What is the best UK city for graduates to live and work in?

Glasgow seems to be the best UK city for graduates to live and work in due to its high starting salary, affordable housing and more disposable income on offer.

This is according to research conducted by CV-Library.

The highest graduate salary on offer in the UK came from both Glasgow and London, offering £26,195 and £25,909 respectively.

If you want to save up to buy a house within five years, you only need to save 17.9 per cent of your monthly salary if you live in Glasgow, which equates to £201.67 a month. Londoners have to save 80.5 per cent of their pay packet each month (£799.66).

Glasgow came second in the amount of disposable income it offers, after bills and rent are paid for, a graduate can have £1,129.51 left over.  Sheffield tops this list with £1,158.37 and Southampton comes in third with £1,095.41.

However, Birmingham is the best city for graduates to work in if you expect a pay rise, as you can expect your salary to rise by 53.9 per cent in the future.

Sheffield and Newcastle are the cities for cheap rent in the UK for graduates to live in, with rent costing £368 and £375 per month.

Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library said:

With candidates holding more power than ever before, it’s an exciting time to be entering the job market as a graduate. Not only is there an abundance of employment opportunities at your fingertips, but pay for these roles is competitive across the UK.

What’s more, our findings suggest that while salaries in certain cities lag behind slightly, when you take into account living costs in these areas, you may actually be in a better position than you would if you lived in London. It’s crucial to take these major elements into consideration when searching and applying for graduate jobs.

Earlier this month (July 2019), CV-Library also found that 57 per cent of UK citizens enjoy their job, with 68 per cent of professionals in Glasgow liking their job. Glasgow came top out of UK cities, in how much employees enjoy their jobs.

Darius is the editor of HRreview. He has previously worked as a finance reporter for the Daily Express. He studied his journalism masters at Press Association Training and graduated from the University of York with a degree in History.