This is the yearly income you need to be happy in the UK
Key Points
- You need an annual salary of £89,959 to earn enough to be happy in the UK, according to a new analysis by Remitly.
- The report took the point where more income does not equate to meaningfully more happiness and compared it to local purchasing power and living costs to compare the price of happiness around the world.
- The country with the highest price of happiness was Iceland, and the country with the lowest was Ethiopia.
- The report found that happiness in the UK is more unaffordable than in many other countries, and noted the much higher price of happiness in London than in other parts of the country.
A new analysis shows that the annual income you need to earn in the UK to reach a point where further income no longer makes you happier is £89,959.
Remitly has produced a report analysing figures from Purdue University which looked at the amount of ‘satiation point’ for annual income in various regions after which further increases in income did not produce meaningful benefits to happiness.
The figures show that increases in income lead to increases in subjective wellbeing. However, beyond a certain amount of annual income, money no longer equates to more happiness.
Remitly defined this income level as the “price of happiness” and compared them against local purchasing power and inflation to find the price of happiness in countries and cities across the world.
It found that in the United States, the price of happiness was $134,827 per year, with the figure in New York rising to $195,969. The country with the highest price of happiness was Iceland at $163,579, while the country with the lowest was Ethiopia at just $10,176.
The price of happiness in the United Kingdom is £89,959, which is significantly higher than the country’s median annual wage of £32,890. This makes the United Kingdom among the countries where happiness is the least affordable.
The only country where the average salary was higher than the price of happiness was Slovenia, with an average wage of $42,800 and a price of happiness of $36,800.
The price of happiness in UK cities
Remitly also looked at the price of happiness in 23 cities across the United Kingdom, comparing local purchasing power and living costs with Purdue University’s data.
Unsuprisingly, the city with the highest price of happiness was London at £116,097, closely followed by Oxford at £101,104.
The UK city included in Remitly’s analysis with the cheapest price of happiness was Sheffield at £83,723, which is still significantly higher than the national median wage.
Other reports, including one from global think tank the Institute for Quality of Life, rank London as among the happiest cities in the world.
Inequality is severe in the capital, however, with the average salary needed to live comfortably in the city much higher than in the rest of the United Kingdom.
The table below shows the price of happiness in 23 cities across the UK, accounting for local purchasing power and living costs.
