About LiveWhere

How we calculate the cost of living across the UK

Last reviewed: June 2026

What is LiveWhere?

LiveWhere is a free tool that helps people understand and compare the real cost of living across UK towns and cities. It pulls together rent, earnings, house prices and council tax for every local authority - and presents them side by side, so you can see how one place stacks up against another.

Everything on this site comes from official government data. We don't rely on user submissions, crowdsourced estimates, or guesswork. If a number appears on LiveWhere, it traces back to a named publication from the Office for National Statistics, HM Land Registry, MHCLG, the Scottish Government or the Welsh Government.

The site covers 360+ local authority areas across England, Scotland and Wales, and answers two questions: "What does it cost to live in X?" and "How does X compare to Y?"

LiveWhere is built and maintained by Ryan Jones.

Our data sources

Every figure on LiveWhere traces back to one of the six official sources below. Each is published under the Open Government Licence.

  • Rent

    - ONS Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR)
    Provides
    Average monthly rents by local authority (England and Wales) and Broad Rental Market Area (Scotland), broken down by bedroom count and property type.
    Publisher
    Office for National Statistics
    Frequency
    Monthly
    Source
    https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/datasets/priceindexofprivaterentsukmonthlypricestatistics

    Welsh local authority data now included. Scottish data is at BRMA level (mapped to councils). Replaces the discontinued Private Rental Market Summary Statistics.

  • Rent (Scotland detail)

    - Scottish Government Private Sector Rent Statistics
    Provides
    Average private sector rents by Broad Rental Market Area and bedroom count in Scotland.
    Publisher
    Scottish Government
    Frequency
    Annual
    Source
    https://www.gov.scot/publications/private-sector-rent-statistics-scotland-2010-to-2025/

    Used as the authoritative Scottish source for BRMA-level rents alongside PIPR. Councils within the same BRMA share the same headline rent figure.

  • Earnings

    - ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), Table 8
    Provides
    Median and mean annual gross earnings by local authority of residence.
    Publisher
    Office for National Statistics
    Frequency
    Annual (published each autumn)
    Source
    https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/placeofresidencebylocalauthorityashetable8

  • House prices

    - ONS House Price Statistics for Small Areas / HM Land Registry
    Provides
    Median house prices by local authority, overall and by property type (detached, semi-detached, terraced, flats).
    Publisher
    Office for National Statistics / HM Land Registry
    Frequency
    Quarterly
    Source
    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/housing/datasets/medianhousepricefornationalandsubnationalgeographiesquarterlyrollingyearhpssadataset09

  • Council tax (England)

    - MHCLG Council Tax Levels
    Provides
    Average Band D council tax for every billing authority in England, inclusive of major precepts.
    Publisher
    Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
    Frequency
    Annual (published each March)
    Source
    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/council-tax-levels-set-by-local-authorities-in-england-2026-to-2027

  • Council tax (Scotland)

    - Scottish Government Council Tax Datasets
    Provides
    Council tax by band (A-H) for all 32 Scottish councils.
    Publisher
    Scottish Government
    Frequency
    Annual
    Source
    https://www.gov.scot/publications/council-tax-datasets/

  • Council tax (Wales)

    - Welsh Government Council Tax Levels
    Provides
    Council tax by band (A-I) for all 22 Welsh principal areas.
    Publisher
    Welsh Government / StatsWales
    Frequency
    Annual
    Source
    https://www.gov.wales/council-tax-levels-april-2026-march-2027-html

  • Energy

    - Ofgem Energy Price Cap
    Provides
    Estimated annual gas + electricity costs for a typical dual-fuel household paying by Direct Debit.
    Publisher
    Ofgem
    Frequency
    Quarterly
    Source
    https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/energy-regulation/domestic-and-non-domestic/energy-pricing-rules/energy-price-cap

    Ofgem sets a single national cap, so the headline figure is the same across regions. Regional variation in network distribution costs is typically within 5%; we surface the electricity region for transparency.

