United Kingdom and United States: what it takes to live in each
To live the same
≈ US$3,370
With ≈ £1,510 a month in the United Kingdom, in the United States you would need ≈ US$3,370 to live the same.
At the official rates of 2024: £1 = US$1.28.
Questions
Is it cheaper to live in the United Kingdom or in the United States?
In the United Kingdom: an average month in the United States costs about 1.8 times as much, housing included.
How much would I need in the United States to live as in the United Kingdom?
With ≈ £1,510 a month in the United Kingdom, in the United States you would need ≈ US$3,370 to live the same.
How much does it cost to live in the United Kingdom a month?
An average person in the United Kingdom lives on ≈ £1,510 a month, housing included, at 2024 prices. It is a national average: a big city usually costs more.
How much does it cost to live in the United States a month?
An average person in the United States lives on ≈ US$3,370 a month, housing included, at 2024 prices. It is a national average: a big city usually costs more.
Where do the figures come from?
From the World Bank's household surveys (2010–2025), brought to 2024 prices with the World Bank's price levels, licence CC BY 4.0.
What this figure measures
- What an average person in the country spends a month, housing included (or earns, in some countries). From the World Bank's household surveys.
- The surveys give it in dollars that buy the same in every country (purchasing power parity). With the country's price level, it becomes what that costs there, at 2024 prices.
- It is a national average, not a given city: a big city usually costs more, a village less.
- Your way of living may not be the average one.
Where the numbers come from
- What an average person lives on in each country, housing included: the World Bank's household surveys (2010–2025, each country its latest).
- Brought to 2024 prices with US inflation, then to each country's prices with the World Bank's price levels. Data of 9 Oct 2026, licence CC BY 4.0.
- Each country in its own currency, at the World Bank's official rate for 2024 (a yearly average, never a live rate). Without a rate for that year, in US dollars.
- One person, a month. Rounded to 1 under 95, to 10 under 10,000, and to three figures above. Only countries with official data are listed: no figure is invented.
- Provisional: read from a public copy of the World Bank's data, until the yearly download.
- A national average: cities differ a lot. Some countries measure spending, others income.