Why Would an American Want to Move to the UK - Affordability
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ส.ค. 2024
- Which country is more affordable? The US or the UK? If you’re considering moving to another country, let’s look at comparisons between the US and the UK for affordability.
For example.
Average rent in NYC for a 1 bed is $4000. whereas average rent in London is £2600. or $3250.
1. average house price in UK in March 2023 is about £300K ($375K) , average rent is £1200 ($1500)
2. average house price in US is about $437K, average rent is $1200-1700 pm
3. avg monthly energy bill US is $110-300., in the UK it's £200 ($260)
4. avg monthly spend on gas in US $150-200., in UK £100 ($125.)
5. avg weekly groceries for typical family in US is $300, in UK £114 ($140)
6. avg household exoenses US is $5500. per month (inc healthcare), in UK £2900. (3625.)
7. avg healthcare cost per month in US is $560.
8. teeth cleaning in US is $75-200, in UK is is £25-85 (about the same NHS or private)$30- $106
9. Income tax rate in US is 10-37%, for ex its 28% on income above $199K (state tax can add an avg of 8%,9 don't) (take home on $199K is$143,000)
10. income tax rate in UK is 0-45% for ex 45% on income over £125K (take home on 199K is £109,450)
11. Property taxes in the US (about 1% on value of home so $4370 on average home vs Council tax in the UK (average high is $2400 per year)
Overall it might be slightly more affordable to live in the UK vs the US, due to lower healthcare costs. Unless you’re earning a good income in the US and can afford healthcare insurance and expenses, living in the UK is slightly less expensive if you are over 50, retiring or have healthcare issues.
You must be ordinarily resident in the UK to qualify for free healthcare.
Can you move to the UK?
What it's like living in England. www.hipoverfifty.com/
Get travel and moving advice www.hipoverfifty.com/shop/
Move abroad with style - what I like www.hipoverfifty.com/my-style/
Something which you did cover but a significant difference revolves around fuel/petrol/diesel, here in the UK we don't need to own a vehicle for day to day living, yes of course public transport isn't free, but it is cheaper than buying and using a car, also as a person with a disability I have a bus pass, this is free, anyone over 60 or 65 I'm not sure which will get a free bus pass, just for reference/information, each constituent country of Britain has free bus passes, but they can only be used in that country, so I'm in England and my bus pass only works in England and the same for the other countries in Britain, so I don't have a car as I'm not allowed to drive because I have seizures, but I have no travel costs by bus anywhere in England, I can use trains for free with my bus pass anywhere in South Yorkshire, but also I can travel by train to Leeds so long as I don't break my journey anywhere in West Yorkshire, this is a big saving regarding travel expenses for many people, often people can have someone travel with them for free or a reduced rate because of this pass. Sorry for the long ramble, but I thought it important to let you know for the purpose of this video, take care 😊
Oh 100% there is much more flexible and affordable ways to travel here in the UK, but there's always going to be one bit I don't cover. Thank you for the comparison!
I have lived all around the UK and nowhere had a bus service that was good enough to replace the car. For example, if I wanted to take the bus to the city centre from the outskirts it took 5 mins by car to do 2 miles, but on the bus it took 1 hour and that was with a bus change because the first bus did not go directly there. If I wanted to take the bus to the airport it would take 4 hours by bus for a journey that took 35 minutes by car. You cannot rely on buses they don't run on time. They are also expensive, hot in the summer, no AC and have crime issues from local yobs on them. At least in the USA the fuel is cheap
Try living out of London or bigger cities and public transport is rubbish so your co ments are incorrect sorry.
Great video and super interesting to see the differences! Energy prices here are insane now! Great video 🍻
Thanks for watching!
Another great video Tessa. Nice succinct overview and you've even summarised everything in the video description for us! Good job :) There's an American guy called Evan Edinger who has lived in the UK for around 10 years. He has a TH-cam channel and has done some detailed comparisons on UK vs US grocery prices. With a background as an actuary he does a good analysis of cost differences with corrections for £/$ and even weights!
