CITY / CITYVerified city comparison
BirminghamvsLeeds.
Birmingham is stronger on 1 of 8 headline facts; Leeds on 0. Cost of living (single, excl. rent): Birmingham $1,691/mo, Leeds $1,691/mo. Freelancer tax burden: Birmingham 17%, Leeds 17%. Climate comfort: Birmingham 5/12 mo, Leeds 5/12 mo.
VerifiedUpdated
14 compared criteria · 15 sources · country-level facts are clearly inherited
gb / gb · SettleMetric
01
The key differences
The key numbers head-to-head — the stronger side is marked. The overall score stays decoration; what matters is which facts fit you.
Headline result
Birmingham leads on 1 of 8
Birmingham
1
Leeds
0
01Cost of living (single, excl. rent)
Birmingham
$1,691/mo
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Mar 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Built from the Living Costs and Food Survey column for NON-RETIRED ONE-PERSON HOUSEHOLDS (4.95 million of them), the closest published match to this criterion’s single-person profile. Total expenditure across COICOP divisions 1–12 is £378.90 a week. Removed: net rent £66.60 and maintenance and repair of the dwelling £10.10, both from workbook 5 table 2.7 for the same household type, since rent is excluded by definition and repairs fall on the landlord for a renter. Water, energy and service charges stay in. Health and education are also removed because the ONS does not publish them separately for this household type (they account for £13.00 a week of the total), so the basket sums exactly to its published parts. Remainder £289.20 a week x 52/12 = £1,253.20 a month, at the 2026-08-13 ECB cross-rate of 1 GBP = 1.349164 USD = $1691.
- Notes
- Measured spending by people who actually live alone in the UK, not a priced shopping list, so it reflects British habits: transport is the single largest line at $317 a month, ahead of food. Excludes health and education, which understates by about 4%. It is a UK average — London runs well above it and the north of England below.
Leeds
$1,691/mo
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Mar 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Built from the Living Costs and Food Survey column for NON-RETIRED ONE-PERSON HOUSEHOLDS (4.95 million of them), the closest published match to this criterion’s single-person profile. Total expenditure across COICOP divisions 1–12 is £378.90 a week. Removed: net rent £66.60 and maintenance and repair of the dwelling £10.10, both from workbook 5 table 2.7 for the same household type, since rent is excluded by definition and repairs fall on the landlord for a renter. Water, energy and service charges stay in. Health and education are also removed because the ONS does not publish them separately for this household type (they account for £13.00 a week of the total), so the basket sums exactly to its published parts. Remainder £289.20 a week x 52/12 = £1,253.20 a month, at the 2026-08-13 ECB cross-rate of 1 GBP = 1.349164 USD = $1691.
- Notes
- Measured spending by people who actually live alone in the UK, not a priced shopping list, so it reflects British habits: transport is the single largest line at $317 a month, ahead of food. Excludes health and education, which understates by about 4%. It is a UK average — London runs well above it and the north of England below.
02Freelancer tax burden
Birmingham
17%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Apr 6, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Scheme gb-sole-trader at €60,000 revenue with 10% expenses, converted at the 2026-08-13 ECB reference rate (1 EUR = 0.8549 GBP) to £51,294 of revenue and £46,164.60 of profit. Income Tax on profit above the £12,570 Personal Allowance: £33,594.60 entirely within the 20% basic-rate band = £6,718.92. Class 4 National Insurance on the same £33,594.60 at 6% = £2,015.68. Class 2 is voluntary from 2024-25 and costs nothing at this profit. Total £8,734.60 of £51,294 = 17.03%. The limited-company route was computed on the same profile and came out worse at 19.6%, and the Scottish sole trader at 19.3%, so the plain English/Welsh/Northern Irish sole trader is the most favourable eligible scheme.
- Notes
- Unusually LOW for a high-income European country, and the reason is National Insurance rather than income tax: a self-employed person pays 6% on profit in the basic-rate band and 2% above it, with no employer-side charge and no separate health contribution because the NHS is funded from general taxation. An employee on the same money pays 8% plus 15% from the employer. The figure rises steeply above £50,270, where the 40% higher rate starts, and there is a 60% marginal band between £100,000 and £125,140 where the Personal Allowance is withdrawn.
Leeds
17%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Apr 6, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Scheme gb-sole-trader at €60,000 revenue with 10% expenses, converted at the 2026-08-13 ECB reference rate (1 EUR = 0.8549 GBP) to £51,294 of revenue and £46,164.60 of profit. Income Tax on profit above the £12,570 Personal Allowance: £33,594.60 entirely within the 20% basic-rate band = £6,718.92. Class 4 National Insurance on the same £33,594.60 at 6% = £2,015.68. Class 2 is voluntary from 2024-25 and costs nothing at this profit. Total £8,734.60 of £51,294 = 17.03%. The limited-company route was computed on the same profile and came out worse at 19.6%, and the Scottish sole trader at 19.3%, so the plain English/Welsh/Northern Irish sole trader is the most favourable eligible scheme.
- Notes
- Unusually LOW for a high-income European country, and the reason is National Insurance rather than income tax: a self-employed person pays 6% on profit in the basic-rate band and 2% above it, with no employer-side charge and no separate health contribution because the NHS is funded from general taxation. An employee on the same money pays 8% plus 15% from the employer. The figure rises steeply above £50,270, where the 40% higher rate starts, and there is a 60% marginal band between £100,000 and £125,140 where the Personal Allowance is withdrawn.
03Homicide rate
Birmingham
0.85/100k
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- UNODC records the UK as three separate jurisdictions, so the national rate is built from all three: England and Wales 522 victims, Scotland 45, Northern Ireland 19 = 586, against the ONS mid-2024 UK population of 69,281,400 = 0.846 per 100,000. Read from the UNODC bulk file dated 12 July 2026. One timing detail: UNODC’s "2024" for England and Wales is the year ending March 2025, which is the 522 figure ONS itself published as the lowest number since the year to March 2015 and the lowest rate since 1977.
- Notes
- Among the lowest in the dataset and about a sixth of the United States rate. Knife crime, not firearms, drives the English and Welsh figure. The three jurisdictions are close to each other: 0.93, 1.04 and 0.52 per 100,000 respectively on UNODC’s own 2023 rates.
Leeds
0.85/100k
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- UNODC records the UK as three separate jurisdictions, so the national rate is built from all three: England and Wales 522 victims, Scotland 45, Northern Ireland 19 = 586, against the ONS mid-2024 UK population of 69,281,400 = 0.846 per 100,000. Read from the UNODC bulk file dated 12 July 2026. One timing detail: UNODC’s "2024" for England and Wales is the year ending March 2025, which is the 522 figure ONS itself published as the lowest number since the year to March 2015 and the lowest rate since 1977.
- Notes
- Among the lowest in the dataset and about a sixth of the United States rate. Knife crime, not firearms, drives the English and Welsh figure. The three jurisdictions are close to each other: 0.93, 1.04 and 0.52 per 100,000 respectively on UNODC’s own 2023 rates.
04Climate comfort
Birmingham
5/12 mo
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Months with a mean daily maximum of 15–28 °C and under 150 mm of rain, counted from this city’s climate-normals row. Every month of every one of the five UK cities passes the rainfall test, so in Britain this criterion is purely a temperature count. Qualifying: May (16.5), Jun (19.3), Jul (21.5), Aug (21.0), Sep (18.1). Excluded for cold: Jan (7.1), Feb (7.7), Mar (10.3), Apr (13.4), Oct (13.9), Nov (9.9), Dec (7.3).
Leeds
5/12 mo
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (Met Office 1991–2020, Church Fenton)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Months with a mean daily maximum of 15–28 °C and under 150 mm of rain, counted from this city’s climate-normals row. Every month of every one of the five UK cities passes the rainfall test, so in Britain this criterion is purely a temperature count. Qualifying: May (16.4), Jun (19.1), Jul (21.4), Aug (21.0), Sep (18.3). Excluded for cold: Jan (7.3), Feb (8.1), Mar (10.4), Apr (13.3), Oct (14.2), Nov (10.2), Dec (7.5).
05Internet speed
Birmingham
49 Mbps
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for the United Kingdom
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 2023 daily country medians over 344 days and 32,367,951 tests. Monthly medians ran 46.9–50.3 Mbps with no seasonal pattern. 2023 is the last complete year M-Lab publishes for the UK — the 2024 file stops on 26 March — and it is the year the other countries in this dataset are measured on.
