Curious to hear opinions on what is considered a good salary in London, UK these days. And I suppose, what is considered just average.
A few points to preface the discussion:
I think proximity to central London is maybe a bit less of an issue now, given a lot of firms are offering hybrid working arrangements.
We’ve all read in the news that inflation there is running at double digits and the government are dithering idiots etc etc, but I don’t want to get too carried away with this topic. That is to say I’m sure there is a path for the UK that does not lead to complete financial armageddon. So let’s be brave and assume things will normalise after a few years.
This is such a hard question to answer, because what’s “good” for one person can be so different to another. I found this out the hard way when I asked the same question about Taipei and received some crazy responses from people who either don’t know the difference between “good” and “excellent” or who have just gotten used to leading very expensive lifestyles.
That said, I personally think £50K is a perfectly “good” salary that would allow you to live reasonably comfortably in a further out area and put aside some money every month, even with the cost of living being what it currently is. Anything above this is in the “high” tax bracket, so this salary is well above “average” in terms of what normal people are actually paid.
I think a lot of people will chime in and say that you “need a six-figure salary to be able to live in London”. I’ve heard this so many times, but I can only imagine that the people who say that expect non-London lifestyles in London, for example living close to the centre and renting their own apartment without sharing with anyone else. If you have those kinds of unrealistic expectations about London then, yes, you’d need to earn well above £100K.
I wanted to keep it as generic as possible to garner as many opinions as possible. But if it were a family of four, I’m guessing significantly higher than 50K?
What sort of roles offer that though? I thought only bankers earned that sort of money in London. I mean I’m sure there are pockets here and there of people who have climbed the ladder, but for the rest of us seems a stretch.
Yeah typically working as an analyst for a hedge fund or finance company, more in fintech on the developer side. Isle of Dogs, City, etc.
With these jobs, you need to be totally committed to playing the corporate game, and have good organisational and Excel skills, that’s about it, you can take home a fair bit doing this.
I’m not into that life, i don’t even enjoy visiting London anymore, but some can make it work.
You are right, it is a stretch, but that’s how it is with cost of living and house prices
There’s just too many variables. London is a big place, and you can live very cheaply if you know how. On the other hand I have friends here earning £350k+ a year and they moan it’s not enough.
What would be the equivalent Taipei salary for say 150k pounds per year in London? Assuming similar quality of life and saving the same percentage of post-tax income.
Depends on what you consider a good quality of life. If you enjoy sharing a small flat with others and happy to commute then living somewhere like Barking would be cheap, and technically still in London, but for me i’d like to afford to rent/buy my own place that doesn’t feel claustrophobic and is modern somewhere that I’d be able to walk to work, for that you’re looking at about 30,000GBP a year minimum just on rent.
I’m much happier not having to deal with London at all and still have the quality of life described above, for nowhere near that cost.
Exactly, lots of variables. You want to live in zone 1 then it’s expensive. You want to live in zone 3 or 4, then rent is half the price. If you only need to be in the office one/two days a week, which is quite common, then you have even more options. And yeah, some people just don’t like London, which is fair enough, not everyone likes busy cities.
Without specifics, I’d agree with FatKaz. Unless you’re on the marching powder all weekend, a single person earning £50k can get by comfortably living in zone 2/3. A couple earning £50k will have it easy.
Thanks, that’s helpful. You’re right, it’s impossible to know what some person on the internet’s expectations are, but, in the case of Taipei, if you read through the interminable threads on here about Taipei living expenses, you tend to get a feel for it, just based on the responses and the demographics. Young single dudes, families, retirees even. So in that sense all opinions are useful. Indeed that thread linked by @FatKaz had some rather mental answers, but I suppose if you want a dishwasher in Taipei you have to pay up!
It’s going to be less. Comparing central London and Taipei proper on that salary you’re not going to be buying property and will be renting. So the cheaper rent and tax in Taipei would make the biggest difference. I’m not sure what the tax rate is in Taiwan, but I guess it’s a fair bit lower. On that sort of salary your remaining household bills won’t be a concern in either city.
I’m sorry I asked what in your opinion would be equivalent to 150k pounds in London, assuming you were working in Taipei and wanted to rent a similar sort of apartment in a similar sort of location and eat the similar sort of food