Thank you for the atta girl. I was just reading today that American grocery prices are starting to come down a bit. That was a huge surprise to me on my recent trip, because I always took it for granted that food there was relatively cheap compared to everywhere else. It was quite a surprise to realize that food even with our current inflation is now cheaper here!
Not many earn £200000 pounds in UK - much, much less than 1%. The average Uk salary is around £28k, I think. Most professionals earn £60-80k year.
Great comparison. A couple of other things. Healthcare cost difference increases dramatically if you are going to rack up "extras" in the US system such as are likely if you are having a baby, have high blood pressure, heart issues etc. Also the lower working hours in the UK mean that you take-home per hour worked is proportionately higher than the crude numbers show. If you are going to live in London or some other cities, you may not need to own a car but use other transport (and occasional hire car) which saves a lot across the year.
Something to remember London is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in . Living in a small town say 100 miles away would be far, far cheaper .
Agreed. Although London isn't one of the most expensive cities if you look at this list! www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/rankings.jsp
You are definitely hip over 50 ...love listening to you xx
Oh thank you!
One thing that an American friend commented on when visiting is the quality of the own brand goods in the supermarket.. He said that in the US own brand is considered to be the sweepings off the factory floor. Obviously own brand goods vary themselves - Tesco's run through from "Value" through to "Finest" but all of them tend to be cheaper than the major brands and, in most cases, just as good.
Oh and one very important point....
British/Irish supermarkets tend to have the broadest range of reasonably priced, decent quality wines in the world! French, Spanish, Italian, Kiwi, Aussie, Californian, Chilean, Argentinian and so on and so on.
😃😃😃
Good point. I love the selection of wines here and availability to buy just about anywhere you shop. There’s a lot of “dry” counties in the US!
Hi,from Mike in Solihull
Pretty sure you said council tax was based on the individual. The amount is based on the value of the property although there is a discount if only one person is living there. Don't forget if you aren't British you will need a visa which costs a lot and doesn't last forever and you have to qualify for it as well as pay.
I do different versions and perhaps it didn’t come through that there are different council bands based on the type of property. I was referring to the fact you get a single discount.
Noting the income comparison, don't forget we get 28 days of annual leave. Comparing that to the typical US figure of 10 days (and many have less), we have 18 more days of annual leave. As a proportion of the working week of 53 weeks at 5 days a week that's worth about 6% on your salary. Add that to the fact that you get paid sick leave then the net income figure becomes much closer to that in the US.
Interesting point, but I wasn’t really comparing salaries because that’s just too tricky!
One thing you didn't mention is the number of hours you have to work to earn your salary in the US compared to the UK. I do not have experience of life in the US but a lot of things I have seen talk about no paid time off and long hours at low hourly pay in the US. If it was a case of the same salary and the same outgoings in both countries but in one you had to work a 60 hour week 51 weeks of the year and in the other you had to work a 40 hour week for 46 weeks of the year which would you choose?
Americans work long hours with only 2 weeks holidays per year, they have no clue how other countries work as we seem insulated,
@@rbnhd1144 It would be interesting to do a comparison based on income per hour of work versus necessary outgoings per hour averaged over a year. You could then look at potential money you can spend as you choose and time to spend it.
@@martinconnelly1473 I agree, I still think Brits would win on that one.
Understand what you're saying, also hard to quantify! Without getting into accounting, I'd give you the benefit of the doubt and say absolutely it's a better deal here to get more time off even if salaries are lower. I guess it just depends on where you are in your life cycle what's most important - time or money!
@@HipOverFifty That is one big reason why I would not want to live in the USA if I was working. It also seems that crime is through the roof in some parts of the USA now
Book Recommendation for those interested: *How to Lie with Statistics* By _Darrell Huff_
Written in 1954, it offers a short overview of how statistics can often be deceptive or difficult to interpret at first glance.
This recommendation should not be interpreted as being derogatory towards _Hip Over Fifty_ or any commentators.
I'm in the UK I went and had my teeth cleaned etc with a hygienist at the dentist just 2 weeks back cost was £60
Oooh that's cheaper than mine! It cost me £78.
