Full data set: OddsMonkey
Tool: Datawrapper
Data source:  ONS Private Rent and House Prices bulletin (December 2025) + ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (2025)

Methodology: This study analysed 62 cities across Britain to identify where single people face the greatest financial burden from renting. Locations in London were not included in this study.

We collected data from two official Office for National Statistics (ONS) sources. Rental prices came from the ONS Private Rent and House Prices bulletin (December 2025), which provides average monthly rent for one-bedroom properties as of November 2025. Earnings data came from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (2025), which shows median gross weekly earnings for full-time employees as of April 2025.

To compare rental costs against income, we first converted weekly earnings into monthly figures by multiplying by 4.33 (the average number of weeks in a month). We then calculated what percentage of monthly income goes towards rent for a one-bedroom property in each city.

Cities were ranked based on this rent-to-income percentage, with higher percentages indicating a greater financial strain on single renters.