London vs Manchester - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	London	Manchester
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3296	$2071
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7841	$5081
🏠 One person rent	$2211	$1241
🏘️ Family rent	$4100	$2185
🍽️ Food expenses	$551	$510
🚐 Transport expenses	$375	$179
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4153	$2923
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	13 km
🎓 Higher education	100	91
😀 Quality of life	99	92
🏙️ Population	8.8M	548K

The cost of living in London is 59% more expensive than in Manchester. Cities ranked 58th and 1662nd ($3296 vs $2071) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 46th in the United Kingdom.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in London compared to 1.4 months in Manchester. Ranked 1st vs 13th best cities to live in the United Kingdom, and 4th 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 London vs Manchester infographic

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

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

Prices in London vs Manchester

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

	London	Manchester
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$21.4	$16.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$84	$73.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.67	$9.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.03	$6.16
☕ Cappuccino	$4.64	$4.46
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.46	$2.46
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2704	$1351
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1831	$936
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$5123	$2179
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3478	$1788
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$167	$186
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$255	$283
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.5	$35.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.06%	5.9%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$20412	$5330
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10524	$3723
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.62	$2.54
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$91.9	$110
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$30.2	$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	$1.86	$1.46
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$1.8
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.77	$3.85
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11	$10.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.95	$8.71
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$15.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.95	$3.04
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.75	$1.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.99	$3.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.14	$3.4
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.43	$1.72
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.59	$1.7
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.1	$0.92
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.87	$2.58
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.9	$10.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.74	$2.45
🚬 Cigarette pack	$20.2	$16.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.29	$7.03
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.99	$4.47
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.7	$2.35
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.61	$1.79
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.7	$43.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.6	$11.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$69.7	$84.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.3	$13.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$97.6	$86.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$88
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2250	$1818
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$26090	$19551

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near London

Distance	City	Cost of living
1.3 km or 0.8 mi	Westminster	$2868
11 km or 7 mi	Wimbledon	$2332
13 km or 8.3 mi	Richmond	$2273
15 km or 9.3 mi	Croydon	$2414
16 km or 10 mi	Greenford	$2209
19 km or 12 mi	Ewell	$2207
21 km or 13 mi	Coulsdon	$2214
23 km or 14 mi	Esher	$2185
24 km or 15 mi	Walton-on-Thames	$2182
25 km or 15 mi	Watford	$2470
27 km or 17 mi	Upminster	$2136
28 km or 17 mi	Rickmansworth	$2217
31 km or 19 mi	St Albans	$2261
32 km or 20 mi	Grays	$2028
32 km or 20 mi	Hertford	$2076
32 km or 20 mi	Slough	$2112
32 km or 20 mi	Brentwood	$2433
35 km or 22 mi	Harlow	$2199
35 km or 22 mi	Gravesend	$2035
35 km or 22 mi	Hemel Hempstead	$2122
37 km or 23 mi	Woking	$2429
38 km or 24 mi	Harpenden	$2052
40 km or 25 mi	Billericay	$2048
41 km or 25 mi	Maidenhead	$2623
43 km or 27 mi	East Grinstead	$2052
43 km or 27 mi	Basildon	$1924
43 km or 27 mi	Guildford	$2422
44 km or 27 mi	Crawley	$2092
44 km or 27 mi	Stevenage	$1987
44 km or 27 mi	Bracknell	$2248
44 km or 28 mi	Rochester	$1973
44 km or 28 mi	Tonbridge	$2063
45 km or 28 mi	High Wycombe	$2089
46 km or 28 mi	Bishop's Stortford	$2062
46 km or 28 mi	Luton	$1885
47 km or 29 mi	Chatham	$2263
49 km or 30 mi	Chelmsford	$1948
49 km or 30 mi	Gillingham	$2135
49 km or 30 mi	Godalming	$2344
49 km or 31 mi	Farnborough	$2009

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