It cost me $22.50 in Oregon USA with my company health plan
You can't compare gas/petrol prices in such a simple way, you have to take transport as a whole as in UK you will spend a reasonable amount on public transport where in US this item will be fairly small due to the lack of available public transport nationally, so combine these costs to reflect the cost of getting around. Equally, car insurance and maintenance costs should also be included as these are also the cost of transport.
A good initial effort though. Having family in both countries, in US you run the healthcare lottery, those that are lucky enough not to have health problems are better off and those that can be or are unlucky are devastated. In UK, this pendulum of doom doesn't really exist financially.
Not sure folks want to watch an hour long video 😆 but appreciate your input
Your calks do not appear have considered the exchange rate
With the income you are forgetting that our income percentage that you take home includes national insurance which pays for our pensions and the NHS costs whilst income tax itself varies based on how much you earn the National Insurance percentage is the same percentage for all (well once you reach the minimum threshold) and the NHS also has a pay upfront certificate for prescriptions if you have to pay for them in England. I pay under £12 a month for about 12 different prescriptions items which in America would bankrupt me or I would be in more constant pain or even dead because I could not afford to take the medication. People need to understand those factors upfront. So yes we might pay more income taxes upfront but boy do we benefit more from our system than Americans.
I'm always surprised such
I don’t know how much Air Conditioning costs in the US, but as it seems necessary to be on most of the time, i would assume it can be quite expensive ? I think that should be added to energy costs.
Before I had it installed I was told its expensive to run AC, and yes there is a cost, I have no clue what it is as its included in my power bill, its certainly not super expensive or Id not be able to afford it. ( I'm not a big earner) It all depends what state you live in, I can tell you ours is only on in the summer or when needed, Oregon has similar temps to the U.K. other states will differ but I cant imagine it on all year anywhere, we do get cold temps too, If I had to guess Id say $30-$40-$50 a month at the most, that's for a home that is 1500 square feet. One other thought, that AC needs a yearly service along with the heating system, we are talking $350 a year so a dollar a day, it all adds up but for the comfort factor its well worth it.
Well I've lived in two very hot states, Florida and Texas. You'll spend in the summer on AC what other places spend in the winter on heat. So a bit of a wash I think!
@@HipOverFifty Not too bad then 🙂
Good video. A lot of Americans think we all pay 40% on every penny we earn, they have no clue that we get a tax free amount then it is tiered. I only know one person that goes into the 40% bracket. The average wage here in the uk is quite a lot less than in the US.
We are told by the media that people in the UK pay far more in taxes, we are told that so as to put us off wanting an NHS type system, the truth is you add our taxes to our healthcare costs and we pay far more than you, and still our system has many holes, I've tried to educate Americans but they just don't accept it, of course over time with the Internet they will slowly see the truth.
Thank you! Yes I agree the average UK wage seems lower, but I'm not sure if that's true across the board or not? Although when I was just back in the US, they were paying £12-16 to work in a shop.
You take more of your pay home in the US but it doesn't offset the costs. This is what so many people in the UK just don't get. Scotland has slightly divergent tax rates from the rest of the UK now and it means on my salary I am paying around £25 to £30 more in Income Tax a month than I would in England. Does this bother me? Not in the least. Would this £30 buy my kids at under 22 free bus travel? Free prescriptions for all? No Student tuition fees? Free eye tests? No Bridge Tolls? Etc, etc, etc. No. It would not. Taxation is money collected into a big pot for all, not for the individual. Some are to selfish and self-centered to see that though.
It's very hard to quantify how much of your take home pay stays in your pocket. But thanks for realizing that if we all contribute, it benefits everyone.
@@HipOverFifty I think Scotland in general has a more generous, socially responsible outlook compared to England. I think its why England keeps voting Tory! 😀
Well, this was surprising to me as I thought, excluding healthcare and food, the US was the winner. Very interesting.
That's what you are lead to believe, that's the power of the media. Its far to complex for me to explain, but think of each state as a country all with its individual tax rates and laws, even the price we pay for road tax is different for the same car in different states.
