Moving to London – What is the cost of living in London?

Are you moving to London or just considering this opportunity? Wondering, what is the salary needed to live in London in 2023 and curious how much money you need to live in London comfortably? Well, in this post, I’ll try to answer all these questions: how much do you need to live in London? How expensive is the rent in London? How high are the costs in London? How much can you make in London and finally, the salary needed to live in London in 2023?

This post was updated in October 2023, so don’t worry, all the information is really up-to-date. There was actually a huge hike in prices between 2021 and 2023 because of really high inflation rate, so the cost of living in London increased even more (and it’s often referred to as “The Cost of Living Crisis”)

Intro: My short story about moving to London

I fell in love with London on the 31st of July 2011 when I came there for a month to study English at a language school.

My second encounter with the UK was in 2014, when I came to Scotland to study for my Masters Degree. I studied at the University of Edinburgh and wrote a couple of posts about living in Scotland – even though I loved the Scotland with all my heart, I didn’t enjoy living there that much – it was very cold and windy all year long and it was also very hard to find a job in my field. After a few unsuccessful attempts to get a visa sponsored job in the UK in in my field (Marketing), I returned to my country for almost 1.5 years, while my boyfriend (now – husband, Jose, stayed).

Back in 2017, we got married and I joined Jose in Edinburgh, however, since there were so few jobs in Marketing in Edinburgh, we made a decision to move to London. Now you must be wondering, why London? It’s not that far from Edinburgh, so the weather isn’t that much different, right?

Well, not really. Weather in London is much better, in my opinion, especially, in summer!

Moving to London – logistics and more

Moving to London is actually a huge separate topic and I have written a separate post about how to prepare to move to London and what do you need to do upon arrival (if you’re moving from abroad or equally if you’re moving within the UK).

Jobs in London: average salary in London in 2023

The job market in London seems to have revived a little despite Brexit and the pandemic. However, the salaries in London still range a lot. If you’re an intern or assistant – expect to earn everything from the minimum salary (around 20-24K pounds a year depending on your age – living in London on a minimum wage is really tough – you can read my post about what you can afford on a minimum wage in London) to 18K a year brutto.  Same goes for shop assistants and waiters – the only difference is that you get paid by the hour. It’s really not a high salary in a city like London. Later on, I will explain, how you can live on minimal wage (20K), 40K or 70K in London. 

Junior or executive roles usually start at 24K and finish at 35-40K depending on your experience. Managerial roles start at 40-45K and who knows where they finish, but as a talented marketing manager with 5+ years of experience, you can make around 45-70K a year. Software developers always have higher salaries, so with 2-3 years of experience as a backend developer, you can get a salary of 60-75K a year. I can’t tell you much about other positions, but there’s Adzuna and Glassdoor that can help you find out how much money could you make if you’re moving to London and haven’t found a job yet. The average salary in London in 2022 was 42K a year brutto.

It could be hard to find a job in London, if you don’t speak the language properly. In my post “how to find a job in London as a foreigner“, I explain in more detail, how I managed to find a job in London, when I just moved to the city. I recommend checking the job aggregators like LinkedIn to look for jobs, as well as Otta.

Moving to London: the logistics (where to find a room / flat, where to buy furniture & more)

If you’re new in London or you’re planning to move to London, make sure to read my post about the worst places to live in London to avoid these areas. If you’re looking for a room, I recommend using websites like Spareroom or different communities on Facebook (room to rent, flatmates in London etc). If you’re looking for a flat, I recommend using Zoopla and Rightmove for that.

If you’re looking for affordable furniture, I recommend using a combination of Argos and Ikea. If you’re looking for more unique furniture (but still with a fast delivery and for a good price), I recommend Wayfair. If you’re looking for bedding and various home accessories, we got most of ours on Amazon and also in Primark (Primark Home has some lovely bedding / pillows / duvets).

Cost of living in London: how much does it cost to live in London in 2023?

So, how much does it cost to live in London in 2022? You can live in London with a very little amount of money, however, you will have to have a very ascetic lifestyle. As I promised, I will first tell you about the salary that is needed for a comfortable life in London, the different costs of living in London and then, I’ll tell you, what you can afford in London with 4 different salaries.

Salary needed to live in London in 2023:

Of course, the salary needed to live in London in 2023 heavily depends on your lifestyle. I know people, who manage to have a decent lifestyle with a minimum wage and a bit of work on the side, but if you want to be able to rent your studio flat in Zones 3-4, buy food in Waitrose, pay for your transport and go out with your friends from time to time, you’d need at least £2500 a month. That would be around £40K a year before taxes. So how does that translate into costs?

