The cost to live as a single person in the UK

Written byEmily Tye

Updated:Mar 2, 2026

15 min read

Many households are feeling the pressure from the continued rising costs of everyday expenses. But when you live alone, rent, council tax, food shops, and utilities can fall entirely on your shoulders, a financial burden often referred to as the “singles tax”.

With nearly one in three UK households now consisting of a single person, millions are bearing the full cost of living alone. In this guide, the credit card experts here at Zable have analysed 35 cities across the UK, revealing where living alone takes the biggest bite out of a single person’s salary, and where costs have risen fastest over the past five years.

Where living solo is the most, and least, affordable in the UK

To find out which cities are the most and least affordable for someone living alone, we calculated the annual cost of living by combining the monthly rent for a one-bedroom property in each city¹, the average council tax for a small property (after applying the 25% single-occupancy discount)², and regional household spending per person³. This includes spending on essentials such as weekly food shops, utility bills and transport, as well as on things like dining out and shopping for non-essentials.

We then compared this against the average annual salary in each city, after national insurance and income tax deductions⁴, to reveal the most and least affordable places for singles.

Brighton and Hove revealed to be the least affordable city for single people to live in

Brighton and Hove carries the heaviest financial strain for those living alone compared to any other UK city in our analysis, with the cost of living taking up 87% of a single person’s salary. 

Rent is the single biggest pressure point for residents in the seaside city with one-bedroom properties costing the fourth-highest outside of London (£1,191 per month on average). Renting a room in a shared property is also fairly expensive, costing £661 per month on average. On top of this, council tax in Brighton and Hove is on the pricier side with an average annual charge of £1,330 across band A and B properties, the fifth-highest in the analysis.

Location also plays a role in shaping day-to-day spending. Situated in the South East, Brighton and Hove reflects the region’s expensive cost of living, where average household spending per person is the highest in the country at £996 per month, or around £11,949 annually. 

London comes in as the seventh least affordable, despite being the most expensive city to live in

Although singles in London face significant financial pressure, needing £30,636 a year to live independently, the city ranks only seventh least affordable overall, with living costs consuming 78% of an individual’s salary. While London has the highest overall living costs in the UK, it doesn’t rank as the least affordable due to higher earning potential (London has a £39,298 average take-home salary after deductions).

It might not come as a surprise that rent for a one-bedroom property in London is the highest in the country (£1,695 per month on average). Looking at shared accommodation, London also tops the list, with rooms on Spareroom costing just under £1,000 per month on average⁵.

However, we found that other essential expenses are contributing to London being pushed down to seventh on the list, with the average council tax across the city being £1,081 per year. By comparison, other cities in the top 10, like Bristol, have significantly higher council tax, averaging around £1,400 per year across band A and band B properties with the 25% single-occupancy discount applied.

Average household spending per person in London is also slightly lower than in other UK regions (£767 per month). This likely reflects the city’s high housing costs, which encourage residents to prioritise essential living expenses. One area where Londoners spend noticeably less than elsewhere is recreation and culture. The abundance of low-cost or free activities, such as museums, parks, and public events, may help offset living costs, allowing people to enjoy leisure without significantly impacting their budgets.

Derby is the most affordable city, where the cost of living takes up just over half of a single person's income

Our data shows that Derby is the most affordable city in the UK for single people, with the total cost of living consuming 53% of a single person’s post-tax income. 

With one-bedroom properties costing £586 on average per month, or £482 for a room in a shared property, Derby’s rent prices are significantly less than what you’d find in the likes of Brighton and Hove or London. 

Council tax is fairly modest, costing £1,189 annually on average across band A and B properties. Meanwhile, everyday household expenses such as utilities, food, and transport are some of the most affordable in the UK, with people spending around £808 per person each month in the East Midlands region. 

The combination of lower living costs and a strong average take-home salary (£33,705 after deductions, which is the seventh-highest in the study) is potentially giving single residents in Derby more financial breathing room, making it easier to cover spending on both essentials and non-essentials compared with other UK cities.

