The UK's Most and Least Affordable Cities for Commuting

Fish4jobs have revealed the varying affordability of rail commuting for workers across the UK's 14 major cities.

The study reveals how many hours and minutes it takes the average worker to afford a monthly rail ticket. All of the commutes included in the study took an average of 15 - 45 minutes.

Key findings from the study:

• The most affordable city to commute to work is Liverpool. It would take the average worker just 8 hours and 23 minutes of work a month to pay for a monthly rail ticket.


• The least affordable major UK city for commuting is Leicester. It would take a worker on average a staggering 15 hours and 19 minutes to afford their monthly commute. That’s almost twice as long as it takes workers in Liverpool to afford their monthly commute.


• Birmingham is the second most affordable major city for commuting in the UK, as it would take a worker on average 8 hours and 27 minutes to afford a monthly rail ticket.


• Glasgow is the third most affordable major city for commuting in the UK, as it would take a worker on average 8 hours and 59 minutes to afford a monthly rail ticket.


• London is the fourth most affordable major city for commuting in the UK. It would take a worker on average 9 hours and 13 minutes to afford their commute. The London Underground monthly rail fares have contributed to keeping London in the top four of the UK’s most affordable cities for commuting.


• Brighton is the second least affordable major city in the UK for commuting. It takes an average of 14 hours and 57 minutes for a worker to afford their rail commute in Brighton.