🏴
London
£68,557
£100k · rank #8 · 31.4%
- Income tax
- £27,432
- NI
- £4,011
- COL index
- 166.6
🏴🏴2026/27
London vs Birmingham Take-Home
At £100,000 single PAYE (2026/27), London and Birmingham model the same take-home (£68,557) under HMRC rUK bands — COL indexes 166.6 vs 78.5 drive purchasing-power differences. UK metros do not add a municipal wage tax.
By Sammy S. · Founder · AuthorUpdated for 2026
Higher take-home
London and Birmingham are tied
Both model about £68,557 at £100k under HMRC rUK bands.
Same band group — COL indexes (166.6 vs 78.5) matter more than tax for day-to-day purchasing power.
Side-by-side scoreboard
🏴
Birmingham
£68,557
£100k · rank #2 · 31.4%
- Income tax
- £27,432
- NI
- £4,011
- COL index
- 78.5
Key takeaways
- At £100,000 single PAYE (2026/27), London and Birmingham model the same take-home (£68,557) under HMRC rUK bands — COL indexes 166.6 vs 78.5 drive purchasing-power differences. UK metros do not add a municipal wage tax.
- London and Birmingham are both in the HMRC rUK bands group — expect matching take-home and different COL.
- Income tax ≈ £27,432 (London) vs £27,432 (Birmingham); NI ≈ £4,011 vs £4,011.
- Ranks: London #8 · Birmingham #2 among 10 metros on this hub.
- Personalize filing status and pension deductions in the UK calculator.
How to read London vs Birmingham
Both columns use the same £100,000 single PAYE vignette for 2026/27: income tax (HMRC rUK vs Scottish bands) + Class 1 NI.
London and Birmingham model identical take-home because they share HMRC rUK bands. UK cities do not add a municipal wage income tax — downtown vs suburb within a band group rarely changes the PAYE calculation.
COL indexes (166.6 vs 78.5) are the practical differentiator for purchasing power when take-home ties.
What drives UK metro paycheck gaps
Employees in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland use HMRC rUK income-tax bands (20% / 40% / 45% above the Personal Allowance). Scotland uses Scottish Income Tax (starter through top rates). Class 1 employee NI is UK-wide.
London models about £27,432 income tax and £4,011 NI. Birmingham models about £27,432 and £4,011 respectively.
NI matches on both sides of this compare — any take-home gap is income tax only.
Same-band-group pairs (London–Birmingham–Manchester–etc. on rUK) should match take-home on this hub; England vs Scotland corridors are where Scottish Income Tax differences appear.
Why the income ladder matters
At £50k the modeled gap between these metros is about £0; at £200k it is about £0. Bracket thresholds and NI ceilings can reorder winners as salary rises.
Use the ladder before accepting an offer at a different gross — a metro that wins at £100k may not win at £150k or £200k.
Open /calculator/uk or /calculator/uk to personalize filing status, pension, and student loan.
Cost of living vs take-home
London COL index 166.6 · COL-adjusted proxy £41,151. Birmingham COL index 78.5 · proxy £87,334.
COL-adjusted take-home is a purchasing-power hint from relocation indexes — not HMRC withholding and not a substitute for rent quotes or a budget.
A higher take-home metro can still feel tighter if housing dominates; pair this compare with the relocation salary calculator.
How these figures were validated
Headline locks: London take-home £68,557 (IT £27,432 + NI £4,011); Birmingham £68,557 (IT £27,432 + NI £4,011).
Bands match GOV.UK Income Tax rates and Income Tax in Scotland for 2026/27. Employee Category A NI is 8% then 2% (GOV.UK NI rates).
Engine review 2026-08-09. Educational vignettes — not advice.
Limitations of this compare
Single PAYE, standard allowances, no student loan / pension / Marriage Allowance.
Council tax band differentials and housing costs are outside the PAYE vignette.
Tax stack layers
Income tax
HMRC rUK (England/Wales/NI) or Scottish Income Tax (Scotland). Modeled: London £27,432 · Birmingham £27,432.
Class 1 National Insurance
Employee NI — UK-wide schedule. Modeled: London £4,011 · Birmingham £4,011.
Municipal wage tax
Not modeled — UK cities do not levy personal wage income tax like some US cities.
COL ranking context
London COL 166.6 (rank #8) · Birmingham COL 78.5 (rank #2). Ranking uses take-home first, COL only as a tiebreak.
Worked paycheck examples
£100k England/Wales/NI (rUK) — London vignette
- Personal Allowance £12,570 (no taper yet at exactly £100k).
- Taxable £87,430: basic-rate slice to £50,270 + higher-rate remainder at 40%.
- Income tax ≈ £27,432; Class 1 NI ≈ £4,011.
- Take-home ≈ £68,557.
£68,557 take-home
Matches calcInsightsForUk(100000, 'RUK') and GOV.UK 2026/27 rUK bands.
£40k rUK hand-check
- Taxable £27,430 all in the basic rate → income tax ≈ £5,486.
- NI 8% on (£40,000 − £12,570) ≈ £2,194.
- Take-home ≈ £32,320.
£32,320 take-home
Basic-rate only vignette — validates PA + 20% + main NI rate.
Validation notes
- rUK £100k take-home locks to £68,557 (income tax £27,432 + NI £4,011).