Impossible to say if you're comparing like for like. An average US property will be bigger than its UK equivalent.
Everybody benefits from the UK zero rated tax threshold, but we do have National Insurance on top.
Not a bed effort a a very complex topic though. If you're looking for content ideas it could be fun to invent some fictitious case studies e.g. a couple with 2 school age kids doing comparable jobs. What lifestyle they could typically expect and what it would cost.
Thanks for the feedback and for watching. It is a complex topic and I've only touched on some of the highlights. Perhaps could come back with another perspective at some point!
I'm from Boston usa and I love to move to england
I was recently in Boston and used to live there. Lovely coast!
Serious question; Whats stopping you ?
£125a month for petrol?? Are you joking, why dudnt you mention it was nearly ten dollars a gallon!!!
The tax difference is not that big we get our NHS from the tax if you add up health insurance in your calculation the final deduction is more in the US, that is what you take home, I can never understand why the NHS is classed in America as socialism, it works and we still have our freedom.
I would love to move to the UK!
May I ask, what's stopping you? Finance, family... could you take a career break and come over for 6 months say?
As a brit... I wouldn't. This place is going down the toilet.
@@Dezzasheep No it isn’t.
@@davidrhodes5245 I'm guessing you don't live in an urban area then. That's nice for you.
@@Dezzasheep I’ve lived in the same big city for 58 years. Of course you can find trouble if you go look for it, but i have not noticed ANY real difference in my area in everyday life. You can’t just make a blanket statement that the UK is not a good country to move to, just because some areas are not the best. Most of the UK is perfectly safe and good to live in.
UK healthcare would be even better if we didn't have politicians either ideologically opposed to the NHS or on the payroll of the private care industry. We've had a decade of deliberate under funding in the oldest scam in government, underfund and break and then claim it doesn't work and then slowly privatise it. If one realises how little we fund the NHS then by extension it shows what a great system it is. We pay between half to a third what an American pays and that's for all Britain's citizens. There's also no bankruptcies.
I'd move to America if the Homestead Act was still going
Brits , of course don't have aircon , in the home , as do the hotter U.S. states (??) .
Sound quality could be better - poor pic up of your voice by your microphone
Thanks for letting me know. I've been looking at getting a separate mic!
Healthcare costs - you'd need to pay the NHS surcharge but once done, you get all treatment free. No health insurance premiums, no co-pay, nothing like that. Attractive for over 50s, I imagine, but you do need to get that visa first and that isn't cheap or straightforward. If you're not married to a UK citizen or qualify based on your own ancestry, you or your partner needs a suitable offer of work. The UK is not actually overcrowded but the infrastructure is in such a bad state thanks to a decade of corrupt and incompetent politicians in power it can feel like it.
Do not bring your American car, steering wheel is on the wrong side and it won't be easy to maneuver a massive station wagon or pickup truck on our roads. See if you even need one once over here then acquire one over here. See also discounted public transport fares and bus passes for older people.
England certainly is ovrrcrowded see the Net .U.K , no but England , esp. the S.E. , yes .
Why Would an American Want to Move to the UK......To meet You....
aw shucks
What took you to the UK at age 50?
Eurostar.
@@chrisbodum3621 ....You clearly know something I don't. From America?
@@robertknight2556 I suspected those Frenchies had been up to no good - now I know, never forgiven us for Waterloo 😁⚔️💥
First of all thanks to the comments for a good chuckle! I was born here so as I find myself saying often "the chick has come home to roost"!!
@@zebj16 or Agincourt..🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹🏹
It’s not all about money!?!
Reminds me of the joke about the old lawyer who said, "People say, 'Oh the legal profession is just about money' That's simply not true - it's all about money!'
As Tessa has pointed out in other videos, there are other factors to consider, including the health and well-being of ourselves and others. But, you know, it IS largely about money; we all have to focus on how much of our lives is dependent on it. Robert, UK.