Living solo in the UK costs 38% more on average compared to sharing with another person

Taking into account the same metrics - household spend per person, council tax (without the 25% discount) and the cost to rent a one-bedroom property - we’ve found that single people spend 38% more on average per year than someone splitting costs evenly with a partner or housemate.

People in London spend around 57% more of their salary than someone sharing expenses equally with another person, the highest “singles tax” of any UK city. London is followed by Edinburgh (49%) and Oxford (44%). For residents in these cities, not having a second household income to lean on is resulting in the highest financial cost.

Arielle Rogers-Jenkins, Senior Product Manager (UK Credit Cards) 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. 

“For those in higher-cost cities like Brighton or Edinburgh, 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."

Where the “singles tax” is rising the fastest in the UK

The cost of living for single people has risen sharply over the past five years, intensified by the economic impact of the COVID pandemic, with inflation contributing to higher household spending, and rental markets in many cities seeing a demand for smaller homes in recent years.

With this in mind, we’ve analysed the cities where the “singles tax” has increased the most in the past five years.  By comparing one-bedroom rents⁶, council tax⁷, and household spending⁸ between 2020 and 2025, we’ve uncovered which cities are becoming increasingly expensive for those living alone, and where the financial pressure is mounting fastest.

The top 10 cities where the cost of living has increased the most (by percentage)

The average cost of living per person is now almost £300 more per month than it was five years ago

Our data shows the average monthly cost of living for a single person rose from £1,541 in 2020 to £1,805 in 2025, an increase of £264.

This significant increase highlights the growing financial pressures on those living alone. Interestingly, our data shows that it’s a mix of cities experiencing some of the fastest increases in cost of living, from smaller cities such as Wolverhampton (20%) and Colchester (19%), to larger ones such as Edinburgh (25%) and Manchester (23%).

In comparison, London sits in 20th place out of the 35 cities analysed, where the cost of living per person has increased by 16%. In 2020, the cost of living per month was £2,200 per person, rising to £2,553 in 2025.

Newport has seen the biggest increase in solo living costs over the past five years

Newport has seen the biggest cost of living increase, amounting to 26% (£342 per month) more in 2025 compared to five years ago. Looking deeper into the data, we can see that rental prices have increased substantially in Newport, with the monthly cost of one-bed properties growing by 47% in the past five years (around £218 more per month).

This reflects a broader rental crisis across Wales, where high demand and limited supply have been pushing up costs in recent years. In fact, Cardiff and Swansea also feature in our top five list of cities where the cost of living has increased the most for people living alone, rising by 24% and 20% in the past five years, respectively.

Council tax has also seen the biggest increase in Newport, rising 34% across band A and B properties, while household spending has increased 13% in Wales as a region - also the highest in the study. This combination of rising fixed costs and everyday expenses highlights why single people in Newport may be feeling the financial squeeze more than in other cities.

How singles and couples are spending in UK cities

Using our internal data⁹, we’ve looked at partnered and single people’s spending across UK cities, breaking down credit card spend by groceries, dining out, holidays, and general purchases.

Data note: These figures are based on spending observed on Zable credit cards. For definitions of ‘partnered’ vs ‘single’ used in the analysis for this section, please refer to the methodology below.

Overall average monthly spend is similar across couples and single people

Across every city we looked at, the gap in average monthly spend between partnered and single customers is surprisingly narrow - a difference of only around 9% - which means single people are shouldering almost as much as couples despite living alone. 

We found the gap is widest in Stoke-on-Trent, where partnered customers spend around 13% more per month than their single counterparts, and narrowest in Edinburgh where partnered customers spend 5% more per month. This narrow gap highlights how singles may be disproportionately burdened, paying near-couple levels for groceries, bills, and other essentials.

Average spending on groceries is always higher amongst couples

When it comes to grocery spending, partnered customers always outspend singles across the UK. However, the difference isn’t anywhere near 50%, as you might expect. According to our data, single people are often paying almost as much as couples, even though they’re only one person. This is likely because singles are only buying for one person, so they don’t get the same cost advantages that couples do, like sharing meals or buying in bulk. 

