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London (Average)London
ChesterNorth West

You'd be £7,094/year better off in Chester

Based on area median salaries. Personalise it to see YOUR numbers.

Over 5 years, that's £39,960 in your pocket
Moving costs (£3,000-£5,000) paid back in 6-9 months

Your Take-Home Pay

Based on area median salaries. Personalise above to see your own numbers.

London (Average)

Gross salary£44,000
Income tax-£6,286
National Insurance-£2,514
Take-home£35,200
Effective tax rate: 20%£2,933/mo

Chester

Gross salary£34,000
Income tax-£4,286
National Insurance-£1,714
Take-home£28,000
Effective tax rate: 17.6%£2,333/mo

You'd take home £7,200 less per year in Chester

Where Your Money Goes

Where Your Money Goes

How your monthly take-home splits between costs and what you keep.

London (Average)

Rent: £2,000Council Tax: £137Commute: £180Groceries: £325Energy: £135Lifestyle: £132Disposable: £125

Chester

Rent: £950Council Tax: £154Commute: £110Groceries: £290Energy: £120Lifestyle: £93Disposable: £681

London (Average) disposable

£125/mo

Chester disposable

£681/mo

London (Average)

Tight
TightManageableComfortable

£125/mo disposable

Chester

Manageable
TightManageableComfortable

£681/mo disposable

Living Costs

Salary (Area Median)

London (Average)

£44,000

Chester

£34,000

£10,000/yr worse off

Rent (2-bed)

London (Average)

£2,000/mo

Chester

£950/mo

£12,600/yr better off

Council Tax (Band D)

London (Average)

£1,640

Chester

£1,850

£210/yr worse off

Commute

London (Average)

£180/mo

Chester

£110/mo

£840/yr better off

Weekly Groceries

London (Average)

£75/wk

Chester

£67/wk

£416/yr better off

Energy Bills

London (Average)

£135/mo

Chester

£120/mo

£180/yr better off

Lifestyle (Pints, Cinema, Gym)

London (Average)

£132/mo

Chester

£93/mo

£468/yr better off
Property

If You're Buying

London (Average)

£530,000

Average house price

Chester

£295,000

Average house price

You could save £235,000 on a home in Chester. That's real money.

Price-to-income ratio

12.0x

London (Average) (median)

Price-to-income ratio

8.7x

Chester (median)

Lifestyle

Percentage of schools rated Outstanding or Good by Ofsted (England), Education Scotland, Estyn (Wales), or ETI (Northern Ireland).

London (Average)

Good
Outstanding: 25%Good: 62%87% good+

3208 schools in area

Chester

Good
Outstanding: 20%Good: 68%88% good+

27 schools in area

Chester has better-rated schools overall (88% good or outstanding vs 87% in London (Average)). Always check individual schools for your specific area.

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Your Move Summary

London (Average)Chester

£7,094/yr better off

Where you save

  • Rent+£12,600/yr
  • Commute+£840/yr
  • Lifestyle+£468/yr

Where you pay more

  • Take-home pay-£7,200/yr
  • Council Tax-£210/yr
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Government data, not guesswork

Data sourced from ONS, HMRC, and local authorities. Salaries are area medians - personalise above for your own numbers. Comparison based on 2-bed rental, Band D council tax, and typical usage. Always do your own sums before making big decisions. But at least now you know where to start.