- Notes
- M-Lab measures what a browser-based test achieves end to end, which reads well below the line speeds advertised by UK ISPs and below Ofcom’s own connection-based figures. It is used across this dataset because it is the only free, licence-clean source measured the same way everywhere, so compare it with other countries here rather than with a national regulator’s number.
Leeds
49 Mbps
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for the United Kingdom
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 2023 daily country medians over 344 days and 32,367,951 tests. Monthly medians ran 46.9–50.3 Mbps with no seasonal pattern. 2023 is the last complete year M-Lab publishes for the UK — the 2024 file stops on 26 March — and it is the year the other countries in this dataset are measured on.
- Notes
- M-Lab measures what a browser-based test achieves end to end, which reads well below the line speeds advertised by UK ISPs and below Ofcom’s own connection-based figures. It is used across this dataset because it is the only free, licence-clean source measured the same way everywhere, so compare it with other countries here rather than with a national regulator’s number.
06English proficiency
Birmingham
Native
GOV.UK — English language requirements for visas and settlement
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Notes
- English is the national language and the language of government, courts, healthcare and business throughout the United Kingdom. Welsh has equal official standing in Wales and Scottish Gaelic and Irish have recognised status, but no part of the UK requires anything other than English of a resident. The direction of the requirement runs the other way here: most work and settlement visas require the APPLICANT to prove English at B1 or higher.
Leeds
Native
GOV.UK — English language requirements for visas and settlement
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Notes
- English is the national language and the language of government, courts, healthcare and business throughout the United Kingdom. Welsh has equal official standing in Wales and Scottish Gaelic and Irish have recognised status, but no part of the UK requires anything other than English of a resident. The direction of the requirement runs the other way here: most work and settlement visas require the APPLICANT to prove English at B1 or higher.
07Private healthcare cost
Birmingham
no verified data
Leeds
no verified data
08Air quality (PM2.5)
Birminghamstronger
8 µg/m³
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Mean of the 2 Defra urban background stations in this city that met a 90% annual data-capture threshold in 2025: Birmingham Hall Green (7.79 µg/m³, 100% data capture); Birmingham Ladywood (8.10 µg/m³, 95% data capture). Roadside and kerbside stations (table 2.1a) are excluded, so this is background exposure rather than a network mean including traffic sites. Preceding years on the same station set: 2021 7.38, 2022 7.65, 2023 6.81, 2024 6.76.
- Notes
- Five qualifying urban background stations spread across the city, from Bloomsbury in the centre to Teddington in the south-west, which makes this the best-supported PM2.5 figure of the five UK cities.
Leeds
8.6 µg/m³
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Mean of the 1 Defra urban background station in this city that met a 90% annual data-capture threshold in 2025: Leeds Centre (8.62 µg/m³, 100% data capture). Roadside and kerbside stations (table 2.1a) are excluded, so this is background exposure rather than a network mean including traffic sites. Preceding years on the same station set: 2021 7.72, 2022 8.62, 2023 7.60, 2024 7.66.
- Notes
- Only one qualifying urban background station, so this is a single-site reading rather than a city mean.
02
Which city fits your plan?
Each lens weighs only the facts that matter to that plan, and names the side it favours.
Remote IT / freelancer
Contract or freelance in tech, billing clients abroad.
A close call for this plan
01Freelancer tax burden
Birmingham
17%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Apr 6, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Scheme gb-sole-trader at €60,000 revenue with 10% expenses, converted at the 2026-08-13 ECB reference rate (1 EUR = 0.8549 GBP) to £51,294 of revenue and £46,164.60 of profit. Income Tax on profit above the £12,570 Personal Allowance: £33,594.60 entirely within the 20% basic-rate band = £6,718.92. Class 4 National Insurance on the same £33,594.60 at 6% = £2,015.68. Class 2 is voluntary from 2024-25 and costs nothing at this profit. Total £8,734.60 of £51,294 = 17.03%. The limited-company route was computed on the same profile and came out worse at 19.6%, and the Scottish sole trader at 19.3%, so the plain English/Welsh/Northern Irish sole trader is the most favourable eligible scheme.
- Notes
- Unusually LOW for a high-income European country, and the reason is National Insurance rather than income tax: a self-employed person pays 6% on profit in the basic-rate band and 2% above it, with no employer-side charge and no separate health contribution because the NHS is funded from general taxation. An employee on the same money pays 8% plus 15% from the employer. The figure rises steeply above £50,270, where the 40% higher rate starts, and there is a 60% marginal band between £100,000 and £125,140 where the Personal Allowance is withdrawn.
Leeds
17%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Apr 6, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Scheme gb-sole-trader at €60,000 revenue with 10% expenses, converted at the 2026-08-13 ECB reference rate (1 EUR = 0.8549 GBP) to £51,294 of revenue and £46,164.60 of profit. Income Tax on profit above the £12,570 Personal Allowance: £33,594.60 entirely within the 20% basic-rate band = £6,718.92. Class 4 National Insurance on the same £33,594.60 at 6% = £2,015.68. Class 2 is voluntary from 2024-25 and costs nothing at this profit. Total £8,734.60 of £51,294 = 17.03%. The limited-company route was computed on the same profile and came out worse at 19.6%, and the Scottish sole trader at 19.3%, so the plain English/Welsh/Northern Irish sole trader is the most favourable eligible scheme.
- Notes
- Unusually LOW for a high-income European country, and the reason is National Insurance rather than income tax: a self-employed person pays 6% on profit in the basic-rate band and 2% above it, with no employer-side charge and no separate health contribution because the NHS is funded from general taxation. An employee on the same money pays 8% plus 15% from the employer. The figure rises steeply above £50,270, where the 40% higher rate starts, and there is a 60% marginal band between £100,000 and £125,140 where the Personal Allowance is withdrawn.
02Internet speed
Birmingham
49 Mbps
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for the United Kingdom
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 2023 daily country medians over 344 days and 32,367,951 tests. Monthly medians ran 46.9–50.3 Mbps with no seasonal pattern. 2023 is the last complete year M-Lab publishes for the UK — the 2024 file stops on 26 March — and it is the year the other countries in this dataset are measured on.
- Notes
- M-Lab measures what a browser-based test achieves end to end, which reads well below the line speeds advertised by UK ISPs and below Ofcom’s own connection-based figures. It is used across this dataset because it is the only free, licence-clean source measured the same way everywhere, so compare it with other countries here rather than with a national regulator’s number.
Leeds
49 Mbps
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for the United Kingdom
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 2023 daily country medians over 344 days and 32,367,951 tests. Monthly medians ran 46.9–50.3 Mbps with no seasonal pattern. 2023 is the last complete year M-Lab publishes for the UK — the 2024 file stops on 26 March — and it is the year the other countries in this dataset are measured on.
- Notes
- M-Lab measures what a browser-based test achieves end to end, which reads well below the line speeds advertised by UK ISPs and below Ofcom’s own connection-based figures. It is used across this dataset because it is the only free, licence-clean source measured the same way everywhere, so compare it with other countries here rather than with a national regulator’s number.
03English proficiency
Birmingham
Native
GOV.UK — English language requirements for visas and settlement
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Notes
- English is the national language and the language of government, courts, healthcare and business throughout the United Kingdom. Welsh has equal official standing in Wales and Scottish Gaelic and Irish have recognised status, but no part of the UK requires anything other than English of a resident. The direction of the requirement runs the other way here: most work and settlement visas require the APPLICANT to prove English at B1 or higher.
Leeds
Native
GOV.UK — English language requirements for visas and settlement
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Notes
- English is the national language and the language of government, courts, healthcare and business throughout the United Kingdom. Welsh has equal official standing in Wales and Scottish Gaelic and Irish have recognised status, but no part of the UK requires anything other than English of a resident. The direction of the requirement runs the other way here: most work and settlement visas require the APPLICANT to prove English at B1 or higher.
