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

A typical terraced house costs £17,000 (9%) more in Cheshire East than in Cheshire West and Chester. Measured against local pay, buying is harder in Cheshire East: it takes 5.3× 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 1% higher than in Cheshire East (£40,991), while a typical terraced house costs 8% less (£200,000 against £217,000). 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 5.3× annual pay in Cheshire East and 4.8× in Cheshire West and Chester. Renting one takes 28% of pay in Cheshire East and 28% in Cheshire West and Chester. Buying is harder in Cheshire East; renting is about the same.

Across all property types and measured against pay, Cheshire East is around the middle of 316 areas (177th most expensive) to buy in, and Cheshire West and Chester is the 85th least expensive of 316 areas. For renting against pay, Cheshire East is the 104th least expensive of 316 areas and Cheshire West and Chester is the 98th least expensive of 316 areas.

Someone on £40,000 in Cheshire East would need about £37,000 in Cheshire West and Chester to be equally placed to buy a terraced house, and about £40,500 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 61.0 crimes per 1,000 residents in Cheshire East and 66.8 in Cheshire West and Chester, so recorded crime per resident is 9% higher in Cheshire West and Chester. The biggest difference is in residential burglary: 3.9 per 1,000 in Cheshire East against 3.0 in Cheshire West and Chester.

Can a typical earner buy?

Buying, by property type

Renting, by property type

Crime

Police recorded 61.0 crimes per 1,000 residents in Cheshire East and 66.8 in Cheshire West and Chester, so recorded crime per resident is 9% higher 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 £162,970 in Cheshire East and £155,256 in Cheshire West and Chester. Now it is £299,566 and £264,425: Cheshire East is up 84% and Cheshire West and Chester is up 70%. Prices have risen faster in Cheshire East, so the gap between the two has widened.

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 6.7 years of pay in Cheshire East and 5.6 years in Cheshire West and Chester. In 2025 it was 7.2 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 £647 a month in Cheshire East and £619 in Cheshire West and Chester. Now it is £985 and £991: up 52% in Cheshire East and up 60% in Cheshire West and Chester. Rents have risen faster 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 Cheshire East to Cheshire West and Chester

Moving from Cheshire West and Chester to Cheshire East

All Cheshire East figures · All Cheshire West and Chester figures