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A few months ago, we reported on a study which claimed to know how much money you need to earn be happy in London. As many of us have since realised, being ‘happy’ in London is a pipe dream, and us lowly commoners should learn to be happy with what we’ve got. If you’re also a peasant who won’t be making 80k a year any time soon, analysts at Finder.com have discovered how much you need to achieve a much more realistic goal – basic financial stability.
So how much exactly do we need to be bringing in to make ends meet in this wonderful city? According to Finder’s data the answer is a whopping £37,000.
That’s about four grand above the average UK salary, and is by no means a number to be sniffed at. It’s also a fair bit above the official London ‘living wage’, which currently £13.35 an hour – £4 an hour short of what this estimate suggests is an actual liveable wage in the city. There are plenty of people being paid well under this threshold, including most in the hospitality and retail sectors, bus drivers, and even some NHS workers.
So what can you get for almost 40 grand a year? If you’re lucky, you might be able to find a flat-share in a decent location, or if you don’t fancy having roommates then a studio for a similar price. Rent will claim around 40 percent of your total salary, and other essentials like council tax, travel, and subscriptions will account for another 21 percent.
You will also be able to pay your bills (provided energy companies don’t decide to hike prices because they feel like it), and maybe go out for dinner once or twice a month. Elsewhere this might be considered ‘scraping by’, but in the capital these are luxuries few of us can afford.
There you have it. For only £37,000 a year you can enjoy London living to at least some of its potential, according to Finder (read the full study here). Happy budgeting, Londoners!
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