04Cost of living (single, excl. rent)
Birmingham
$1,691/mo
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Mar 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Built from the Living Costs and Food Survey column for NON-RETIRED ONE-PERSON HOUSEHOLDS (4.95 million of them), the closest published match to this criterion’s single-person profile. Total expenditure across COICOP divisions 1–12 is £378.90 a week. Removed: net rent £66.60 and maintenance and repair of the dwelling £10.10, both from workbook 5 table 2.7 for the same household type, since rent is excluded by definition and repairs fall on the landlord for a renter. Water, energy and service charges stay in. Health and education are also removed because the ONS does not publish them separately for this household type (they account for £13.00 a week of the total), so the basket sums exactly to its published parts. Remainder £289.20 a week x 52/12 = £1,253.20 a month, at the 2026-08-13 ECB cross-rate of 1 GBP = 1.349164 USD = $1691.
- Notes
- Measured spending by people who actually live alone in the UK, not a priced shopping list, so it reflects British habits: transport is the single largest line at $317 a month, ahead of food. Excludes health and education, which understates by about 4%. It is a UK average — London runs well above it and the north of England below.
Leeds
$1,691/mo
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Mar 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Built from the Living Costs and Food Survey column for NON-RETIRED ONE-PERSON HOUSEHOLDS (4.95 million of them), the closest published match to this criterion’s single-person profile. Total expenditure across COICOP divisions 1–12 is £378.90 a week. Removed: net rent £66.60 and maintenance and repair of the dwelling £10.10, both from workbook 5 table 2.7 for the same household type, since rent is excluded by definition and repairs fall on the landlord for a renter. Water, energy and service charges stay in. Health and education are also removed because the ONS does not publish them separately for this household type (they account for £13.00 a week of the total), so the basket sums exactly to its published parts. Remainder £289.20 a week x 52/12 = £1,253.20 a month, at the 2026-08-13 ECB cross-rate of 1 GBP = 1.349164 USD = $1691.
- Notes
- Measured spending by people who actually live alone in the UK, not a priced shopping list, so it reflects British habits: transport is the single largest line at $317 a month, ahead of food. Excludes health and education, which understates by about 4%. It is a UK average — London runs well above it and the north of England below.
05Domestic delivery quality
Birmingham
Good
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 22, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Inputs: Royal Mail must deliver to every UK address at a uniform price. First Class letters keep a six-day-a-week next-working-day service, but Ofcom cut the headline target from 93% to 90% delivered next day in its 2025 reform, with 99% within three working days. Second Class was cut from six days a week to alternate weekdays, delivered within three working days at a 95% target and 99% within five. Ofcom opened an investigation into Royal Mail’s 2025/26 delivery performance. Next-day delivery therefore exists nationwide, which is the "excellent" test, but half the letter service is now a 1–3 day product and the regulator has both lowered the bar and is investigating failure to clear it — which is the "good" band.
- Notes
- This grades the regulated postal service, which is what has an official source. The UK parcel market is much faster than the letter service and is where most people’s experience comes from, but its carrier and parcel-locker networks could not be verified here — see the delivery-methods row.
Leeds
Good
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 22, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Inputs: Royal Mail must deliver to every UK address at a uniform price. First Class letters keep a six-day-a-week next-working-day service, but Ofcom cut the headline target from 93% to 90% delivered next day in its 2025 reform, with 99% within three working days. Second Class was cut from six days a week to alternate weekdays, delivered within three working days at a 95% target and 99% within five. Ofcom opened an investigation into Royal Mail’s 2025/26 delivery performance. Next-day delivery therefore exists nationwide, which is the "excellent" test, but half the letter service is now a 1–3 day product and the regulator has both lowered the bar and is investigating failure to clear it — which is the "good" band.
- Notes
- This grades the regulated postal service, which is what has an official source. The UK parcel market is much faster than the letter service and is where most people’s experience comes from, but its carrier and parcel-locker networks could not be verified here — see the delivery-methods row.
Family
Relocating with a partner and school-age children.
Birmingham fits better — 1 of 5
01International schools
Birmingham
no verified data
Leeds
no verified data
02Homicide rate
Birmingham
0.85/100k
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- UNODC records the UK as three separate jurisdictions, so the national rate is built from all three: England and Wales 522 victims, Scotland 45, Northern Ireland 19 = 586, against the ONS mid-2024 UK population of 69,281,400 = 0.846 per 100,000. Read from the UNODC bulk file dated 12 July 2026. One timing detail: UNODC’s "2024" for England and Wales is the year ending March 2025, which is the 522 figure ONS itself published as the lowest number since the year to March 2015 and the lowest rate since 1977.
- Notes
- Among the lowest in the dataset and about a sixth of the United States rate. Knife crime, not firearms, drives the English and Welsh figure. The three jurisdictions are close to each other: 0.93, 1.04 and 0.52 per 100,000 respectively on UNODC’s own 2023 rates.
Leeds
0.85/100k
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- UNODC records the UK as three separate jurisdictions, so the national rate is built from all three: England and Wales 522 victims, Scotland 45, Northern Ireland 19 = 586, against the ONS mid-2024 UK population of 69,281,400 = 0.846 per 100,000. Read from the UNODC bulk file dated 12 July 2026. One timing detail: UNODC’s "2024" for England and Wales is the year ending March 2025, which is the 522 figure ONS itself published as the lowest number since the year to March 2015 and the lowest rate since 1977.
- Notes
- Among the lowest in the dataset and about a sixth of the United States rate. Knife crime, not firearms, drives the English and Welsh figure. The three jurisdictions are close to each other: 0.93, 1.04 and 0.52 per 100,000 respectively on UNODC’s own 2023 rates.
03Private healthcare cost
Birmingham
no verified data
Leeds
no verified data
04Air quality (PM2.5)
Birminghamstronger
8 µg/m³
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Mean of the 2 Defra urban background stations in this city that met a 90% annual data-capture threshold in 2025: Birmingham Hall Green (7.79 µg/m³, 100% data capture); Birmingham Ladywood (8.10 µg/m³, 95% data capture). Roadside and kerbside stations (table 2.1a) are excluded, so this is background exposure rather than a network mean including traffic sites. Preceding years on the same station set: 2021 7.38, 2022 7.65, 2023 6.81, 2024 6.76.
- Notes
- Five qualifying urban background stations spread across the city, from Bloomsbury in the centre to Teddington in the south-west, which makes this the best-supported PM2.5 figure of the five UK cities.
Leeds
8.6 µg/m³
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Mean of the 1 Defra urban background station in this city that met a 90% annual data-capture threshold in 2025: Leeds Centre (8.62 µg/m³, 100% data capture). Roadside and kerbside stations (table 2.1a) are excluded, so this is background exposure rather than a network mean including traffic sites. Preceding years on the same station set: 2021 7.72, 2022 8.62, 2023 7.60, 2024 7.66.
- Notes
- Only one qualifying urban background station, so this is a single-site reading rather than a city mean.
05English proficiency
Birmingham
Native
GOV.UK — English language requirements for visas and settlement
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Notes
- English is the national language and the language of government, courts, healthcare and business throughout the United Kingdom. Welsh has equal official standing in Wales and Scottish Gaelic and Irish have recognised status, but no part of the UK requires anything other than English of a resident. The direction of the requirement runs the other way here: most work and settlement visas require the APPLICANT to prove English at B1 or higher.
Leeds
Native
GOV.UK — English language requirements for visas and settlement
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Notes
- English is the national language and the language of government, courts, healthcare and business throughout the United Kingdom. Welsh has equal official standing in Wales and Scottish Gaelic and Irish have recognised status, but no part of the UK requires anything other than English of a resident. The direction of the requirement runs the other way here: most work and settlement visas require the APPLICANT to prove English at B1 or higher.
Money & crypto
Optimising tax, banking and crypto rules.
A close call for this plan
01Crypto regulation
Birmingham
Legal regulated
Financial Conduct Authority — Cryptoassets
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Holding, buying and selling cryptoassets is lawful for individuals and there is no restriction on it. Businesses carrying on cryptoasset activity have had to register with the FCA under the Money Laundering Regulations since 10 January 2020, and since 8 October 2023 any firm marketing cryptoassets to UK consumers falls under the FCA financial-promotions regime regardless of where the firm is based. Gains are taxed: HMRC treats cryptoassets as property for Capital Gains Tax, and trading as taxable income.
- Notes
- Not crypto-friendly in the tax sense — there is no exemption of the kind Portugal or Germany offer on long-held holdings. Two consumer restrictions are worth knowing: the FCA has banned the sale of crypto derivatives and exchange-traded notes to retail consumers, and cryptoassets are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, so an exchange failure is not underwritten.
