Birmingham vs Cheshire West and Chester: buying or renting a home

A typical terraced house costs £20,000 (10%) more in Birmingham than in Cheshire West and Chester. Measured against local pay, buying is harder in Birmingham: it takes 6.1× median annual pay, against 4.8× in Cheshire West and Chester.

At a glance

Buying rates the typical price of all homes against median pay; renting rates a year of average rent against median pay; crime rates recorded crime per resident against the England and Wales average.

What the numbers say

Median full-time pay in Cheshire West and Chester (£41,486) is 15% higher than in Birmingham (£35,989), while a typical terraced house costs 9% less (£200,000 against £220,000). Set against local pay, Cheshire West and Chester is the easier of the two for a typical earner to buy in.

Buying a terraced house takes 6.1× annual pay in Birmingham and 4.8× in Cheshire West and Chester. Renting one takes 37% of pay in Birmingham and 28% in Cheshire West and Chester. Both are harder in Birmingham, and the gap is wider for renting.

Across all property types and measured against pay, Birmingham is the 108th least expensive of 316 areas to buy in, and Cheshire West and Chester is the 85th least expensive of 316 areas. For renting against pay, Birmingham is the 112th most expensive of 316 areas and Cheshire West and Chester is the 98th least expensive of 316 areas.

Someone on £40,000 in Birmingham would need about £36,500 in Cheshire West and Chester to be equally placed to buy a terraced house, and about £36,000 to be equally placed to rent one. Keeping the same pay after a move to Cheshire West and Chester would leave you better placed to buy. These figures compare housing costs only; they ignore other living costs and the pay you could earn in a new job.

Police recorded 114.2 crimes per 1,000 residents in Birmingham and 66.8 in Cheshire West and Chester, so recorded crime per resident is 42% lower in Cheshire West and Chester. The biggest difference is in vehicle offences: 10.2 per 1,000 in Birmingham against 1.4 in Cheshire West and Chester.

Can a typical earner buy?

Buying, by property type

Renting, by property type

Crime

Police recorded 114.2 crimes per 1,000 residents in Birmingham and 66.8 in Cheshire West and Chester, so recorded crime per resident is 42% lower in Cheshire West and Chester.

Rates use resident population, so city centres and student areas show higher crime per resident than residents experience. Recorded crime also depends on reporting and police recording practice.

How prices have changed in each area

Average house price for all property types, indexed so that 2005 is 100. A line at 200 means prices have doubled.

In 2005 the average home cost £130,237 in Birmingham and £155,256 in Cheshire West and Chester. Now it is £232,548 and £264,425: Birmingham is up 79% and Cheshire West and Chester is up 70%. Prices have risen faster in Birmingham, so the gap between the two has narrowed.

Buying a home against local pay, over time

Average house price divided by median full-time pay. Higher means harder to afford.

In 2010 a home cost 5.5 years of pay in Birmingham and 5.6 years in Cheshire West and Chester. In 2025 it was 6.5 years and 6.2 years.

How rents have changed in each area

Average monthly rent for all property types, indexed so that 2015 is 100.

In 2015 the average rent was £682 a month in Birmingham and £619 in Cheshire West and Chester. Now it is £1,099 and £991: up 61% in Birmingham and up 60% in Cheshire West and Chester.

What your salary is worth in each area

Salary needed to afford the same kind of home (terraced), going by median prices and average rents.

Moving from Birmingham to Cheshire West and Chester

Moving from Cheshire West and Chester to Birmingham

All Birmingham figures · All Cheshire West and Chester figures