The calculation: take the local median salary, run it through the 2026/27 tax calculator, then subtract one-bed median rent, council tax, energy, water, groceries and transport.
The result surprised me in some places. Several London boroughs actually go negative (probably not that surprising), meaning the median salary there isn't enough to cover a one-bed flat and basic bills. Meanwhile areas in rural Scotland and northern England leave you with over £1,000/month.
Obviously if you're in a couple sharing costs, or earning above the median, the picture changes.
I have created a tool you can use if you want to add spouse and more specifics to establish a better representation of disposable income for any given area – https://livewhere.co.uk/tools/disposable-income-calculator
by LiveWhereUK
3 Comments
All data is from official UK government sources:
* Earnings: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (median gross salary by local authority)
* Rent: ONS Price Index of Private Rents (one-bed median by local authority)
* Council tax: MHCLG, Scottish Government, Welsh Government (Band D, 25% single person discount applied)
* Energy: Ofgem price cap (regional unit rates and standing charges)
* Water: Water UK / Discover Water (annual charges by water company)
* Tax: HMRC 2026/27 income tax and NI rates (Scottish rates applied for Scottish areas)
* Groceries: £220/month national estimate from ONS Family Spending Survey
* Transport: £80/month (£160 for London boroughs)
Disposable income = monthly take-home pay minus all of the above.
Covers 349 local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales with complete data. Northern Ireland is not included as the data sources differ.
Built with Python, matplotlib and geopandas.
There’ll be a lot of people in London on low incomes living in council flats, which I imagine skews the data (and across the UK, but it will be most extreme in rich, central London boroughs)
Disposable income is income after income taxes and statutory deductions, bills, rent services and utilities are not part of the disposable income calculation.