Leeds
Legal regulated
Financial Conduct Authority — Cryptoassets
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Holding, buying and selling cryptoassets is lawful for individuals and there is no restriction on it. Businesses carrying on cryptoasset activity have had to register with the FCA under the Money Laundering Regulations since 10 January 2020, and since 8 October 2023 any firm marketing cryptoassets to UK consumers falls under the FCA financial-promotions regime regardless of where the firm is based. Gains are taxed: HMRC treats cryptoassets as property for Capital Gains Tax, and trading as taxable income.
- Notes
- Not crypto-friendly in the tax sense — there is no exemption of the kind Portugal or Germany offer on long-held holdings. Two consumer restrictions are worth knowing: the FCA has banned the sale of crypto derivatives and exchange-traded notes to retail consumers, and cryptoassets are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, so an exchange failure is not underwritten.
02Financial control level
Birmingham
Low
GOV.UK — Take cash in and out of the UK
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Inputs weighed: no exchange or capital controls on moving personal funds into or out of the country, and no limit on the size of a bank transfer; sterling floats freely; non-residents may open UK bank accounts subject to the banks’ own identity checks rather than a legal bar; and the only cross-border reporting duty on an individual is a declaration of cash of £10,000 or more carried in or out of Great Britain, with a penalty of up to £5,000 and seizure for failing to declare. Residents are taxed on worldwide income and must report it through Self Assessment, which is ordinary for a developed economy rather than a control on money.
- Notes
- Opening a first UK bank account without a UK address or credit history is the practical friction, not the law — it is a bank compliance problem, and it is why many new arrivals start with an e-money account.
Leeds
Low
GOV.UK — Take cash in and out of the UK
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Inputs weighed: no exchange or capital controls on moving personal funds into or out of the country, and no limit on the size of a bank transfer; sterling floats freely; non-residents may open UK bank accounts subject to the banks’ own identity checks rather than a legal bar; and the only cross-border reporting duty on an individual is a declaration of cash of £10,000 or more carried in or out of Great Britain, with a penalty of up to £5,000 and seizure for failing to declare. Residents are taxed on worldwide income and must report it through Self Assessment, which is ordinary for a developed economy rather than a control on money.
- Notes
- Opening a first UK bank account without a UK address or credit history is the practical friction, not the law — it is a bank compliance problem, and it is why many new arrivals start with an e-money account.
03Freelancer tax burden
Birmingham
17%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Apr 6, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Scheme gb-sole-trader at €60,000 revenue with 10% expenses, converted at the 2026-08-13 ECB reference rate (1 EUR = 0.8549 GBP) to £51,294 of revenue and £46,164.60 of profit. Income Tax on profit above the £12,570 Personal Allowance: £33,594.60 entirely within the 20% basic-rate band = £6,718.92. Class 4 National Insurance on the same £33,594.60 at 6% = £2,015.68. Class 2 is voluntary from 2024-25 and costs nothing at this profit. Total £8,734.60 of £51,294 = 17.03%. The limited-company route was computed on the same profile and came out worse at 19.6%, and the Scottish sole trader at 19.3%, so the plain English/Welsh/Northern Irish sole trader is the most favourable eligible scheme.
- Notes
- Unusually LOW for a high-income European country, and the reason is National Insurance rather than income tax: a self-employed person pays 6% on profit in the basic-rate band and 2% above it, with no employer-side charge and no separate health contribution because the NHS is funded from general taxation. An employee on the same money pays 8% plus 15% from the employer. The figure rises steeply above £50,270, where the 40% higher rate starts, and there is a 60% marginal band between £100,000 and £125,140 where the Personal Allowance is withdrawn.
Leeds
17%
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Apr 6, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Scheme gb-sole-trader at €60,000 revenue with 10% expenses, converted at the 2026-08-13 ECB reference rate (1 EUR = 0.8549 GBP) to £51,294 of revenue and £46,164.60 of profit. Income Tax on profit above the £12,570 Personal Allowance: £33,594.60 entirely within the 20% basic-rate band = £6,718.92. Class 4 National Insurance on the same £33,594.60 at 6% = £2,015.68. Class 2 is voluntary from 2024-25 and costs nothing at this profit. Total £8,734.60 of £51,294 = 17.03%. The limited-company route was computed on the same profile and came out worse at 19.6%, and the Scottish sole trader at 19.3%, so the plain English/Welsh/Northern Irish sole trader is the most favourable eligible scheme.
- Notes
- Unusually LOW for a high-income European country, and the reason is National Insurance rather than income tax: a self-employed person pays 6% on profit in the basic-rate band and 2% above it, with no employer-side charge and no separate health contribution because the NHS is funded from general taxation. An employee on the same money pays 8% plus 15% from the employer. The figure rises steeply above £50,270, where the 40% higher rate starts, and there is a 60% marginal band between £100,000 and £125,140 where the Personal Allowance is withdrawn.
Calm lifestyle
Prioritising safety, air, and an easy daily life.
Birmingham fits better — 1 of 4
01Homicide rate
Birmingham
0.85/100k
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- UNODC records the UK as three separate jurisdictions, so the national rate is built from all three: England and Wales 522 victims, Scotland 45, Northern Ireland 19 = 586, against the ONS mid-2024 UK population of 69,281,400 = 0.846 per 100,000. Read from the UNODC bulk file dated 12 July 2026. One timing detail: UNODC’s "2024" for England and Wales is the year ending March 2025, which is the 522 figure ONS itself published as the lowest number since the year to March 2015 and the lowest rate since 1977.
- Notes
- Among the lowest in the dataset and about a sixth of the United States rate. Knife crime, not firearms, drives the English and Welsh figure. The three jurisdictions are close to each other: 0.93, 1.04 and 0.52 per 100,000 respectively on UNODC’s own 2023 rates.
Leeds
0.85/100k
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- UNODC records the UK as three separate jurisdictions, so the national rate is built from all three: England and Wales 522 victims, Scotland 45, Northern Ireland 19 = 586, against the ONS mid-2024 UK population of 69,281,400 = 0.846 per 100,000. Read from the UNODC bulk file dated 12 July 2026. One timing detail: UNODC’s "2024" for England and Wales is the year ending March 2025, which is the 522 figure ONS itself published as the lowest number since the year to March 2015 and the lowest rate since 1977.
- Notes
- Among the lowest in the dataset and about a sixth of the United States rate. Knife crime, not firearms, drives the English and Welsh figure. The three jurisdictions are close to each other: 0.93, 1.04 and 0.52 per 100,000 respectively on UNODC’s own 2023 rates.
02Air quality (PM2.5)
Birminghamstronger
8 µg/m³
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Mean of the 2 Defra urban background stations in this city that met a 90% annual data-capture threshold in 2025: Birmingham Hall Green (7.79 µg/m³, 100% data capture); Birmingham Ladywood (8.10 µg/m³, 95% data capture). Roadside and kerbside stations (table 2.1a) are excluded, so this is background exposure rather than a network mean including traffic sites. Preceding years on the same station set: 2021 7.38, 2022 7.65, 2023 6.81, 2024 6.76.
- Notes
- Five qualifying urban background stations spread across the city, from Bloomsbury in the centre to Teddington in the south-west, which makes this the best-supported PM2.5 figure of the five UK cities.
Leeds
8.6 µg/m³
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Mean of the 1 Defra urban background station in this city that met a 90% annual data-capture threshold in 2025: Leeds Centre (8.62 µg/m³, 100% data capture). Roadside and kerbside stations (table 2.1a) are excluded, so this is background exposure rather than a network mean including traffic sites. Preceding years on the same station set: 2021 7.72, 2022 8.62, 2023 7.60, 2024 7.66.
- Notes
- Only one qualifying urban background station, so this is a single-site reading rather than a city mean.
03Cost of living (single, excl. rent)
Birmingham
$1,691/mo
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Mar 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Built from the Living Costs and Food Survey column for NON-RETIRED ONE-PERSON HOUSEHOLDS (4.95 million of them), the closest published match to this criterion’s single-person profile. Total expenditure across COICOP divisions 1–12 is £378.90 a week. Removed: net rent £66.60 and maintenance and repair of the dwelling £10.10, both from workbook 5 table 2.7 for the same household type, since rent is excluded by definition and repairs fall on the landlord for a renter. Water, energy and service charges stay in. Health and education are also removed because the ONS does not publish them separately for this household type (they account for £13.00 a week of the total), so the basket sums exactly to its published parts. Remainder £289.20 a week x 52/12 = £1,253.20 a month, at the 2026-08-13 ECB cross-rate of 1 GBP = 1.349164 USD = $1691.