That is true, the UK has very "mild" weather, even winters in Scotland would not compare to Alaska, and summers on the South coast of England would be nothing to Florida. Culture is very different (very few people, including criminals, have guns except farmers - and that would be a shotgun for vermin). Outside of London, life is much slower but that can be a problem if you are an entrepreneur. Also outside of the major cities, the UK demographic is predominantly white. This is not so much about overt racism but practical things (my wife is black and even living in London often has trouble finding suitable products for her hair or skin for example).
@@zebj16 ...Hi. Maybe your comment was intended for another video (or, for that matter, channel) which has sometimes happened to me. In short, none of what you say appertains to this specific video about 'affordability' in the UK. Just saying.
No I agree it definitely isn't all about the dosh. But to compare apples to apples, yes we have to "follow the money"!
Dental care in the UK is expensive, but not as expensive as US and if you have NHS cover then great, but becoming harder , just hope Dental Care is not a pre cursor to where the NHS is going as dentists are leaches in the UK ...much like lawyers in the US...just go to to Poland or Turkey for dental healthcare , way cheaper and you get a holiday as well 😉😂😂
I still haven't cracked the dental code here, I was surprised that costs are as high if not higher than in the US for private care. But I've only got one dental practice to go on. Perhaps more research! eeek
@@HipOverFifty ...definitely more research, but then again in the west country its harder, however dental hygiene in the UK is one of the worlds best including Germany and way ahead of the US ...😉💞
@@glastonbury4304what are you basing this on? that must be why British people are known for having some of the worst teeth, the NHS culture has meant that the population sees dentistry as the basic necessary service while other western countries have much more of a cosmetic culture and have developed new methods, most of the UK population still have amalgum fillings so hardly ground breaking
@@gruunt4064 ...what are you on about, the UK has one of the best teeth hygiene in the world according to the DMFT index , regarded as the best indicator of teeth hygiene ...we come 5th in the world behind the Scandic countries and Germany, whilst the US is 9th...
@@gruunt4064 that’s a myth, uk has some of the healthiest teeth in the world, above USA. Look it up.
Please! No more! We are already too crowded. Foreigners, don’t come here. Stay away. Practically everything in Britain is lousy. Nothing works properly, but the worst thing is the overcrowding. It’s not worth it.
6:16 “Let's take a fictional 200 000 salary so on a two hundred thousand dollar salary in the U.S. you would take home about a hundred and forty three thousand dollars.”
$200,000 is a truly fictional salary for most Americans. Only 8.2 per cent of American households make that much money - households, not individuals.
Delete "?" Marks and capital "X", TH-cam keep deleted links to other sites. ????wXwXw.ons.gov.uk ????/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth/bulletins/householddisposableincomeandinequality/financialyearending2022#:~:text=Median%20income%20for%20non%2Dretired,FYE%202013%20to%20FYE%202022 ).
Typical UK household income is ~£34,000 (or ~£26,000 for retired households). But outside of London, you are not going to see many salaries above £60,000.
@@zebj16 The mean average salary for those working full-time is £39,966
@@zebj16I believe that some of the biggest differences between the U.S. and the U.K. are the cost of healthcare and income distribution. I have said it here before, the number one cause of personal bankruptcy in the U.S. is due to medical debt. In my opinion, the NHS is a U.K. treasure.
Here are some more nerdy details.
2021 U.S. Census Bureau Statistics
Median household income
$70,784 (£54,078)
Median Earnings
Total Workers $45,470 (£34,738)
Men $50,983 (£38,950)
Women $39,201 (£29,949)
Shares of Household Income by Quintiles:
52.7% Highest quintile
22.6% Fourth quintile
13.9% Third quintile
8% Second quintile
2.9% Lowest quintile
@@gdok6088 I am reporting the median figure from the UK office for national statistics - from their site, "A limitation of using the mean is that it can be influenced by just a few individuals with very high incomes. Median household income shows what the middle person would be if all individuals in the UK were sorted from poorest to richest and provides a good indication of the standard of living of the "typical" individual in terms of income." As you say, the mean is pushed up above the median, due to a few extremely high incomes.