Cost of living comparison

United Kingdom

compared to

United Kingdom

London vs. Southend-on-sea Cost of Living Summary

London is 67.1% more expensive than Southend-on-sea.

Restaurants: pay 18.3% more in London
Groceries: pay 26.8% more in London
Transportation: pay 2.5 times more in London
Housing: pay 72.8% more in London
Childcare: pay 62.2% more in London
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.0 times more in London
Clothing: pay 34.4% more in London

The cost of transportation, entertainment and sports, housing, childcare, clothing, and groceries in London are more expensive than in Southend-on-sea. Notably, transportation and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in London.

London vs. Southend-on-sea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in London instead of Southend-on-sea, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 18.3% more for restaurants

	Southend-on-sea	London
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.82 £14.97	$26.43 £19.96	+33.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.25 £6.98	$10.57 £7.98	+14.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.68 £2.02	$2.95 £2.23	+10.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.87 £1.41	$2.16 £1.63	+15.2%
Average			+18.3%

Southend-on-sea vs. London - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.8% more for groceries

	Southend-on-sea	London
Bread 1 loaf	$1.39 £1.05	$2.04 £1.54	+46.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.96 £2.99	$6.36 £4.80	+60.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.50 £4.15	$6.98 £5.27	+26.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.06 £3.06	$5.01 £3.78	+23.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.00 £2.26	$4.81 £3.63	+60.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.35 £1.02	$1.40 £1.06	+3.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.60 £0.45	$0.63 £0.48	+5.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 £0.68	$1.38 £1.04	+53.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.20 £0.91	$1.52 £1.14	+26.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.81 £0.61	$0.74 £0.56	-9.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.83 £0.62	$0.80 £0.60	-3.5%
Average			+26.8%

Southend-on-sea vs. London - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.5 times more for transportation

	Southend-on-sea	London
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.71 £5.82	$7.95 £6.00	+3.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$46.25 £34.92	$245.79 £185.60	+431.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$38,182.92 £28,832.53	$38,182.92 £28,832.53
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$26.76 £20.21	$31.77 £23.99	+18.7%
Average			+151.1%

Southend-on-sea vs. London - Cost of transportation

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pay 72.8% more for housing

	Southend-on-sea	London
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.28 £31.93	$40.48 £30.57	-4.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,377.93 £1,040.50	$2,841.09 £2,145.35	+106.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,255.37 £947.95	$2,287.10 £1,727.03	+82.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$137.26 £103.65	$284.00 £214.45	+106.9%
Average			+72.8%

Southend-on-sea vs. London - Cost of housing

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pay 62.2% more for childcare

	Southend-on-sea	London
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,982.16 £1,496.76	$2,857.20 £2,157.52	+44.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$19,821.55 £14,967.57	$35,755.44 £26,999.50	+80.4%
Average			+62.2%

Southend-on-sea vs. London - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.0 times more for entertainment and sports

	Southend-on-sea	London
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.87 £5.19	$9.25 £6.98	+34.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.41 £3.33	$5.62 £4.24	+27.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$22.46 £16.96	$23.46 £17.71	+4.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	??	$60.55 £45.72
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.96 £2.99	$17.84 £13.47	+350.0%
Average			+104.1%

Southend-on-sea vs. London - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 34.4% more for clothing

	Southend-on-sea	London
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$85.89 £64.86	$113.97 £86.06	+32.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$47.12 £35.58	$53.96 £40.75	+14.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.76 £69.29	$125.54 £94.79	+36.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.71 £79.83	$162.46 £122.68	+53.7%
Average			+34.4%

Southend-on-sea vs. London - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: October 2026

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