- Notes
- Measured spending by people who actually live alone in the UK, not a priced shopping list, so it reflects British habits: transport is the single largest line at $317 a month, ahead of food. Excludes health and education, which understates by about 4%. It is a UK average — London runs well above it and the north of England below.
Leeds
$1,691/mo
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Mar 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Built from the Living Costs and Food Survey column for NON-RETIRED ONE-PERSON HOUSEHOLDS (4.95 million of them), the closest published match to this criterion’s single-person profile. Total expenditure across COICOP divisions 1–12 is £378.90 a week. Removed: net rent £66.60 and maintenance and repair of the dwelling £10.10, both from workbook 5 table 2.7 for the same household type, since rent is excluded by definition and repairs fall on the landlord for a renter. Water, energy and service charges stay in. Health and education are also removed because the ONS does not publish them separately for this household type (they account for £13.00 a week of the total), so the basket sums exactly to its published parts. Remainder £289.20 a week x 52/12 = £1,253.20 a month, at the 2026-08-13 ECB cross-rate of 1 GBP = 1.349164 USD = $1691.
- Notes
- Measured spending by people who actually live alone in the UK, not a priced shopping list, so it reflects British habits: transport is the single largest line at $317 a month, ahead of food. Excludes health and education, which understates by about 4%. It is a UK average — London runs well above it and the north of England below.
04Climate comfort
Birmingham
5/12 mo
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Months with a mean daily maximum of 15–28 °C and under 150 mm of rain, counted from this city’s climate-normals row. Every month of every one of the five UK cities passes the rainfall test, so in Britain this criterion is purely a temperature count. Qualifying: May (16.5), Jun (19.3), Jul (21.5), Aug (21.0), Sep (18.1). Excluded for cold: Jan (7.1), Feb (7.7), Mar (10.3), Apr (13.4), Oct (13.9), Nov (9.9), Dec (7.3).
Leeds
5/12 mo
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (Met Office 1991–2020, Church Fenton)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Months with a mean daily maximum of 15–28 °C and under 150 mm of rain, counted from this city’s climate-normals row. Every month of every one of the five UK cities passes the rainfall test, so in Britain this criterion is purely a temperature count. Qualifying: May (16.4), Jun (19.1), Jul (21.4), Aug (21.0), Sep (18.3). Excluded for cold: Jan (7.3), Feb (8.1), Mar (10.4), Apr (13.3), Oct (14.2), Nov (10.2), Dec (7.5).
03
The full comparison
Open any fact to see what it measures, how fresh it is and the complete source trail for both cities.
01
Taxes
CriterionBirminghamLeeds
01+−Freelancer tax burden% effective burden at €60k/year self-employed profileBirmingham17Leeds17
What this measures
Effective total burden (income tax + mandatory social and health contributions) for a solo IT freelancer with €60,000/year revenue and 10% deductible expenses, using the most favourable eligible scheme in the country's tax-schemes data. Computed by the SettleMetric tax engine; recorded as a curated value with the winning scheme id in method.
Lower is better· % effective burden at €60k/year self-employed profile· re-verified every 365 days
Birmingham
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Apr 6, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Scheme gb-sole-trader at €60,000 revenue with 10% expenses, converted at the 2026-08-13 ECB reference rate (1 EUR = 0.8549 GBP) to £51,294 of revenue and £46,164.60 of profit. Income Tax on profit above the £12,570 Personal Allowance: £33,594.60 entirely within the 20% basic-rate band = £6,718.92. Class 4 National Insurance on the same £33,594.60 at 6% = £2,015.68. Class 2 is voluntary from 2024-25 and costs nothing at this profit. Total £8,734.60 of £51,294 = 17.03%. The limited-company route was computed on the same profile and came out worse at 19.6%, and the Scottish sole trader at 19.3%, so the plain English/Welsh/Northern Irish sole trader is the most favourable eligible scheme.
- Notes
- Unusually LOW for a high-income European country, and the reason is National Insurance rather than income tax: a self-employed person pays 6% on profit in the basic-rate band and 2% above it, with no employer-side charge and no separate health contribution because the NHS is funded from general taxation. An employee on the same money pays 8% plus 15% from the employer. The figure rises steeply above £50,270, where the 40% higher rate starts, and there is a 60% marginal band between £100,000 and £125,140 where the Personal Allowance is withdrawn.
Leeds
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Apr 6, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Scheme gb-sole-trader at €60,000 revenue with 10% expenses, converted at the 2026-08-13 ECB reference rate (1 EUR = 0.8549 GBP) to £51,294 of revenue and £46,164.60 of profit. Income Tax on profit above the £12,570 Personal Allowance: £33,594.60 entirely within the 20% basic-rate band = £6,718.92. Class 4 National Insurance on the same £33,594.60 at 6% = £2,015.68. Class 2 is voluntary from 2024-25 and costs nothing at this profit. Total £8,734.60 of £51,294 = 17.03%. The limited-company route was computed on the same profile and came out worse at 19.6%, and the Scottish sole trader at 19.3%, so the plain English/Welsh/Northern Irish sole trader is the most favourable eligible scheme.
- Notes
- Unusually LOW for a high-income European country, and the reason is National Insurance rather than income tax: a self-employed person pays 6% on profit in the basic-rate band and 2% above it, with no employer-side charge and no separate health contribution because the NHS is funded from general taxation. An employee on the same money pays 8% plus 15% from the employer. The figure rises steeply above £50,270, where the 40% higher rate starts, and there is a 60% marginal band between £100,000 and £125,140 where the Personal Allowance is withdrawn.
02
Legalization
CriterionBirminghamLeeds
01+−Remote-work legalization easeBirminghamLong stay pathLeedsLong stay path
What this measures
Best available legalization route for a location-independent earner with a median (non-EU, non-US) passport, classified from this country's legalization-paths data: dedicated digital-nomad visa; general freelance/self-employment permit; realistic long-stay path (e.g. renewable temporary residence); only short visa-free/tourist stays; effectively none.
Rated by category· re-verified every 180 days
Birmingham
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Classified from this country’s legalization data. The United Kingdom has NO digital-nomad visa and no general freelance or self-employment permit — the old Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) and self-employment routes are closed. What exists for someone working for themselves is the Global Talent visa: up to 5 years at a time, no sponsor, self-employment allowed, open to any nationality, and it leads to settlement after 3 or 5 years. It is not granted for being a freelancer — it requires endorsement as a leader or potential leader in academia, the arts or digital technology — so it is a realistic long-stay path rather than a freelance permit. The High Potential Individual visa also permits self-employment without a sponsor but lasts only 2–3 years, cannot be extended and does not count towards settlement.
- Notes
- Everyone else works from the UK as a visitor. Since January 2024 the Immigration Rules explicitly allow a visitor to work remotely for an overseas employer or their own overseas business, provided that is not the primary purpose of the visit — which legalises the short stay but is capped at 6 months and is not a residence route.
Leeds
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Classified from this country’s legalization data. The United Kingdom has NO digital-nomad visa and no general freelance or self-employment permit — the old Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) and self-employment routes are closed. What exists for someone working for themselves is the Global Talent visa: up to 5 years at a time, no sponsor, self-employment allowed, open to any nationality, and it leads to settlement after 3 or 5 years. It is not granted for being a freelancer — it requires endorsement as a leader or potential leader in academia, the arts or digital technology — so it is a realistic long-stay path rather than a freelance permit. The High Potential Individual visa also permits self-employment without a sponsor but lasts only 2–3 years, cannot be extended and does not count towards settlement.
- Notes
- Everyone else works from the UK as a visitor. Since January 2024 the Immigration Rules explicitly allow a visitor to work remotely for an overseas employer or their own overseas business, provided that is not the primary purpose of the visit — which legalises the short stay but is capped at 6 months and is not a residence route.
03
Cost of living
CriterionBirminghamLeeds
01+−Cost of living (single, excl. rent)USD/month, single person, excluding rentBirmingham1,691Leeds1,691
What this measures
Monthly cost of a defined single-person basket (food, transport, utilities, mobile+internet, modest leisure) excluding rent, curated from national statistics office price data and large local retailers' published prices, converted to USD at the ECB rate recorded in fx-rates. The method field of each value itemizes the basket inputs.
