Los Angeles, CA vs London
A $89,105 salary — Los Angeles's median household income — nets $66,790 after federal, FICA and state/local tax in Los Angeles. The same salary earned in London would net £46,891 (~$63,302) — about $63,302 at today's exchange rate.
Moving from Los Angeles to London
Same salary, two tax systems. Single filer, employment income.
Both tables, the exchange-rate line and the FEIE estimate update as you type.
How to read this: we take the salary above ($89,105), convert it at the ECB rate, and tax it as a single filer's employment income in each place. That favors simplicity over realism — household vs. individual income and family tax treatment differ by country — so treat the gap as directional, not precise.
| Los Angeles, CA | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross salary | $89,105 |
| Federal tax | $10,773 |
| FICA | $6,817 |
| State & local tax | $4,725 |
| Take-home | $66,790 |
| Same salary, taxed in London | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross salary (local) | £66,005 |
| Income tax | £13,834 |
| Social contributions | £5,280 |
| Take-home | £46,891 (~$63,302) |
England and Northern Ireland rates for the 2026/27 tax year (6 April 2026 - 5 April 2027) -- used here as the London jurisdiction. Scotland sets its own income tax bands (not modeled) which differ from these. The Personal Allowance taper -- the Personal Allowance is reduced by GBP1 for every GBP2 of adjusted net income above GBP100,000, reaching zero at GBP125,140 -- is NOT modeled in this bracket table, since a flat bracket structure cannot represent an income-dependent allowance withdrawal. That taper creates a real effective marginal rate of about 60% between GBP100,000 and GBP125,140 (40% headline rate plus the value of the Allowance being clawed back), so this table overstates take-home pay for anyone in that GBP100,000-GBP125,140 band.
Single filer, employment income — figures are estimates, not advice. US FICA is applied as a flat 7.65% with no Social Security wage-base cap, which overstates FICA above roughly $176k. See methodology.
Moving from London to Los Angeles
Flip it around: a London earner relocating to Los Angeles on the same $89,105 salary would keep $66,790 after US federal, FICA and state/local tax — but health cover in the US runs $7,200/year against £1,035/year in London, so employer-sponsored coverage becomes essential rather than optional.
The basics, priced side by side
| Category | Los Angeles (USD/yr) | London (local/yr) | London (USD/yr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Housing (1-bed rent) US side: metro median rent; world side: 1-bed city-centre | $34,908 | £32,148 | $43,399 |
| Groceries US side: sitewide household grocery baseline; London side: single-person estimate | $5,354 | £2,760 | $3,726 |
| Electricity Reflects local AC/heating norms | $3,804 | £862 | $1,163 |
| Getting around US side: car-based (gas, insurance, registration); world side: monthly transit pass | $5,125 | £2,060 | $2,782 |
| Health cover See the healthcare section — the systems differ, not just the prices | $7,200 | £1,035 | $1,397 |
| Broadband | $996 | £816 | $1,102 |
US tax basics for an expat
Under the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion, the first $89,105 of foreign earnings is excludable from US federal tax; at this salary, estimated residual US federal tax is $0 — this ignores tax treaties and the stacking rule, and is an estimate, not advice.
These are London's own lifestyle notes — the same panel shown on its city page; metro-side equivalents are planned.
Living in London: what to expect
Climate & air conditioning
London's temperate oceanic climate means mild summers (typical July highs around 24C) and cool, damp winters rarely below freezing, so only a small minority of homes have air conditioning installed since it was never historically needed -- but the July 2022 heatwave that pushed the UK past 40C for the first time on record has utility firms and landlords slowly rethinking that assumption, even though window units and portable coolers remain the norm rather than fitted central air.
- Summer high c:
- 24
- Winter low c:
- 4
- AC prevalence homes:
- very low, historically under 5%
- Climate type:
- Temperate oceanic (Koppen Cfb)
- Recent heatwave note:
- UK broke 40C for the first time on record in July 2022
Healthcare
Legal residents register free with an NHS GP based on address, not immigration status, but most non-settled visa holders -- nearly all US citizens on a work visa -- must pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (GBP1,035/year as of 2026) upfront as part of the visa application itself, before ever seeing a doctor; many London professionals also carry supplementary private cover (roughly GBP75-85/month) since NHS GP access is fast but non-urgent specialist waiting lists can run into months.
- Life expectancy at birth:
- 81.4 years, United Kingdom national average -- World Bank SP.DYN.LE00.IN, 2024
- Public system:
- NHS
- Ihs annual gbp:
- 1035
- GP registration:
- free once resident, based on address not visa status
- Typical private cover gbp:
- 75-85/month
Getting around
The 11-line, 272-station Underground plus buses, the Overground and the Elizabeth line make owning a car actively counterproductive inside zones 1-2, where a GBP171.70 Zones 1-2 Monthly Travelcard -- or simply tapping a contactless bank card, which auto-caps at the same daily/weekly rate -- covers virtually everything; driving into the centre also means the GBP18/day Congestion Charge, raised in January 2026, on top of some of the priciest parking in Europe.
