New data has revealed where living alone takes up the biggest proportion of a single person’s salary, and surprisingly London isn’t top of the list.
New data from credit card experts Zable, analysing one-bedroom rental prices, council tax rates and household spend per person, has revealed where the cost of living is hitting single people the hardest based on costs in proportion to wages.
The data also uncovers the cities where the cost to live solo has increased the most in the past five years, highlighting where the “singles tax” is rising the fastest.
Brighton and Hove is the least affordable city for single people, with living expenses taking up 87% of the average salary.
In Brighton, rent prices for a one-bedroom property are the fourth-highest outside of London (£1,191 per month on average). On top of this, council tax costs £1,330 across band A and B properties on average (after applying the 25% single-occupancy discount), the fifth-highest in the analysis.
Situated in the South East, Brighton and Hove is also in the region that has the highest average household spend per person at £996 per month, or £11,949 annually.
The top 10 cities where the cost of living solo takes up the biggest proportion of income:
| Rank | City | Avg. total spending data per person | Avg. council tax per city + 25% discount | Avg. rental cost for a 1 bed | Total cost of living for a single person | Avg. take home salary after deductions | % of income it takes to live as a single person |
| 1 | Brighton and Hove | £11,949 | £1,330 | £14,295 | £27,574 | £31,698 | 87% |
| 2 | Southend-on-Sea | £10,978 | £1,163 | £9,936 | £22,077 | £26,378 | 83.7% |
| 3 | Oxford | £11,949 | £1,385 | £15,363 | £28,697 | £34,841 | 82.4% |
| 4 | Exeter | £11,396 | £1,289 | £10,787 | £23,472 | £29,417 | 79.8% |
| 5 | Edinburgh | £10,383 | £1,172 | £16,090 | £27,645 | £34,994 | 79% |
| 6 | Bristol | £11,396 | £1,400 | £13,902 | £26,698 | £33,875 | 78.8% |
| 7 | London | £9,210 | £1,081 | £20,345 | £30,636 | £39,298 | 78% |
| 8 | Cambridge | £11,949 | £1,276 | £14,752 | £27,977 | £36,468 | 76.7% |
| 9 | Portsmouth | £11,949 | £1,181 | £10,487 | £23,618 | £31,466 | 75.1% |
| 10 | Southampton | £11,949 | £1,228 | £10,162 | £23,339 | £31,934 | 73.1% |
*All data in the above table is annual. Cities are ranked by the proportion of income it takes to live as a single person.
In Southend-on-Sea, the average rent for a one-bedroom property is around £828 per month, making it one of the more affordable cities in the top 10. However, relatively high consumer spending, combined with a lower take-home salary than other cities in the ranking, means it lands in second place. Oxford comes third as a result of high rental costs (£1,280 per month) and elevated everyday spending.
Meanwhile, Derby ranks as the most affordable for single people, with the total cost of living consuming 53.2% of a single person’s post-tax income, followed by Aberdeen (53.4%) and Stoke-on-Trent (58.7%).
Across all cities analysed, the data found that living alone in the UK costs 38% more per person on average than sharing equally with a partner or housemate. This comparison takes into account one-bedroom rent, full council tax (without the single-person discount), and overall household spending per person.
London comes in as the seventh least affordable city, where living expenses take up 78% of one person’s salary, despite being the most expensive city overall to live in.
While singles in London still face substantial financial pressure, needing £30,636 to live independently, the city ranks only seventh least affordable overall.
This is because higher take-home pay (£39,298 on average), relatively lower council tax (£1,081 per year), lower household spending (£9,210 per person each year), partly due to lower spending on recreational and cultural activities, help offset the capital’s high living costs. As a result, although London is the most expensive city in absolute terms, it does not rank as the least affordable when income is taken into account.
The average cost of living per person is now almost £300 more per month than it was five years ago, with Newport seeing the biggest increase
Analysing the same metrics (household spending, council tax, and one-bed rents), the data shows that the average monthly cost of living for single people rose from £1,541 in 2020 to £1,805 in 2025, an increase of £264 per person.
Newport has seen the largest percentage increase in cost of living, amounting to 26% (£342 per month) more in 2025 compared to five years ago. Rental prices have increased substantially in the city, with the monthly cost of one-bed properties growing by 47% in the past five years (around £218 more per month).
Using Zable’s internal spend data across the cities analysed, breaking down partnered and single people’s spending on groceries, dining out, holidays, and general purchases, they found that the difference in average monthly spend is surprisingly narrow – a difference of just 9%.
The gap is widest in Stoke-on-Trent, where partnered customers spend 13% more than their single counterparts, and narrowest in Edinburgh at 5%. This suggests that solo consumers are absorbing near-couple levels of spending without the financial advantage of splitting bills, housing costs or food shops with a partner.
When looking at specific categories, couples consistently spend more on groceries, with the biggest gaps in Cambridge (24%), Wolverhampton (19%) and Milton Keynes (18%), although even these differences remain below the 50% you might expect from two-person households.
Meanwhile, in Oxford and London, single people are actually outspending couples on dining out by 5% and 4% respectively, pointing to the added social and lifestyle costs that can come with living alone, particularly in higher-cost cities.
Arielle Rogers-Jenkins, Senior Product Manager (UK Credit Cards) at Zable comments: “Our data serves as a stark reminder that solo living comes with a very real financial premium, and for many people, that pressure is only growing. In light of this, it could be worth taking a closer look at where your money is really going each month.
“Start by auditing your fixed costs and see where adjustments can be made. Council tax discounts, for example, are something single occupants are entitled to but don’t always claim correctly.
“Beyond that, building a simple monthly budget that separates your essentials from discretionary spending can make a significant difference in how far your salary stretches. It may also be worth exploring whether any regular expenses such as broadband and utilities, can be switched to a better deal. Small savings across multiple bills can quickly add up, and having a clearer picture of your finances is the first step to feeling more in control of them.”