Lower is better· USD/month, single person, excluding rent· re-verified every 365 days
Birmingham
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Mar 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Built from the Living Costs and Food Survey column for NON-RETIRED ONE-PERSON HOUSEHOLDS (4.95 million of them), the closest published match to this criterion’s single-person profile. Total expenditure across COICOP divisions 1–12 is £378.90 a week. Removed: net rent £66.60 and maintenance and repair of the dwelling £10.10, both from workbook 5 table 2.7 for the same household type, since rent is excluded by definition and repairs fall on the landlord for a renter. Water, energy and service charges stay in. Health and education are also removed because the ONS does not publish them separately for this household type (they account for £13.00 a week of the total), so the basket sums exactly to its published parts. Remainder £289.20 a week x 52/12 = £1,253.20 a month, at the 2026-08-13 ECB cross-rate of 1 GBP = 1.349164 USD = $1691.
- Notes
- Measured spending by people who actually live alone in the UK, not a priced shopping list, so it reflects British habits: transport is the single largest line at $317 a month, ahead of food. Excludes health and education, which understates by about 4%. It is a UK average — London runs well above it and the north of England below.
Leeds
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Mar 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Built from the Living Costs and Food Survey column for NON-RETIRED ONE-PERSON HOUSEHOLDS (4.95 million of them), the closest published match to this criterion’s single-person profile. Total expenditure across COICOP divisions 1–12 is £378.90 a week. Removed: net rent £66.60 and maintenance and repair of the dwelling £10.10, both from workbook 5 table 2.7 for the same household type, since rent is excluded by definition and repairs fall on the landlord for a renter. Water, energy and service charges stay in. Health and education are also removed because the ONS does not publish them separately for this household type (they account for £13.00 a week of the total), so the basket sums exactly to its published parts. Remainder £289.20 a week x 52/12 = £1,253.20 a month, at the 2026-08-13 ECB cross-rate of 1 GBP = 1.349164 USD = $1691.
- Notes
- Measured spending by people who actually live alone in the UK, not a priced shopping list, so it reflects British habits: transport is the single largest line at $317 a month, ahead of food. Excludes health and education, which understates by about 4%. It is a UK average — London runs well above it and the north of England below.
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Mar 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- The COICOP divisions of the same one-person household column, each converted from £/week at 52/12 weeks a month and 1 GBP = 1.349164 USD. The housing line is division 4 less net rent and less maintenance and repair, so it is water, energy and service charges only. Health and education are not published for this household type and are therefore absent rather than estimated.
Transport317 USD
Food & non-alcoholic drinks236 USD
Recreation & culture236 USD
Utilities (water, energy and service charges)218 USD
Household goods & services164 USD
Miscellaneous goods & services163 USD
Restaurants & hotels158 USD
Communication87 USD
Clothing & footwear61 USD
Alcohol & tobacco50 USD
04
Housing
Rent by apartment type
Asking rent, central price with outside-centre in parentheses ($/mo).
Birmingham
Leeds
ONS — Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics (August 2026), Birmingham
Official source
- Data as of
- Aug 31, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- ONS Price Index of Private Rents, average monthly rent for August 2026 by number of bedrooms, converted at the 2026-08-13 ECB reference cross-rate in data/fx-rates.json (1 GBP = 1.349164 USD). Centre = the Birmingham local authority. Outside the centre = the other six West Midlands metropolitan districts (Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall, Wolverhampton), averaged with each area weighted by its ONS mid-2025 population. PIPR is a stock measure: it covers rents actually being paid under both new and continuing tenancies, not asking prices. Local-currency originals, £/month: 1br 830 centre / 699 outside, 2br 1003 / 866, 3br 1134 / 1031.
- Notes
- No studio row: the ONS series publishes one-, two-, three- and four-or-more-bedroom categories and no studio or room-only category, so there is nothing to put in that cell. The outside row is the rest of the conurbation rather than this city’s own suburbs — the ONS series has no geography below the local authority in England — so it reads as "the wider urban area" rather than "the outskirts".
ONS — Price Index of Private Rents, UK: monthly price statistics (August 2026), Leeds
Official source
- Data as of
- Aug 31, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- ONS Price Index of Private Rents, average monthly rent for August 2026 by number of bedrooms, converted at the 2026-08-13 ECB reference cross-rate in data/fx-rates.json (1 GBP = 1.349164 USD). Centre = the Leeds local authority. Outside the centre = the other four West Yorkshire districts (Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Wakefield), averaged with each area weighted by its ONS mid-2025 population. PIPR is a stock measure: it covers rents actually being paid under both new and continuing tenancies, not asking prices. Local-currency originals, £/month: 1br 782 centre / 565 outside, 2br 975 / 699, 3br 1138 / 840.
- Notes
- No studio row: the ONS series publishes one-, two-, three- and four-or-more-bedroom categories and no studio or room-only category, so there is nothing to put in that cell. The outside row is the rest of the conurbation rather than this city’s own suburbs — the ONS series has no geography below the local authority in England — so it reads as "the wider urban area" rather than "the outskirts".
011-bedroom
Birmingham
$1,120$943 outside
Leedscheaper
$1,055$762 outside
022-bedroom
Birmingham
$1,353$1,169 outside
Leedscheaper
$1,315$942 outside
033-bedroom
Birminghamcheaper
$1,530$1,391 outside
Leeds
$1,535$1,133 outside
05
Safety
CriterionBirminghamLeeds
01+−Homicide rateintentional homicides per 100,000/yearBirmingham0.9Leeds0.9
What this measures
Intentional homicide victims per 100,000 population, latest available year. Country level: UNODC national series. City level: official municipal/police statistics where published; otherwise null (country value shown as country-level).
Lower is better· intentional homicides per 100,000/year· re-verified every 730 days
Birmingham
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- UNODC records the UK as three separate jurisdictions, so the national rate is built from all three: England and Wales 522 victims, Scotland 45, Northern Ireland 19 = 586, against the ONS mid-2024 UK population of 69,281,400 = 0.846 per 100,000. Read from the UNODC bulk file dated 12 July 2026. One timing detail: UNODC’s "2024" for England and Wales is the year ending March 2025, which is the 522 figure ONS itself published as the lowest number since the year to March 2015 and the lowest rate since 1977.
- Notes
- Among the lowest in the dataset and about a sixth of the United States rate. Knife crime, not firearms, drives the English and Welsh figure. The three jurisdictions are close to each other: 0.93, 1.04 and 0.52 per 100,000 respectively on UNODC’s own 2023 rates.
Leeds
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2024
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- UNODC records the UK as three separate jurisdictions, so the national rate is built from all three: England and Wales 522 victims, Scotland 45, Northern Ireland 19 = 586, against the ONS mid-2024 UK population of 69,281,400 = 0.846 per 100,000. Read from the UNODC bulk file dated 12 July 2026. One timing detail: UNODC’s "2024" for England and Wales is the year ending March 2025, which is the 522 figure ONS itself published as the lowest number since the year to March 2015 and the lowest rate since 1977.
- Notes
- Among the lowest in the dataset and about a sixth of the United States rate. Knife crime, not firearms, drives the English and Welsh figure. The three jurisdictions are close to each other: 0.93, 1.04 and 0.52 per 100,000 respectively on UNODC’s own 2023 rates.
06
Climate
CriterionBirminghamLeeds
01+−Climate comfortpleasant months/yearBirmingham5Leeds5
What this measures
Number of months whose 1991–2020 climate normals satisfy: mean daily maximum between 15°C and 28°C and monthly precipitation under 150mm. Computed from the city's climate-normals indicator; the raw normals are stored alongside so users can judge by their own taste.
Higher is better· pleasant months/year· re-verified every 3650 days
Birmingham
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Months with a mean daily maximum of 15–28 °C and under 150 mm of rain, counted from this city’s climate-normals row. Every month of every one of the five UK cities passes the rainfall test, so in Britain this criterion is purely a temperature count. Qualifying: May (16.5), Jun (19.3), Jul (21.5), Aug (21.0), Sep (18.1). Excluded for cold: Jan (7.1), Feb (7.7), Mar (10.3), Apr (13.4), Oct (13.9), Nov (9.9), Dec (7.3).
