At a glance
Start with the numbers, not the dream. This guide compares New York and London using the dated starting figures below, then lets you replace every figure with your own.
£1,760 average, about $2,358 at $1.34
$2,480 citywide median to $5,436 Manhattan new leases
Personal Allowance £12,570. Basic 20% from £12,571 to £50,270.
£1 = $1.34 (rounded, 24 October 2026)
These indicators are taken from the detailed table further down this page. They are ranges and averages, not a quote for your flat, your job, or your tax bill. This is not tax, legal, or immigration advice.
Figures are estimates, not quotes. This is not tax, legal, or immigration advice.
Try it: match your life, not just your salary
London rent is entered in pounds and converted at the editable exchange rate, so you can see the conversion instead of guessing it. Other London costs are an example only, replace them with your own.
Quick estimate first: start with salary, tax, rent, and exchange rate. Open Refine to adjust other living costs.
Refine: show more inputs
Formula, in plain words: take-home needed in London equals London monthly costs in dollars plus your current monthly cushion, divided by one minus your London tax rate. This is illustrative maths, not a tax calculation. UK bands and National Insurance above are the check, not a substitute for a personal calculation.
Your result
Estimated income required to preserve your current monthly spending cushion in London
Scenario based on your entered tax rates, rent, other costs, and exchange rate. It is not a local market salary, not a job offer, and not guaranteed affordability. It does not account for work permission, US tax filing obligations, employer benefits, retirement contributions, healthcare gaps, or exchange-rate exposure.
Monthly expense difference is New York monthly costs minus London monthly costs in dollars. Positive means London costs less on these inputs. It is not actual savings, because tax, healthcare, transport, and lifestyle are only partly in these fields.
Saved comparisons stay in this browser only, on this device. No account, no email, no data sent anywhere.
The sourced starting points
Use these as a starting range, not as a single true price. Rent methods differ, and that difference matters more than any single average.
| Item | New York | London | Source and caveat |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-bedroom rent, per month | $2,480 citywide median to $5,436 Manhattan new leases | £1,760 average, about $2,358 at $1.34 | New York: Apartment List October 2026 citywide median $2,480; Corcoran September 2026 Manhattan one-bedroom $5,436. London: ONS Price Index of Private Rents, August 2026, one-bedroom £1,760, all homes £2,332. ONS averages cover all tenancies, not just new listings, so asking rents for a new flat are often higher. |
| UK income tax, England, 2026/27 | Personal Allowance £12,570. Basic 20% from £12,571 to £50,270. Higher 40% from £50,271 to £125,140. Additional 45% above £125,140. Allowance tapers by £1 for every £2 over £100,000, to zero at £125,140. | GOV.UK, Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances, tax year 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. London is in England, so these bands apply. National Insurance is separate: employee 8% from £12,570 to £50,270, then 2% above, in the secondary summary checked. Get a personal calculation before you rely on any tax figure. | |
| US tax, New York | No single rate is used here. Federal tax plus New York State tax plus New York City tax all apply, and your effective rate depends on income, filing status, and deductions. | Enter your own effective tax rate in the calculator. Do not use a headline marginal rate as if it were your total tax. | |
| Healthcare, in one line | Mainly employer or private insurance in the US, with premiums, deductibles, and copays on top of tax. | NHS care is mainly funded through tax and National Insurance, with prescriptions and some services charged separately in England. | This is a system difference, not a price. Budget for private cover in London if you want it, and for US-style out-of-pocket costs if you keep US cover. |
Why the New York range is so wide: a citywide median blends Manhattan with the outer boroughs, while a Manhattan new-lease figure measures only new leases in one borough. Pick the borough and lease type that matches your move, then replace the range with listings you have actually seen.
Official links to check, not search results
Use these directly, for the same scam reason as the visa page: official government pages, not the first ad that looks official.
- GOV.UK: Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances - the 2026/27 bands used on this page, £12,570 Personal Allowance, 20%, 40%, 45%.
- GOV.UK: Check if you need a UK visa - official checker if your move needs work, study, family, or another visa, not just a visitor ETA.
- GOV.UK: Apply for a UK ETA - official ETA route, £20, for the scouting trip.
- NHS: NHS services in England - GPs, hospitals, dentists, prescriptions, and pharmacies, and how to find services near you.
If a site charges more than the official fee, or its address is not gov.uk or nhs.uk for these services, treat it as a copycat and go back to the official link above.
What this page still does not do
- Family size: one-bedroom rent and a single-person budget do not scale cleanly to a family. A family version needs bedroom count, schooling, and childcare as separate fields.
- Housing ownership: buying, mortgage, council tax, and US property tax are not in this calculator. Renters only, for now.
- Pension and remote income: salary mode only on this page. Pension mode and remote-income mode are not yet built.
- Visa and residence: a short visit is not a move. See the companion US passport to UK page for entry, and get immigration advice for work or residence permission.
Next step: US passport to UK, entry and scouting trip budget →
Sources, checked 24 October 2026
- ONS Price Index of Private Rents, via the London rent summary checked: London all homes £2,332 per month, one-bedroom £1,760, August 2026.
- Apartment List October 2026 Rent Index: New York City median $2,598 all sizes, $2,480 one-bedroom, September 2026 estimates.
- Corcoran monthly reports, via the September 2026 summary checked: Manhattan one-bedroom $5,436, Brooklyn one-bedroom $4,218.
- GOV.UK, Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances: 2026/27 Personal Allowance £12,570, basic 20%, higher 40%, additional 45%, as tabled above.
- Exchange rate: £1 = about $1.34 on 24 October 2026, from multiple market summaries checked that day (1.337 to 1.34). Rounded to $1.34 on this page, editable in the calculator.
If any figure above has moved since 24 October 2026, the page is out of date until it is rechecked. That is the point of the last-checked stamp.