Income vs Costs
📊 Income Breakdown (monthly)
🏠 Living Costs (monthly)
How This Calculator Works
Take-Home Pay: Starting from your gross salary, it deducts income tax using 2025/26 bands (personal allowance £12,570, basic rate 20%, higher rate 40%, additional rate 45%), employee National Insurance (8% on £12,570–£50,270, then 2%), pension contributions on qualifying earnings, and student loan repayments at the correct plan thresholds. The personal allowance tapers by £1 for every £2 earned above £100,000.
Living Costs: Uses real average monthly costs for your chosen city, sourced from ONS data, Ofgem energy cap figures, and rental market data as of early 2026. Each city profile includes rent, council tax, energy, water, broadband, groceries, transport, and regular outgoings.
Scottish Tax Rates: Scotland's distinct 2025/26 income tax bands apply if selected (19% starter, 20% basic, 21% intermediate, 42% higher, 45% advanced, 48% top). National Insurance rates are the same UK-wide.
Lifestyle Tiers: Based on what percentage of your take-home goes to essentials — from "Surviving" (over 95%) through "Tight", "Stable", and "Comfortable" to "Thriving" (under 40%).
The tax calculations use official 2025/26 HMRC rates and thresholds. Living cost figures are sourced averages — your actual costs may differ. Use the custom cost fields for the most accurate picture.
Rent or mortgage, council tax, energy, water, broadband, groceries, transport, phone, and baseline regular spending. It does not include savings targets, holidays, dining out, or debt repayments — those come from your surplus.
Rent is the biggest factor — a one-bed flat in London averages £1,500/month compared to £650 elsewhere. Transport is also significantly higher, with monthly travel costing £150+ versus £65–80 outside London.
It depends on location. In London, most analysts suggest £38,000–£40,000 minimum for a single person. Outside London, £25,000–£30,000 can provide a similar quality of life. Use this calculator to check your specific situation.
For couples, shared housing costs (your share is 60% of rent), higher groceries (1.5×) and energy (1.2×). For families, larger property costs, double groceries, higher energy, and estimated childcare. Use custom fields for accuracy.
No — this shows employee deductions only. To see the full employer cost perspective, use our True Cost of an Employee calculator.
Are you an employer? See what your staff actually cost your business — including employer NI, pension, holiday pay and more — with our True Cost of an Employee Calculator →