work for a VERY large company and they employ chiefly part timers and pay us all minimum wage, while the CEO earns over 350K according to the submitted company accounts.

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Efficient_Chance7639@reddit

Isn’t that exactly what I said?

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Alert_Mine7067@reddit

Northern Ireland

Annual income is £40300 or around that, net is around £2600 a month, outgoings are £1500 that includes everything but food shopping. Car tax, insurance and house insurance are paid annually.

I'm grateful that I can live comfortably, but the cost of living in NI is a lot cheaper, anywhere else in the UK and it would be a completely different story, especially having to pay council tax, water charges, higher prices for fuel etc

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ChelseaMourning@reddit

£70-80k depending on where you live. I’m in the commuter belt in the south east, so living costs are high. If it were up north I’d say £40-50k.

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Playful-Marketing320@reddit

“Up north” is not even that affordable now depending on where you live. Certainly is very pricey where i live.

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ChelseaMourning@reddit

I’m originally from greater Manchester, so that’s where my mind goes when I think “up north”. Just your bog standard satellite town.

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Stewstar73cyclism@reddit

Get and stay married. Can't imagine living on a single salary.

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JonJo42@reddit

A minimum of £80k in the South to be considered comfortable.

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Comfortable_Set8679@reddit

In London you are never comfortable

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Mumstheword76@reddit

It depends on your circumstances. I live in the NW, have a modest mortgage on a terraced house and live within my means. I have reasonable savings that I add to monthly and manage my bills done. I don't have gym membership, only have subscription for Netflix and have a crap mobile that is the same as 5 years ago. My bf lives with me and our combined income is around 32k. Daughter contributes £300 from her full time earnings. I feel comfortable.

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BarNo3385@reddit

Hugely dependent on where in the country you are, Doncaster is not the same as Camden.

That said, looking at our household budget, (2 adults and a young child, midlands), if I strip out retirement savings and investments, but keep in the money we put aside of lumpy bills like insurance, house repairs and maintenances, vets, dentist and opticians etc, as well as all the usually living costs - mortgage, utilities, food, car, work expenses, spending money etc is about £3,400 a month. To generate that you need an income of about £53,000 as a sole earner.

If you are both working then you are do it more tax efficiently, so two people each earning about £24k would get you there. (2x 24 is a higher tax home than 1x53).

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tortoiseshell_claws@reddit

I live alone in the north. I’m on £40k and I have to watch what I spend within reason. Like, all my bills are paid and I always have food, pay for fitness classes, put the heating on if I’m cold etc but I couldn’t just go shopping for new clothes and have a lunch out without thinking about it.

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brabrabra222@reddit

We need 25k after tax for 2 people, no kids. Anything over that goes into savings.

Obviously, this depends hugely on the number of people, location and housing situation.

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