How rich are YOUR neighbors? Disposable income levels in Britain’s cities revealed

Brighton residents have the most disposable income of any city in Britain, exclusive data seen by This is Money reveals.

Brighton residents have, on average, cash on hand totaling £1,315 a month; This is almost 30 per cent more than those living in London, who typically have £1,013 in extra cash.

The data points to a more nuanced picture of the North-South divide in terms of value for money and disposable income levels.

For example, Nottingham comes third on the list with a disposable income of £1,055, beating out the capital, probably due to much higher rental costs in London.

MoneySuperMarket’s Household Money Index, a comprehensive study that takes into account 31 different types of bills and expenses, showed that Brits typically have £836 in disposable income each month, but this varies significantly by location.

Residents of Southampton and Cardiff typically have £914.38 and £893.07 available each month respectively, the research added.

At the other end of the scale, people living in Bristol, where house prices are typically high, have just £430.73 of cash on hand at the end of the month, the lowest of any city analysed.

In Liverpool and Leeds, disposable income levels stood at £541.82 and £543.82 respectively.

Meanwhile, in Birmingham people typically have £871.02 of disposable income after bills and expenses, compared to £869.93 in Manchester.

Belfast is second on the list and Glasgow fifth; the latter perhaps comes as a surprise to Edinburgh, which is ranked 15th.

On average, people in Britain typically have £836 in disposable income each month, up £195 year-on-year and just over £150 on the quarter, representing a 22 per cent jump since September.

Proportion of income spent on bills

In September 2023, MoneySuperMarket found that people in Britain typically spent 70 percent of their monthly income on bills and expenses.

By September 2024, this figure had fallen to 69 percent and current data suggests it has fallen further to 62 percent.

Across Britain, adults typically spend £46.40 each day on bills and services, compared to £51.13 in September.

Monthly, households now spend around £1,392 on bills and expenses, £142 less than in September.

Expenses can include anything from a mortgage and rent to council tax, energy bills, broadband packages, insurance policies and car fuel.

With higher salaries and lower expenses, people living in Brighton typically spend around 45 percent of their monthly income on bills and expenses.

At the other end of the spectrum, Edinburgh residents typically spend 78 per cent of their monthly income on bills and expenses, the highest proportion of all the cities assessed.

With so much cash going towards bills and expenses, Edinburgh residents are typically left with just £518 of cash on hand per month. MoneySuperMarket Household Money Indexsaying.

Several cities in southern England, including Brighton, London and Southampton, have fallen below the average proportion of income spent on bills and expenses.

According to the data, people living in London spend 60 per cent of their income on bills and expenses each month, which is just below the national average and five percentage points less than in Manchester.

In Southampton, residents typically spend around 55 per cent of their income on expenses and bills each month, again below the national average.

By contrast, northern cities such as Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield have risen above average when it comes to the proportion of monthly income spent on bills and expenses. Many towns in the north of England have seen property prices rise sharply in recent years.

In Liverpool and Leeds, residents typically spend between 72 and 71 per cent of their income on monthly bills and expenses, meaning disposable income levels are much lower than in cities such as Brighton, Belfast and Nottingham.

Nottingham was found to be the cheapest place to live in terms of daily expenses, with residents spending just £32.70 a day on bills and expenses.

Kara Gammell, of MoneySupermarket, said: ‘While our index shows spending on bills and expenses has fallen almost 10 per cent since September, it also highlights a widening gap in disposable income across the UK.

“In some areas, people have three times more disposable income than in others.”