  • Water

    - Water UK / Discover Water annual bills
    Provides
    Average annual water and sewerage bill per company, for unmetered households.
    Publisher
    Water UK / Discover Water (England & Wales), Scottish Water (Scotland)
    Frequency
    Annual
    Source
    https://www.discoverwater.co.uk/annual-bill

    Water company boundaries don't follow local authority boundaries, so areas are mapped to the predominant water + sewerage company for the region. Customers of water-only companies receive sewerage from a separate provider.

  • Crime

    - Home Office police recorded crime (England & Wales) + Scottish Government recorded crime
    Provides
    Number of crimes recorded by police, by crime group, with a rate per 10,000 population. England and Wales figures cover the year ending December 2025 (sum of the four most recent quarters published by the Home Office at CSP level). Scotland figures cover the 2024-25 financial year (April 2024 to March 2025) and come from Tables 1 and 4 of the Scottish Government's annual recorded-crime publication.
    Publisher
    Home Office (England & Wales), Scottish Government (Scotland)
    Frequency
    Quarterly (E&W) / Annual (Scotland)
    Source
    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-recorded-crime-open-data-tables

    Recorded crime statistics only reflect crimes reported to and recorded by police. Recording practices vary between forces. We exclude forces where more than 15% of crime is bucketed as 'Unassigned' because the CSP-level breakdown isn't reliable in those cases (currently Kent). Scotland and England & Wales use slightly different classification systems and cover different time periods, so cross-border comparisons should be treated with some caution - in particular, Scottish 'public order' offences are recorded as antisocial offences rather than crimes and so don't appear in the public-order category for Scottish areas.

All data is reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Methodology

Cheapest and Most Expensive rankings

  • Areas are ranked by council tax Band D - the standard benchmark used across the UK for comparing council tax levels.
  • Band D is the most universally available data point, covering England, Scotland and Wales. Other bands are also published on each area profile.
  • The figure shown is the total annual bill a Band D household would pay, inclusive of major precepts (county, police, fire and combined-authority charges where applicable).
  • Council tax is only one component of living costs - rent, energy and other bills also vary significantly by area.

Best Value ranking (Affordability score)

  • Calculated as (monthly rent + monthly council tax Band D) ÷ monthly gross earnings × 100.
  • A lower score means housing costs take up less of your income, so your salary stretches further. Areas under ~30% are highly affordable; areas over ~70% are stretched.
  • Rent uses the ONS Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) latest monthly figure; council tax is the 2026-27 Band D bill inclusive of all major precepts; earnings are the ONS ASHE median annual gross divided by 12.
  • Only includes areas where all three inputs are available. Energy, water and other costs aren't part of the headline score yet; they appear separately on each area profile.

Rent-to-earnings ratio

  • On comparison pages this is calculated as (median monthly rent × 12) ÷ median annual earnings × 100.
  • Shows the share of gross earnings spent on rent at the median.
  • Only shown where both rent and earnings data exist for the area.

Energy estimates

  • The headline figure is the Ofgem price cap for a typical dual-fuel household paying by Direct Debit (2,700 kWh electricity + 11,500 kWh gas per year).
  • Ofgem sets a single national cap, so we show the same headline figure for every area. The electricity region is surfaced on each profile for transparency; regional variation in distribution costs is typically within 5%.
  • Actual bills depend on usage, tariff, and whether the household is on a fixed deal or the cap-tracking standard variable tariff.

Water estimates

  • Average annual bill per water and sewerage company, sourced from Water UK / Discover Water (England + Wales) and Scottish Water.
  • Each area is mapped to the predominant water and sewerage company for its region. Water company boundaries don't follow local authority boundaries, so this is an approximation.
  • The figure represents an unmetered customer; metered bills depend on actual usage.