- Tube lines:
- 11
- Tube stations:
- 272
- Zone12 monthly gbp:
- 171.7
- Congestion charge gbp:
- 18
- Contactless caps at same rate:
- true
Taxes & paperwork
PAYE means most employees never file an annual tax return at all -- tax is withheld automatically from every paycheck, a real simplification versus the US -- but England's income tax still tops out at 45% above GBP125,140, and a Personal Allowance taper between GBP100,000-GBP125,140 quietly pushes the effective marginal rate there to around 60%; council tax, a banded charge (A-H) set per property by each borough, is the closest thing London has to a US-style property tax and is billed entirely separately from income tax.
- Top income tax rate england:
- 45% additional rate above GBP125,140
- VAT rate:
- 20%
- Council tax role:
- local property-tax equivalent, set by band A-H per borough
- Paye system:
- employer withholds tax automatically; most PAYE-only employees never file an annual return
Housing norms
Most London flats are leasehold, not freehold -- you own the right to occupy for a fixed term (often 99-999 years) while a separate freeholder owns the building and charges ground rent plus a service charge, a structure with no real US equivalent; renters do get real statutory protection, since the Tenant Fees Act 2019 banned most letting-agent fees to tenants and capped deposits at five weeks' rent, and every rental must carry an Energy Performance Certificate of band E or better.
- Foreign ownership:
- no nationality-based restriction -- a non-resident can buy freehold or leasehold outright. The cost differs rather than the eligibility: non-UK residents pay a 2% Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharge on top of standard and additional-property rates
- Leasehold vs freehold:
- most flats are leasehold, not freehold, with ground rent and a service charge owed to a separate freeholder
- Letting fees banned:
- Tenant Fees Act 2019 bans most letting-agent fees charged to tenants
- Deposit cap:
- capped at 5 weeks' rent where annual rent is under GBP50,000
- Epc minimum:
- rented homes must meet EPC band E or higher
Safety
Numbeo's crowd-sourced index put London's safety score at roughly 45 out of 100 as of August 2026, well below Lisbon's or Toronto's -- moped-enabled phone snatching and pickpocketing are the most visible everyday risk, concentrated around Oxford Street, the West End and busy Tube interchanges, while violent crime stays heavily concentrated in specific outer-borough pockets rather than spread evenly across the city.
- Numbeo safety index:
- 44.87
- Numbeo crime index:
- 55.13
- Data as of:
- 2026-08
- Main risk:
- phone snatching (often moped-enabled) and pickpocketing, concentrated in central tourist zones and on public transport
Language
English is the whole advantage here: unlike Lisbon or Berlin, every visa form, tenancy agreement, GP registration and tax filing a US citizen deals with is already in their native language, even as London itself is one of the most linguistically diverse cities on Earth -- over 300 languages are spoken across the city per the 2021 Census, with Romanian the most common non-English language citywide.
- Official language:
- English
- Languages spoken in london:
- over 300 (2021 Census)
- Most common non english:
- Romanian, citywide
- Bureaucracy language:
- English throughout -- no translation barrier for US citizens
Internet & connectivity
Full-fibre broadband passed roughly 82% of UK premises by January 2026, up from 78% just six months earlier, and London -- with multiple competing full-fibre builders (Openreach, Virgin Media, CityFibre, Hyperoptic) -- sits ahead of that national average on availability, though standard (out-of-contract) pricing runs steep: Virgin Media's own entry-tier M125 package jumps to GBP68/month once its 24-month promotional rate ends, a reminder that competition brings choice more than it brings consistently low prices in the UK market.
- Full fibre coverage pct:
- ~82% of UK premises (January 2026)
- Gigabit capable coverage pct:
- ~89% (Spring 2026)
- Virgin m125 standard rate gbp:
- 68
Visas & residency
The Skilled Worker visa (employer-sponsored) and Global Talent visa (no sponsor needed for qualifying academics, researchers, artists and tech leaders) are the two most-used US-citizen routes into London specifically, given its concentration of finance, tech and creative-industry employers; both lead toward Indefinite Leave to Remain and British citizenship after five years of continuous legal residency.
- See country record:
- gb.json
- Key routes for london:
- Skilled Worker (finance/tech employer sponsorship), Global Talent (no sponsor needed for qualifying academics, researchers, artists, tech leaders)
- Citizenship track:
- Indefinite Leave to Remain after 5 years' continuous legal residency, British citizenship typically 1 year after that
Everyday life
Contactless payment is so universal that Oyster cards are mostly a backup now -- a bank card taps directly on the Tube or a bus and auto-caps at the same daily/weekly fare as a Travelcard -- while large supermarkets are still capped by law to six consecutive trading hours on Sundays, a holdover from the Sunday Trading Act 1994; the pub remains the default after-work social venue in a way no single US institution quite matches.
- Contactless:
- accepted virtually everywhere, including tapping directly on the Tube and buses
- Sunday trading hours:
- large shops (over 280 sqm) capped at 6 consecutive hours between 10am-6pm
- Pub culture:
- the default after-work social venue
- Tipping norm:
- 10-12.5% service charge often added automatically at restaurants
Converted at ECB reference rates of 2026-08-11. Every London figure is cited on the London page.