Two Scottish cities - Aberdeen and Edinburgh - show the smallest difference in grocery spending, with partnered shoppers spending just 5% more than singles in both cities. When it comes to the cities with the biggest gaps, Cambridge leads the way, with partnered households spending 24% more than singles, followed by Wolverhampton at 19% and Milton Keynes at 18%. 

Single people in Oxford and London are spending more on dining out than couples

Oxford is one of the few cities where single customers outspend partnered ones on dining out, spending 5% more per month than partnered customers. This is also true for London where singles spend around 4% more. While it’s a small difference, it suggests that singles may be prioritising social dining in these cities, potentially using meals out as a way to maintain social connections.

The bottom line

Our data makes it clear that where you live matters as much as whether you live alone. Across the board, the “singles tax” is real, and in some cities it's accelerating faster than most people realise. For those navigating solo living, understanding where that pressure is coming from is the first step to managing it.

Sources and methodology 

Methodology summary:

We have revealed the true cost of living for single people across UK cities. To do this, we have looked at rent, council tax, household spending on essentials and luxuries. We have compared this against average take-home salary to reveal the most and least affordable cities. We then compared current data against 2020 data to reveal where the cost of living has increased the most in the past five years.

Seedlist: Top 35 most populated UK cities (Census 2021), excluding Belfast due to inconsistent council tax data. Scottish cities Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen were also added to the seedlist.

Index 1: The cost to live as a single person across the UK, and the percentage of income

1. Rent for one-bedroom flats (ONS, Home.co.uk for Edinburgh)

2. Council tax per city (individually sourced from local council websites) - The cost of band A and B from 2025/26 was taken before calculating the average. The 25% discount was then applied.

3. Average annual total spending per person (ONS) - All expenditure items taken apart from ‘Housing (net), fuel and power’ and ‘Other’. We applied an average inflation rate from ONS to make the data relative to the present day. Data calculated as per person rather than per household. Within this total, we’ve also calculated gas and electricity usage (Ofgem) - ‘Low’ usage taken and applied to most recent regional rates according to Ofgem. 

4. Disposable income (ONS, Reed tax calculator) - Average salary per person taken and Reed calculator used to calculate earnings after national insurance and income tax deductions.

5. Cost of house share SpareRoom - The cost of renting a one bedroom in a houseshare was taken by scraping all available results for the city. We removed any that included bills or any that had a price range. This was used for comparison purposes. 

Index 2: The cost to live with one other person

The same metrics were taken as in Index 1, however for Index 2 the full rate of council tax was applied. We then calculated what the cost of living would be per person if all expenses were shared 50/50 with one other person.

Index 3: The increase in cost to live as a single person across the past five years

6. Rent for one-bedroom flats (ONS, Home.co.uk for Edinburgh) - Averages across 2020 taken and compared to 2025.

7. Council tax per city (individually sourced from local council websites) - The cost of band A and B from 2020/21 was taken before calculating the average. The 25% discount was then applied and compared to 2025/26 council tax rates.

8. Average annual total spending per person (ONS) - Data taken from 2020 data set for comparison against 2025 data used in Index 1. Data calculated as per person rather than per household. Within this total, we’ve also calculated gas and electricity (Ofgem) - ‘Low’ usage taken and applied to Ofgem regional rates from 2020/21. These rates were then compared to most recent data.

Internal data: How singles and couples are spending in UK cities

9. Internal data: Our internal credit card spend data looks at the average credit card spend per month for singles and those in a partnership. 

The data in this blog post are average monthly spending calculated from spending data in each city over the past two years (01/24 - 01/25). We calculated the percentage differences to compare spending in each city. For the purpose of this analysis:

• ‘Partnered’ includes individuals who told us they are living with a partner, married, or in a civil partnership.

• ‘Single’ includes individuals who are single, widowed, or divorced. This category is based on living status, meaning some individuals may have a partner but live alone and are therefore classified as ‘single’ within this analysis. Additionally, the dataset may include individuals who are cohabiting with a partner but reported themselves as single.

Please note that individuals may hold multiple credit or debit cards and may use them to distribute their spending. This data is reflective of Zable credit card spend only.