Birmingham vs Manchester - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Birmingham	Manchester
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1951	$2071
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4641	$5081
🏠 One person rent	$1137	$1241
🏘️ Family rent	$1834	$2185
🍽️ Food expenses	$481	$510
🚐 Transport expenses	$175	$179
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3011	$2923
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	96	91
😀 Quality of life	94	92
🏙️ Population	1.14M	548K

The cost of living in Birmingham is 6% less expensive than in Manchester. Cities ranked 1973rd and 1662nd ($1951 vs $2071) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 86th and 46th in the United Kingdom.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.5 months in Birmingham compared to 1.4 months in Manchester. Ranked 4th vs 13th best cities to live in the United Kingdom, and 35th vs 85th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Birmingham vs Manchester infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/birmingham/manchester.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Birmingham vs Manchester infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/birmingham/manchester" target="_blank">Birmingham vs Manchester - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Birmingham vs Manchester

Prices for goods and services in Birmingham and Manchester are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Birmingham	Manchester
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$16.7	$16.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$61.3	$73.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.87	$9.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.15	$6.16
☕ Cappuccino	$4.2	$4.46
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.15	$2.46
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1083	$1351
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$872	$936
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2013	$2179
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1380	$1788
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$187	$186
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$292	$283
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$35.8	$35.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.86%	5.9%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4882	$5330
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3808	$3723
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.5	$2.54
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$78.1	$110
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18	$24.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.82	$1.94
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$1.49
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.51	$1.46
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.04	$1.8
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.02	$3.85
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.56	$10.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.49	$8.71
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.4	$15.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.4	$3.04
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$1.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$3.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$3.4
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$1.72
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.28	$1.7
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.79	$0.92
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.12	$2.58
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.2	$10.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.99	$2.45
🚬 Cigarette pack	$18.4	$16.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.5	$7.03
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.98	$4.47
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.99	$2.35
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.44	$1.79
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$30.6	$43.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14	$11.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$113	$84.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$14.4	$13.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$82.3	$86.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$92.2	$88
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1512	$1818
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$18058	$19551

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Birmingham

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.7 km or 2.9 mi	Smethwick	$1819
6.8 km or 4.2 mi	West Bromwich	$1824
11 km or 6.6 mi	Halesowen	$1766
12 km or 7.2 mi	Solihull	$1740
12 km or 7.6 mi	Walsall	$1717
14 km or 8.7 mi	Dudley	$1745
14 km or 8.7 mi	Aldridge	$1743
15 km or 9.6 mi	Willenhall	$1732
17 km or 10 mi	Stourbridge	$1731
19 km or 12 mi	Wolverhampton	$1718
19 km or 12 mi	Bromsgrove	$1728
20 km or 12 mi	Redditch	$1608
22 km or 14 mi	Tamworth	$1737
25 km or 15 mi	Cannock	$1736
26 km or 16 mi	Kidderminster	$1744
27 km or 17 mi	Coventry	$1903
30 km or 19 mi	Nuneaton	$1452
31 km or 19 mi	Warwick	$1679
32 km or 20 mi	Leamington Spa	$2009
35 km or 22 mi	Stratford-upon-Avon	$1798
37 km or 23 mi	Hinckley	$1663
39 km or 24 mi	Worcester	$1569
39 km or 24 mi	Stafford	$1750
40 km or 25 mi	Burton upon Trent	$1633
43 km or 27 mi	Telford	$1450
45 km or 28 mi	Rugby	$1600
55 km or 34 mi	Leicester	$1805
57 km or 35 mi	Derby	$1727
57 km or 35 mi	Loughborough	$1759
60 km or 37 mi	Banbury	$1693
61 km or 38 mi	Stoke-on-Trent	$1552
63 km or 39 mi	Shrewsbury	$1591
63 km or 39 mi	Newcastle-under-Lyme	$1465
66 km or 41 mi	Cheltenham	$1739
66 km or 41 mi	Market Harborough	$1790
70 km or 44 mi	Leek	$1686
72 km or 45 mi	Gloucester	$1623
73 km or 45 mi	Hereford	$1814
73 km or 46 mi	Nottingham	$1820
73 km or 46 mi	Northampton	$1748

Cities near Manchester

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.3 km or 2.7 mi	Salford	$1948
5.3 km or 3.3 mi	Droylsden	$1800
5.5 km or 3.4 mi	Stretford	$1874
7.5 km or 4.7 mi	Sale	$1845
9.1 km or 5.7 mi	Ashton-under-Lyne	$1720
12 km or 7.2 mi	Oldham	$1602
12 km or 7.6 mi	Altrincham	$1788
15 km or 9.1 mi	Bury	$1806
17 km or 11 mi	Rochdale	$1672
19 km or 12 mi	Bolton	$1806
24 km or 15 mi	Macclesfield	$1720
26 km or 16 mi	Warrington	$1962
28 km or 17 mi	Wigan	$1574
34 km or 21 mi	Chorley	$1675
34 km or 21 mi	St Helens	$1497
35 km or 22 mi	Widnes	$1753
35 km or 22 mi	Blackburn	$1686
35 km or 22 mi	Runcorn	$1762
36 km or 22 mi	Burnley	$1376
36 km or 22 mi	Huddersfield	$1680
38 km or 23 mi	Halifax	$1793
39 km or 25 mi	Brighouse	$1737
42 km or 26 mi	Leek	$1686
43 km or 27 mi	Crewe	$1486
45 km or 28 mi	Preston	$1456
46 km or 29 mi	Dewsbury	$1693
48 km or 30 mi	Bradford	$1598
49 km or 30 mi	Batley	$1707
49 km or 30 mi	Ellesmere Port	$1774
49 km or 31 mi	Keighley	$1680
50 km or 31 mi	Bootle	$1706
51 km or 31 mi	Newcastle-under-Lyme	$1465
51 km or 32 mi	Barnsley	$1401
51 km or 32 mi	Liverpool	$1774
51 km or 32 mi	Sheffield	$1764
52 km or 32 mi	Stoke-on-Trent	$1552
52 km or 33 mi	Chester	$1897
53 km or 33 mi	Bebington	$1710
53 km or 33 mi	Birkenhead	$1697
53 km or 33 mi	Crosby	$1681