🏴
London
£68,557
£100k · rank #8 · 31.4%
- Income tax
- £27,432
- NI
- £4,011
- COL index
- 166.6
🏴🏴2026/27
London vs Edinburgh Take-Home
At £100,000 single PAYE (2026/27), London keeps about £68,557 vs £65,257 in Edinburgh — a £3,300 annual take-home gap. Income-tax bands (rUK vs Scottish) drive the paycheck, not city hall.
By Sammy S. · Founder · AuthorUpdated for 2026
Higher take-home
London keeps more
£68,557 vs £65,257, a £3,300 difference.
Side-by-side scoreboard
🏴
Edinburgh
£65,257
£100k · rank #10 · 34.7%
- Income tax
- £30,732
- NI
- £4,011
- COL index
- 101.1
Key takeaways
- At £100,000 single PAYE (2026/27), London keeps about £68,557 vs £65,257 in Edinburgh — a £3,300 annual take-home gap. Income-tax bands (rUK vs Scottish) drive the paycheck, not city hall.
- London (RUK) vs Edinburgh (SCT) — income-tax band differences create the gap.
- Income tax ≈ £27,432 (London) vs £30,732 (Edinburgh); NI ≈ £4,011 vs £4,011.
- Ranks: London #8 · Edinburgh #10 among 10 metros on this hub.
- Personalize filing status and pension deductions in the UK calculator.
How to read London vs Edinburgh
Both columns use the same £100,000 single PAYE vignette for 2026/27: income tax (HMRC rUK vs Scottish bands) + Class 1 NI.
The £3,300 gap is income-tax bands (rUK vs Scottish) — not a "city tax." London ranks #8; Edinburgh ranks #10 on the national metro hub.
Compare income-tax and NI lines on the scoreboard — that is where RUK vs SCT shows up in pounds.
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. Edinburgh models about £30,732 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 £1,496; at £200k it is about £7,431. 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/scotland to personalize filing status, pension, and student loan.
Cost of living vs take-home
London COL index 166.6 · COL-adjusted proxy £41,151. Edinburgh COL index 101.1 · proxy £64,547.
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); Edinburgh £65,257 (IT £30,732 + 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 · Edinburgh £30,732.
Class 1 National Insurance
Employee NI — UK-wide schedule. Modeled: London £4,011 · Edinburgh £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) · Edinburgh COL 101.1 (rank #10). 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.
£100k Scotland — Edinburgh / Glasgow vignette
- Same £12,570 Personal Allowance; Scottish starter → advanced bands apply to non-savings income.
- Income tax ≈ £30,732 (higher than rUK); NI ≈ £4,011 (same as rUK).
- Take-home ≈ £65,257 — £3,300 less than London.
£65,257 take-home
Matches calcInsightsForUk(100000, 'SCT') and GOV.UK Scottish Income Tax 2026/27.
£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.
£40k Scotland vs rUK
- Scotland take-home ≈ £32,255 vs rUK £32,320.
- Gap ≈ £65 — smaller than the £100k gap because more of pay sits in starter/basic Scottish bands.
£32,255 take-home
Shows Scotland vs rUK is salary-dependent — always check the ladder.
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 Edinburgh: £3,300 gap at £100k; ladder gaps £50k £1,496 · £200k £7,431.
Income ladder comparison
Same gross bands, single PAYE — gaps grow or shrink with income-tax brackets.
| Gross | London | Edinburgh | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| £50,000 | £39,520 | £38,024 | £1,496 |
| £75,000 | £54,057 | £52,007 | £2,050 |
| £100,000 | £68,557 | £65,257 | £3,300 |
| £150,000 | £91,286 | £85,355 | £5,931 |
| £200,000 | £117,786 | £110,355 | £7,431 |
Decision guides
Cross-band offer
Model both calculators at the offer gross. At £100k the gap is £3,300; the ladder shows whether it grows or shrinks.
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. Edinburgh gaps vs London come from Scottish Income Tax, not city hall.
"The higher take-home city always feels richer."
COL indexes (166.6 vs 101.1) can erase or reverse the cash advantage. Pair tax with rent before relocating.
"Scotland metros always trail England at every salary."
At £100k, rUK keep more on this hub (£1,496 gap at £50k; £7,431 at £200k on this pair’s ladder). Always check the ladder before generalizing.
"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
Attribute the gap to income-tax bands (rUK vs Scottish), not municipal wage tax.
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 Edinburgh FAQs
London by about £3,300/year on this vignette.
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 101.1 (Edinburgh). 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 £30,732 in Edinburgh. 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.