Leeds
SettleMetric computation over climate-normals (Met Office 1991–2020, Church Fenton)
Curated by SettleMetric
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2020
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Months with a mean daily maximum of 15–28 °C and under 150 mm of rain, counted from this city’s climate-normals row. Every month of every one of the five UK cities passes the rainfall test, so in Britain this criterion is purely a temperature count. Qualifying: May (16.4), Jun (19.1), Jul (21.4), Aug (21.0), Sep (18.3). Excluded for cold: Jan (7.3), Feb (8.1), Mar (10.4), Apr (13.3), Oct (14.2), Nov (10.2), Dec (7.5).
02+−Air quality (PM2.5)µg/m³, annual mean PM2.5Birminghamstronger8Leeds8.6
What this measures
Annual mean fine-particulate (PM2.5) concentration for the city, latest available year. Anchors follow the WHO 2021 guideline (5 µg/m³ → 10) through the EU limit value territory (25 µg/m³ → 2). Preferred source: European Environment Agency city-level air quality data; outside Europe: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database or the national monitoring network.
Lower is better· µg/m³, annual mean PM2.5· re-verified every 730 days
Birmingham
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Mean of the 2 Defra urban background stations in this city that met a 90% annual data-capture threshold in 2025: Birmingham Hall Green (7.79 µg/m³, 100% data capture); Birmingham Ladywood (8.10 µg/m³, 95% data capture). Roadside and kerbside stations (table 2.1a) are excluded, so this is background exposure rather than a network mean including traffic sites. Preceding years on the same station set: 2021 7.38, 2022 7.65, 2023 6.81, 2024 6.76.
- Notes
- Five qualifying urban background stations spread across the city, from Bloomsbury in the centre to Teddington in the south-west, which makes this the best-supported PM2.5 figure of the five UK cities.
Leeds
Official source
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Mean of the 1 Defra urban background station in this city that met a 90% annual data-capture threshold in 2025: Leeds Centre (8.62 µg/m³, 100% data capture). Roadside and kerbside stations (table 2.1a) are excluded, so this is background exposure rather than a network mean including traffic sites. Preceding years on the same station set: 2021 7.72, 2022 8.62, 2023 7.60, 2024 7.66.
- Notes
- Only one qualifying urban background station, so this is a single-site reading rather than a city mean.
07
Healthcare
CriterionBirminghamLeeds
01+−Private healthcare costUSD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-oldBirminghamno verified dataLeedsno verified data
What this measures
Median of at least three publicly quoted annual premiums for comprehensive private medical insurance (outpatient + inpatient, ~$100k coverage, small deductible) for a healthy 35-year-old resident foreigner, from local and international insurers. Method field lists the insurers quoted.
Lower is better· USD/year, comprehensive private insurance premium, healthy 35-year-old· re-verified every 365 days
Birmingham
Not priced. No UK private medical insurer publishes a rate table: Bupa, AXA Health, Aviva and Vitality all quote only through a form that requires personal details, so there is no public figure to take a median of and we do not fill in quote engines. The criterion also fits the UK badly. Healthcare here is not bought — anyone ordinarily resident uses the NHS free at the point of use, and a migrant on a visa of more than six months pays the Immigration Health Surcharge instead, £1,035 a year on most work routes and £776 a year on the Youth Mobility and student routes, which buys full NHS access. Private cover in the UK is a top-up bought mainly for faster elective treatment, not a substitute, so a premium would not be comparable with the figures other countries in this dataset carry.
Leeds
Not priced. No UK private medical insurer publishes a rate table: Bupa, AXA Health, Aviva and Vitality all quote only through a form that requires personal details, so there is no public figure to take a median of and we do not fill in quote engines. The criterion also fits the UK badly. Healthcare here is not bought — anyone ordinarily resident uses the NHS free at the point of use, and a migrant on a visa of more than six months pays the Immigration Health Surcharge instead, £1,035 a year on most work routes and £776 a year on the Youth Mobility and student routes, which buys full NHS access. Private cover in the UK is a top-up bought mainly for faster elective treatment, not a substitute, so a premium would not be comparable with the figures other countries in this dataset carry.
08
Money & crypto
CriterionBirminghamLeeds
01+−Crypto regulationBirminghamLegal regulatedLeedsLegal regulated
What this measures
Own classification of the legal status of holding, trading and cashing out cryptocurrency for individuals: legal-friendly (legal with clear, favourable rules or explicit tax exemptions), legal-regulated (legal under standard licensing/AML and taxation), restricted (partial bans: payments or banking access prohibited), banned (holding/trading prohibited). Classified from national regulators' and central banks' official positions.
Rated by category· re-verified every 180 days
Birmingham
Financial Conduct Authority — Cryptoassets
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Holding, buying and selling cryptoassets is lawful for individuals and there is no restriction on it. Businesses carrying on cryptoasset activity have had to register with the FCA under the Money Laundering Regulations since 10 January 2020, and since 8 October 2023 any firm marketing cryptoassets to UK consumers falls under the FCA financial-promotions regime regardless of where the firm is based. Gains are taxed: HMRC treats cryptoassets as property for Capital Gains Tax, and trading as taxable income.
- Notes
- Not crypto-friendly in the tax sense — there is no exemption of the kind Portugal or Germany offer on long-held holdings. Two consumer restrictions are worth knowing: the FCA has banned the sale of crypto derivatives and exchange-traded notes to retail consumers, and cryptoassets are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, so an exchange failure is not underwritten.
Leeds
Financial Conduct Authority — Cryptoassets
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Holding, buying and selling cryptoassets is lawful for individuals and there is no restriction on it. Businesses carrying on cryptoasset activity have had to register with the FCA under the Money Laundering Regulations since 10 January 2020, and since 8 October 2023 any firm marketing cryptoassets to UK consumers falls under the FCA financial-promotions regime regardless of where the firm is based. Gains are taxed: HMRC treats cryptoassets as property for Capital Gains Tax, and trading as taxable income.
- Notes
- Not crypto-friendly in the tax sense — there is no exemption of the kind Portugal or Germany offer on long-held holdings. Two consumer restrictions are worth knowing: the FCA has banned the sale of crypto derivatives and exchange-traded notes to retail consumers, and cryptoassets are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, so an exchange failure is not underwritten.
02+−Financial control levelBirminghamLowLeedsLow
What this measures
Own composite of state control over personal money flows: currency/capital controls (IMF AREAER), restrictions on foreign accounts and transfers, mandatory income declaration scope for residents, cash payment limits, banking access for foreigners. Low = free movement of personal funds and easy non-resident banking; very-high = strict capital controls and pervasive reporting. Method field on each value lists the inputs used.
Rated by category· re-verified every 365 days
Birmingham
GOV.UK — Take cash in and out of the UK
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Inputs weighed: no exchange or capital controls on moving personal funds into or out of the country, and no limit on the size of a bank transfer; sterling floats freely; non-residents may open UK bank accounts subject to the banks’ own identity checks rather than a legal bar; and the only cross-border reporting duty on an individual is a declaration of cash of £10,000 or more carried in or out of Great Britain, with a penalty of up to £5,000 and seizure for failing to declare. Residents are taxed on worldwide income and must report it through Self Assessment, which is ordinary for a developed economy rather than a control on money.
- Notes
- Opening a first UK bank account without a UK address or credit history is the practical friction, not the law — it is a bank compliance problem, and it is why many new arrivals start with an e-money account.
Leeds
GOV.UK — Take cash in and out of the UK
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Inputs weighed: no exchange or capital controls on moving personal funds into or out of the country, and no limit on the size of a bank transfer; sterling floats freely; non-residents may open UK bank accounts subject to the banks’ own identity checks rather than a legal bar; and the only cross-border reporting duty on an individual is a declaration of cash of £10,000 or more carried in or out of Great Britain, with a penalty of up to £5,000 and seizure for failing to declare. Residents are taxed on worldwide income and must report it through Self Assessment, which is ordinary for a developed economy rather than a control on money.
- Notes
- Opening a first UK bank account without a UK address or credit history is the practical friction, not the law — it is a bank compliance problem, and it is why many new arrivals start with an e-money account.
