The salary you need to earn to rent alone in London in 2026, according to the Economist

It’s no secret that London’s rental market is in a very poor state right now. As much as we’d all love to have a place all to ourselves, eye-watering prices force many – particularly young – Londoners to make do with a flat share. But how much would you need to earn in order to afford renting an apartment of your own? And how does that compare to other major cities across Europe?

The Economist has revealed how affordable flats are in 28 European cities, in what it calls the ‘Carrie Bradshaw Index’ – named, of course, after the Sex in the City protagonist who rents her rather nice New York flat on a single person’s salary. 

It couldn’t help but wonder: can the average Londoner, like Carrie, afford to live in a decent apartment on their own while still having cash to spare for designer shoes and endless Cosmos? The answer, you won’t be surprised to find out, is no. 

The publication goes by the general rule of thumb that rent is affordable when it costs no more than 30 percent of the tenant’s monthly income. So, each city’s ‘Bradshaw score’ is calculated by dividing the average local wage by the wage that would be needed to keep rent within budget. Any place with a score less than one is branded unaffordable.

The Big Smoke got a ‘Bradshaw score’ of just 0.68 percent. In London, the average wage is £55,530 and the average one-bed flat sits at £2,000 a month. That means anyone on an average salary would have to say goodbye to 44 percent of their income in order to rent on their own. To comfortably afford that and stay within the 30 percent budget, you’d need to be earning £81,800 a year. 

London’s not the least affordable of European cities though. There are eight places above it, including Lisbon, Budapest and Prague. The city with the worst Bradshaw score is Georgia’s Tbilisi. 

The most affordable European city in the Economist’s index is Bonn, which got a Bradshaw score of 1.33. And just like that... we’re moving to Germany. 

ICYMI: Here’s how much it costs to rent in every London borough. 

Plus: This is the best place to live in London in 2026, according to the Telegraph.

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