South East, England

Cost of living in Oxford

Data last updated: 8 October 2026
Page last reviewed: 8 October 2026
£2,022 estimated monthly cost
Rent £1,351
Council tax £167
Groceries £220
Transport £80
Energy £144
Water £60

Single: 1-bed home. Couple: 2-bed home. Family: 3-bed home with one child. Estimates use average local rent, Band D council tax, and standard figures for groceries, transport and childcare.

£1,963/mo
Average rent
£36,517/yr
Average earnings
£450,000
Average house price
£2,678/yr
Council tax (Band D)
£204/mo
Est. energy & water

Rent in Oxford

The average monthly rent in Oxford is £1,963.

1 Bed
£1,351
2 Bed
£1,667
3 Bed
£2,034
4+ Bed
£2,858

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR)

Earnings in Oxford

The average annual salary for residents of Oxford is £36,517.

Average salary
£36,517
per year
Mean salary (pulled up by top earners)
£41,516
per year

The average salary is the middle value: half of residents earn more and half earn less. The mean salary adds up everyone's pay and divides it by the number of people, so a few very high earners pull it up. We use the middle value as the average throughout this site.

Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE)

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Average house prices in Oxford

The average house price in Oxford was £450,000.

Detached
£800,500
Semi-detached
£490,000
Terraced
£465,000
Flat
£323,750

How house prices have changed in Oxford

Average house prices over time, based on quarterly rolling-year averages from Land Registry data.

£0£120k£240k£360k£480k£600k19952000200520102015202020252026

Source: ONS / HM Land Registry. Historical trend based on quarterly rolling-year average prices.

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Climate and weather in Oxford

Summer daytime highs in Oxford typically reach 22.9°C in July, dropping to around 7.9°C in January. Oxford is much drier than average for the UK, with rain falling on about 2.2 days a week. It gets around 42% less rainfall than the UK average. The area is sunnier than most of the UK, averaging around 6.5 hours of sunshine per day in summer. Expect frost on around 94 days per year, mostly between November and April.

Month Daytime high Rainfall Rain days Sunshine Frost days
Jan 7.9°C 59mm 12 63h 17
Feb 8.5°C 46mm 9 82h 15
Mar 11.2°C 41mm 9 118h 15
Apr 14.2°C 48mm 9 165h 10
May 17.5°C 56mm 9 200h 3
Jun 20.5°C 49mm 8 197h 0
Jul 22.9°C 55mm 8 212h 0
Aug 22.3°C 60mm 9 193h 0
Sep 19.3°C 52mm 9 145h 1
Oct 15.0°C 73mm 11 110h 5
Nov 10.8°C 73mm 12 71h 11
Dec 8.2°C 66mm 11 57h 16

Swipe sideways to see every column

How this is calculated

Climate data is based on Met Office 30-year averages (1991-2020), calculated from 1 observation grid point covering the Oxford local authority area.

Source: Met Office HadUK-Grid , 1991-2020 averages. Crown copyright. Open Government Licence v3.0.

Council tax in Oxford

Band D council tax in Oxford is £2,678 per year.

Band A
£1,786
Band B
£2,083
Band C
£2,381
Band D Benchmark
£2,678
Band E
£3,274
Band F
£3,869
Band G
£4,464
Band H
£5,357

Source: MHCLG / Scottish Government / Welsh Government

Energy costs in Oxford

A typical household in Oxford pays approximately £1,723/year (£144/month) for gas and electricity.

Annual
£1,723
per year
Monthly
£144
per month

Energy region: South East

This estimate is based on the Ofgem price cap for a typical dual-fuel household using 2,700 kWh of electricity and 11,500 kWh of gas per year, paying by Direct Debit. Your actual costs will depend on your usage, tariff, and whether you're on a fixed deal.

Source: Ofgem Energy Price Cap, Q4 2026

Water costs in Oxford

The average annual water and sewerage bill for Southern Water customers is £720/year (£60/month).

Annual
£720
per year
Monthly
£60
per month

Water company: Southern Water

Water bills vary based on whether you have a meter and your household's water usage. This figure is the company average for unmetered customers.

Source: Water UK / Discover Water, 2026-27

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Broadband in Oxford

Oxford has 40.1% full fibre coverage and 79.9% gigabit-capable coverage across residential premises.

Gigabit-capable
79.9%
of premises
Full fibre (FTTP)
40.1%
of premises
Superfast (30+ Mbit/s)
96.6%
of premises
No decent broadband
0.1%
of premises

Full fibre take-up: 22% of premises with full fibre available have taken it up.

"Gigabit-capable" means a connection of 1 Gbit/s or faster is available at the premises (full fibre or upgraded cable). "Full fibre" is fibre-to-the-premises specifically. "No decent broadband" counts premises below the 10 Mbit/s down / 1 Mbit/s up Universal Service Obligation.

See all UK areas ranked by broadband coverage →

Source: Ofcom Connected Nations 2025, July 2025

Schools in Oxford

Oxford has 309 schools, with 89.3% rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted.

Outstanding
11
schools (9.1%)
Good
97
schools (80.2%)
Requires Improvement
10
schools (8.3%)
Inadequate
3
schools (2.5%)

242 primary schools, 42 secondary schools, 25 special / nursery / alternative provision. Approximately 101,751 pupils across all schools.

11 schools have been inspected under Ofsted's renewed framework (November 2025 onwards) and are not included in the percentage above.

Ofsted grades reflect the school's most recent inspection: Outstanding means the school is exceptional across the evaluation areas, Good means it is effective, Requires Improvement means it is not yet good enough, and Inadequate means serious concerns were found.

See all areas ranked by school ratings →

Source: Ofsted, most recent inspections as at March 2026. England only; Scotland (Education Scotland) and Wales (Estyn) use separate frameworks.

Crime in Oxford

There were 963 recorded crimes per 10,000 people in Oxford, which is above the England and Wales average of 837. Oxford ranks #245 out of 303 areas for lowest crime rate.

Violence & sexual offences
347 /10k
(5,751 offences)
Burglary
28 /10k
(462 offences)
Theft
354 /10k
(5,882 offences)
Criminal damage
66 /10k
(1,093 offences)
Drug offences
53 /10k
(873 offences)
Public order
90 /10k
(1,501 offences)
Other
26 /10k
(425 offences)

Recorded crime statistics reflect crimes reported to and recorded by police. They may not capture the full picture of crime in an area, and recording practices vary between forces.

Source: Home Office police recorded crime, Year ending March 2026

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