Student cost of living estimates

  • Student cost estimates appear in our student city guides and are derived from the same official data sources used across the rest of the site, with the inputs adjusted to reflect how students typically live.
  • Rent is calculated by taking the average monthly rent for four-plus-bedroom properties in the area (from the ONS Price Index of Private Rents) and dividing by four, representing the per-person cost of a room in a shared student house. Where four-plus-bed data is not available, three-bed rent divided by three is used instead. This is an approximation. Actual student rents vary depending on the property, its condition, its distance from campus, and the local market. Halls of residence, purpose-built student accommodation, and studio flats are not reflected in this figure.
  • Council tax is set to zero because full-time students are exempt.
  • Energy and water use the same Ofgem and Water UK figures as our standard area profiles, divided by four to reflect a shared household.
  • Groceries use a fixed estimate of £160/month, below the ONS Family Spending single-person figure, to reflect typical student spending patterns.
  • Transport uses a fixed estimate of £50/month, reflecting that most university cities are compact enough for students to walk, cycle, or use local buses.
  • Maintenance loan comparisons use the 2025/26 maximum rate for students living away from home outside London (£10,227/year). The maximum is only available to students from lower-income households; many students receive less. Rates for 2026/27 had not been confirmed at the time of writing.

These figures are estimates designed to give a realistic starting point. Individual costs will vary. For a personalised estimate, use our cost of living calculator.

Data coverage and limitations

We try to be transparent about what's in the data and what isn't.

  • Rent covers England, Wales and Scotland (ONS PIPR). English and Welsh figures are at local authority level; Scottish figures are at Broad Rental Market Area (BRMA) level - councils within the same BRMA share the same headline rent.
  • Some recently reorganised local authorities - including Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness, North Yorkshire and Somerset - may show incomplete data while government datasets catch up with the new boundaries.
  • House prices cover England and Wales. Scottish house price data is published separately by Registers of Scotland and will be added.
  • Council tax covers all three nations, but uses different banding systems - A-H in England and Scotland, A-I in Wales.
  • Energy estimates are based on the Ofgem national price cap. We don't yet model the small (~5%) regional variation in distribution costs - the same headline figure appears for every area.
  • Water companies don't align neatly with local authority boundaries; each area is mapped to the predominant water + sewerage company for its region. Areas that sit on a boundary may receive service from a different company.
  • Grocery and transport costs will be added in a future update.
  • All figures are the most recently published at time of update. The "Data last updated" line on each area page shows when the data was last refreshed.

How we ensure data quality

  • Every figure on the site is programmatically extracted from the original government dataset. We process from source files rather than manually entering numbers, which removes the risk of transcription errors.
  • When a new data release comes out (monthly for rent, quarterly for house prices, annually for earnings and council tax), we re-process the complete dataset from scratch rather than patching individual figures.
  • Before publishing, headline figures are cross-referenced against the summary statistics in the original government publication to catch any processing errors.
  • If you spot something that looks wrong, please email hello@livewhere.co.uk. We take data accuracy seriously and will investigate and correct any confirmed errors promptly.

Important information

  • LiveWhere presents publicly available government data. It does not provide financial advice.
  • The information on this site should not be used as the sole basis for financial decisions - including where to live, whether to buy or rent, or how to budget.
  • Cost of living varies based on individual circumstances including household size, lifestyle and personal spending.
  • For financial advice, consult a qualified financial advisor.

When is the data updated?

  • Rent: updated quarterly when ONS publishes new figures.
  • Earnings: updated annually each autumn.
  • House prices: updated quarterly.
  • Council tax: updated annually each spring.
  • Energy: updated quarterly when Ofgem announces the next price cap.
  • Water: updated annually each April when new bills take effect.
  • Crime: updated quarterly when the Home Office publishes new figures.

We aim to refresh all data within two weeks of new figures being published.

Contact

Have a question, spotted an error in the data, or want to get in touch? Email us at hello@livewhere.co.uk.