- Scotland £100k take-home locks to £65,257 — gap vs London £3,300.
- All eight England/Wales/NI metros share identical take-home, income tax, and NI on every ladder rung.
- Edinburgh and Glasgow share identical Scottish PAYE on every ladder rung.
- London vs Birmingham: tax tie at £100k; ladder gaps £50k £0 · £200k £0.
Income ladder comparison
Same gross bands, single PAYE — gaps grow or shrink with income-tax brackets.
| Gross | London | Birmingham | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| £50,000 | £39,520 | £39,520 | £0 |
| £75,000 | £54,057 | £54,057 | £0 |
| £100,000 | £68,557 | £68,557 | £0 |
| £150,000 | £91,286 | £91,286 | £0 |
| £200,000 | £117,786 | £117,786 | £0 |
Decision guides
Same-band-group move
Focus on rent, commute, and COL (166.6 vs 78.5) — income tax will not move the needle between London and Birmingham on this model.
Job offer negotiation
Ask whether the role is England/Wales/NI (rUK) or Scotland. A Scottish vs rUK posting can change take-home more than the city name on the offer letter.
High COL destination
If relocating to the higher-COL metro (London), stress-test rent against take-home — tax wins do not automatically fund housing.
What this compare excludes
- Student loan repayment (Plan 1 / 2 / 4 / Postgraduate)
- Pension contributions (auto-enrollment / salary sacrifice)
- Marriage Allowance / Blind Person’s Allowance
- Council tax band differentials by local authority
- Benefits in kind / company car / equity
- Non-PAYE income (dividends, savings, self-employment)
Myths vs reality
"London has a city income tax like New York."
London does not add a municipal wage tax on this model. Same for Birmingham — both use HMRC rUK bands.
"Moving from London to Birmingham changes my income tax."
Both use HMRC rUK bands — modeled take-home matches. Housing and COL (166.6 vs 78.5) change; the PAYE calculation does not.
"Scotland metros always trail England at every salary."
This pair shares the same band group, so Scotland vs rUK is not in play. Open a London–Edinburgh or Manchester–Glasgow corridor to see Scottish Income Tax gaps on the ladder.
"COL-adjusted take-home is my real paycheck."
It is a purchasing-power proxy only. HMRC and Revenue Scotland care about taxable pay and allowances — not our relocation COL index.
"National Insurance is higher in Scotland."
Not on this employee Class 1 model — both sides show £4,011 NI at £100k.
How to use this comparison
Step 1
Read the scoreboard
Compare take-home, effective levy, and the income-tax / NI split for both metros.
Step 2
Scan the income ladder
Confirm whether the £100k winner still leads at £50k, £150k, and £200k.
Step 3
Check same-band-group vs cross-band
Expect a tax tie — use COL and profiles for housing context.
Step 4
Personalize
Run custom gross, pension, and student loan in the UK or Scotland calculator.
Compare another pair
Compare any two metros
Take-home on £100,000 PAYE single — income-tax bands, not city wage tax.
Related tools
London vs Birmingham FAQs
They tie at about £68,557 — same HMRC rUK bands.
No. UK cities do not levy a separate municipal income tax. Same-band-group metros (England/Wales/NI on rUK) share modeled take-home; England vs Scotland gaps come from Scottish Income Tax bands.
COL indexes here are 166.6 (London) vs 78.5 (Birmingham). COL is not subtracted from take-home — use it as a purchasing-power hint alongside rent quotes.
Single PAYE, £100,000 gross, 2026/27 — income tax + Class 1 NI. No student loan / pension / marriage allowance.
Income tax on this vignette is about £27,432 in London vs £27,432 in Birmingham. Class 1 NI is UK-wide.
Often yes. Check the income ladder table on this page (£50k–£200k). Scotland vs England gaps can grow or shrink as brackets and NI thresholds interact.
Student loan repayment, pension contributions, marriage allowance, Scottish council tax vs English band differentials, and benefits in kind. Not tax advice.
Glossary
- Take-home
- Gross salary minus income tax and Class 1 employee National Insurance (no student loan / pension deduction on this vignette).
- PAYE
- Pay As You Earn — UK employer tax withholding for income tax and NI.
- Personal Allowance
- £12,570 standard allowance for 2026/27 (GOV.UK). Tapers £1 for every £2 of adjusted net income over £100,000 until zero at £125,140.
- COL index
- Relative cost-of-living index from our relocation / move-out data (100 ≈ mid-market reference). Not a tax rate.
- COL-adjusted take-home
- takeHome × (100 ÷ colIndex) — purchasing-power proxy only, not an HMRC figure.
- rUK bands
- HMRC income-tax bands shared by England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (20% / 40% / 45% above the Personal Allowance).
- Scottish Income Tax
- Scotland non-savings, non-dividend income-tax schedule (starter 19% through top 48%) published on GOV.UK — different brackets from rUK.
- Class 1 NI
- Employee National Insurance — Category A main rate 8% between Primary Threshold and Upper Earnings Limit, then 2% above (UK-wide on this hub).
- Effective levy
- (Income tax + NI) ÷ gross on the vignette.
- Band-group tie
- Same modeled take-home for all metros sharing rUK or SCT rules — ranking then uses COL ASC as a tiebreak.