09
Infrastructure
CriterionBirminghamLeeds
01+−Domestic delivery qualityBirminghamGoodLeedsGood
What this measures
Quality of in-country parcel delivery. excellent = nationwide next-day widely available, dense parcel-locker network, real-time tracking standard; good = 1–3 day delivery, lockers in major cities; basic = reliable but slow (3–7 days), mostly to-door or post-office pickup; poor = unreliable delivery, street addresses often unusable, informal workarounds common. Classified from official service/coverage data of the national postal operator and the two largest private carriers; inputs itemized in each value's method field.
Rated by category· re-verified every 730 days
Birmingham
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 22, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Inputs: Royal Mail must deliver to every UK address at a uniform price. First Class letters keep a six-day-a-week next-working-day service, but Ofcom cut the headline target from 93% to 90% delivered next day in its 2025 reform, with 99% within three working days. Second Class was cut from six days a week to alternate weekdays, delivered within three working days at a 95% target and 99% within five. Ofcom opened an investigation into Royal Mail’s 2025/26 delivery performance. Next-day delivery therefore exists nationwide, which is the "excellent" test, but half the letter service is now a 1–3 day product and the regulator has both lowered the bar and is investigating failure to clear it — which is the "good" band.
- Notes
- This grades the regulated postal service, which is what has an official source. The UK parcel market is much faster than the letter service and is where most people’s experience comes from, but its carrier and parcel-locker networks could not be verified here — see the delivery-methods row.
Leeds
Official source
- Data as of
- Jul 22, 2025
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Inputs: Royal Mail must deliver to every UK address at a uniform price. First Class letters keep a six-day-a-week next-working-day service, but Ofcom cut the headline target from 93% to 90% delivered next day in its 2025 reform, with 99% within three working days. Second Class was cut from six days a week to alternate weekdays, delivered within three working days at a 95% target and 99% within five. Ofcom opened an investigation into Royal Mail’s 2025/26 delivery performance. Next-day delivery therefore exists nationwide, which is the "excellent" test, but half the letter service is now a 1–3 day product and the regulator has both lowered the bar and is investigating failure to clear it — which is the "good" band.
- Notes
- This grades the regulated postal service, which is what has an official source. The UK parcel market is much faster than the letter service and is where most people’s experience comes from, but its carrier and parcel-locker networks could not be verified here — see the delivery-methods row.
02+−International delivery easeBirminghamMinor frictionLeedsMinor friction
What this measures
Ease of receiving goods from abroad. seamless = major international carriers deliver door-to-door, meaningful duty-free de-minimis threshold, customs clearance predictable in days; minor-friction = carriers present but low de-minimis, extra paperwork or routine delays; significant-friction = frequent customs holds, high brokerage fees, some marketplaces refuse to ship; unreliable = parcels regularly lost or blocked, informal import channels dominate. De-minimis thresholds and clearance rules from the national customs authority (official source, cite the regulation); carrier presence from carriers' official pages.
Rated by category· re-verified every 365 days
Birmingham
GOV.UK — Tax and duty on goods sent from abroad
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- The UK left the EU customs union, so every consignment from abroad is cleared. Customs duty is relieved on non-excise goods worth £135 or less; above that, duty applies at tariff rates. VAT is due on everything except gifts of £39 or less — on consignments of £135 or less the overseas seller is required to charge it at the point of sale, above that the carrier collects it before delivery and adds a handling fee. All the major international carriers deliver door to door and clearance is routine rather than uncertain. Northern Ireland follows different rules for goods "at risk" of entering the EU.
- Notes
- The £135 threshold is low enough that most ordinary online orders from outside the UK carry VAT, and the sting is usually the carrier’s handling fee rather than the tax. Nothing is blocked and nothing is unpredictable, which is what separates this from significant-friction.
Leeds
GOV.UK — Tax and duty on goods sent from abroad
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- The UK left the EU customs union, so every consignment from abroad is cleared. Customs duty is relieved on non-excise goods worth £135 or less; above that, duty applies at tariff rates. VAT is due on everything except gifts of £39 or less — on consignments of £135 or less the overseas seller is required to charge it at the point of sale, above that the carrier collects it before delivery and adds a handling fee. All the major international carriers deliver door to door and clearance is routine rather than uncertain. Northern Ireland follows different rules for goods "at risk" of entering the EU.
- Notes
- The £135 threshold is low enough that most ordinary online orders from outside the UK carry VAT, and the sting is usually the carrier’s handling fee rather than the tax. Nothing is blocked and nothing is unpredictable, which is what separates this from significant-friction.
03+−Internet speedMbps, median fixed downloadBirmingham49.2Leeds49.2
What this measures
Median fixed-broadband download speed over the trailing 6 months from M-Lab NDT open data (CC0), aggregated at country or city level. Not comparable with Ookla figures (different test methodology) — do not mix sources within this criterion.
Higher is better· Mbps, median fixed download· re-verified every 365 days
Birmingham
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for the United Kingdom
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 2023 daily country medians over 344 days and 32,367,951 tests. Monthly medians ran 46.9–50.3 Mbps with no seasonal pattern. 2023 is the last complete year M-Lab publishes for the UK — the 2024 file stops on 26 March — and it is the year the other countries in this dataset are measured on.
- Notes
- M-Lab measures what a browser-based test achieves end to end, which reads well below the line speeds advertised by UK ISPs and below Ofcom’s own connection-based figures. It is used across this dataset because it is the only free, licence-clean source measured the same way everywhere, so compare it with other countries here rather than with a national regulator’s number.
Leeds
M-Lab NDT country aggregates for the United Kingdom
Open data
- Data as of
- Dec 31, 2023
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Method
- Median of the 2023 daily country medians over 344 days and 32,367,951 tests. Monthly medians ran 46.9–50.3 Mbps with no seasonal pattern. 2023 is the last complete year M-Lab publishes for the UK — the 2024 file stops on 26 March — and it is the year the other countries in this dataset are measured on.
- Notes
- M-Lab measures what a browser-based test achieves end to end, which reads well below the line speeds advertised by UK ISPs and below Ofcom’s own connection-based figures. It is used across this dataset because it is the only free, licence-clean source measured the same way everywhere, so compare it with other countries here rather than with a national regulator’s number.
10
Language
CriterionBirminghamLeeds
01+−English proficiencyBirminghamNativeLeedsNative
What this measures
Own banding of how far English gets a resident in daily life (government offices, healthcare, housing, services). Informed by EF EPI band (research source, cited with attribution, not republished) plus official language status and service-sector realities. Values are our bands, not EF scores.
Rated by category· re-verified every 730 days
Birmingham
GOV.UK — English language requirements for visas and settlement
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Notes
- English is the national language and the language of government, courts, healthcare and business throughout the United Kingdom. Welsh has equal official standing in Wales and Scottish Gaelic and Irish have recognised status, but no part of the UK requires anything other than English of a resident. The direction of the requirement runs the other way here: most work and settlement visas require the APPLICANT to prove English at B1 or higher.
Leeds
GOV.UK — English language requirements for visas and settlement
Official source
- Data as of
- Sep 20, 2026
- Verified
- Sep 20, 2026
- Notes
- English is the national language and the language of government, courts, healthcare and business throughout the United Kingdom. Welsh has equal official standing in Wales and Scottish Gaelic and Irish have recognised status, but no part of the UK requires anything other than English of a resident. The direction of the requirement runs the other way here: most work and settlement visas require the APPLICANT to prove English at B1 or higher.
11
Education
CriterionBirminghamLeeds
01+−International schoolsaccredited international schools, countBirminghamno verified dataLeedsno verified data
What this measures
Count of international schools in the metro area accredited by or member of IB, CIS, COBIS, or an equivalent national-curriculum-abroad body (verified against the accreditor's public registry, not aggregator sites).
Higher is better· accredited international schools, count· re-verified every 730 days
Birmingham
Not counted. The IB’s school finder answers HTTP 403 to our requests (checked again 2026-09-20) and the Council of International Schools publishes no readable member directory, so neither accreditor could be queried for this city. Guessing from aggregator sites is not an option, and the United Kingdom has no national register of "international" schools — the Department for Education’s Get Information About Schools records establishment type, not curriculum. The honest answer is that we do not know the number.
Leeds
Not counted. The IB’s school finder answers HTTP 403 to our requests (checked again 2026-09-20) and the Council of International Schools publishes no readable member directory, so neither accreditor could be queried for this city. Guessing from aggregator sites is not an option, and the United Kingdom has no national register of "international" schools — the Department for Education’s Get Information About Schools records establishment type, not curriculum. The honest answer is that we do not know the number.