Rent prices in London

If you want to live in a nice neighbourhood in a decently connected location (that would be zones 2-3 of London), prepare to pay around £1200-1400 for a studio and £1500-2000 for a 1-bedroom flat. You can find cheaper flats in very posh neighbourhoods like South Kensington or Hampstead only in case the building is in shambles. Or you can find a fabulous flat for £1700, but it would be far far away from the tube or train. In London, you will always need to compromise. You can always share will other people and that would be way cheaper.

For example, we used to live in a new building with a concierge, gym, 5 minutes walking from the metro, in zone 1 (that’s basically the city centre), but the neighbourhood was a bit rough and dodgy.  It’s not a place where you would go for a nice walk or chill in a local brunch place (because there are none). Instead, it’s full of cheap shops, poundlands, betties and takeaways. If the neighbourhood matters a lot to you, check my post about the best districts to live in London. I also have a post about the worst areas to live in London that you should probably avoid.

In addition to the rent prices, you will need to pay the council tax (around 80-200 pounds a month), water, gas, electricity, phone, Internet and TV which would end up being 200-250 pounds a month extra.

Food prices in London: cost of going out in London

For a family of 2, we usually spend around £120 per week in supermarkets (shopping at Waitrose & M&S), which ends up being ca £500 a month on just dinners (some lunches) and breakfasts at home. A lot of people order food from Ocado – there is usually a promo for first-time orders that will help to save you £20-30 on your first order!

Then, there are lunches at the office, £6-10 per lunch – around £150-200 per month per person and, of course, going out. We don’t go very often to very expensive places but on a normal night out, we end up paying £60-70 per dinner. In more expensive places e.g. French restaurants, the dinner for two will start from £90 (with a bottle of wine).

Other costs to consider when living in London

Transport in London is crazy expensive. For a transport card for Zones 1-2, you would need to pay around £160 a month. That sum increases depending on your zone, so right now, we are in Zone 4 and I pay £200+ pounds every month. 

Sometimes you want to go to a cinema and that’s also pricey in London. Cinema tickets start from £11-13 per person and on the weekend they can be sometimes £18-30 per person. If you’re a gym goer, depending on the gym, you would pay from £25 to £250 pounds a month.

If you want to save money in London – I also have a post on this topic – click here to find out how to save money and afford more in London.

Theatre prices in London are okay, you can see some plays for as low as £15, but if you want to go to a popular performance, be ready to pay £50-100. Opera and ballet are way more expensive than that.

Nightlife in London is also very expensive – a cocktail in a nice bar would be around £12-18. There’re of course, other spendings in London, such as clothes, travelling and so on, that totally depends on your preferences and remaining budget.

How to afford to live in London?

As promised, I will tell you now how can you afford to live in London with 4 different salaries: the minimum wage, 18-20K, 40K and 70K. 

What can you afford with a minimum wage in London?

As I already mentioned, the minimum salary in the UK depends on your age, so check this page to find out how much can you earn. 

I also have a separate blog post about living on a minimum wage in London. You can find it here >

So what can you afford with a minimum wage in London? Let’s just assume for the simplicity that you’re over 25. If you work 40 hours a week, that would be around £1700 a month after tax. You can afford to rent a cheap room in zones 2-3 for £700 a month. You can find cheaper or more expensive rooms on Spareroom.

Let’s add to that £150 for the underground (or you can cycle for free and not pay for the gym as well) & the groceries of £200. You’ll be left with £650 for going out, travelling, shopping and some basic necessities. Add here phone & internet bill (about £50 a month). With a minimum wage, it’s very hard to make any savings.

What can you afford with the salary of 40K in London?

What can you afford with an average salary in London? £40,000 a year is around £2570 a month after taxes (minus pension contribution) and that could already get you a cheap studio (£1400 with taxes) or a decent ensuite room if you want to save for your own flat in the future.  You can already afford to go out more often and indulge in shopping in more expensive places. You can also travel from time to time, as after all the spendings, you will still have around £500 left for shopping, travelling and saving. 

What can you afford with the salary of 70K in London?

Oh nice, you’ve been offered 70K in London? Congratulations, it’s a good salary for London. With this salary, you’ll be taking home £4000 and I can totally see you living in a nice 1-bedroom flat somewhere near Camden or Angel (paying £2200 with all the taxes), going out often and travelling a lot. £70K is a great salary for a single person in London. If you have a family, it’s also good and you’ll be able to have a moderate lifestyle in London.

Summary of moving to London – how much money do you need in London. Is living in London worth it?

To summarise, for a decent life in London for 1 person, you would need a salary of at least 45K a year. For two people, everybody needs to earn at least 30K, so you would be left with the household income of £4000, which would cover the flat (£1600-1900), transport, lunches, groceries and you would be left with £1500 to spend on entertainment, going out, saving and travelling.

Still considering moving to London? Just joking. Everything is possible, you just need to find a good job and all the dreams will come true.

Some other articles you might enjoy reading:

The best districts to live in London

Non-touristy things to do in London

Best things to do in North London

How to save money in London

We bought our first house in London