Cost of living in Cambridge vs. London?

How do the two compare? I've heard Cambridge can be as expensive as London.. Is this true?

On a scale of 0-100, with London @ 100, what could Cambridge be? 80? 90?

It is cheaper than London, but it totally depends on what you are looking at. 

For instance if you want a place in Cambridge, with 2 bedrooms and a decent size in a non-crazy area then you are looking at  least 1,000/mnth probably more like 1,200 up to whatever really. 

You could get a place cheaper if you wanted to go further out, or slightly cr@ppy.

A lot of my friends complain that nights out in Cambridge are more expensive because there is less choice, so they can charge what they want. 

On the other hand, you're in Cambridge and while it is a cute day trip, it isn't living in London. 

So if you really want the big city I would say London isn't THAT much more expensive than Cambridge.  Plus lots of people get London weighting. 

Cambridge isn't as expensive as London but it does feel significantly more expensive than many other places in the UK, as the salaries tend to be about the same as what you would make in other towns yet the cost of living is so much higher.  Like bookgrl said, if you can work in London, you'll have London weighting, and the expense of London compared to working/living in Cambridge can almost even out.   

The area in Cambridge within walking distance of the train station is growing more and more expensive as more London commuters move in.  I've been seeing the nicer 1 bedroom places go for anywhere between £1000 and £1500/month.

If I were going to settle long-term in the area, I would most likely look to buy a place in Ely, which is more affordable and a 15 minute train ride to Cambridge but still has good rail links to London.  (I personally wouldn't want to settle here long-term, but that's another post entirely...)

I knew you'd chime in!   

For instance, my old job paid 11,500 starting (yes this was just 2 years ago and yes they pay about the same now) but in London it starts at 19,500. 

We got about 3% salary increases per year, which meant when I left after 2 years I was making like 12,200 but the person in London was now making 20,600. 

Cambridge isn't that cheap in comparison and the galling thing was that co-workers south of London got London outer weighting and their area is cheaper than mine. 

I suppose you could get a job in London and commute from Cambridge, but that would mean standing because those trains are full. 

Do decent flats in Cambridge really run from £1000 to £1500? That's eye-opening. If that's the case I don't see the point of living there and working in London. You can find something simimlar in zone 2-3 London -- and not have to pay another £360 a month for the commute.

Do decent flats in Cambridge really run from £1000 to £1500? That's eye-opening. If that's the case I don't see the point of living there and working in London. You can find something simimlar in zone 2-3 London -- and not have to pay another £360 a month for the commute.

It really varies, but the flats around the train station do run that high.  I think it's because housing is just limited in general given that the population has grown while the city hasn't, but also because it's largely populated by students and so the quality of accomodation is just not at the standard that professionals/families would desire.  You have to look REALLY hard to find something that comes unfurnished, as most landlords cater to students or visiting academics, and you have to look even harder to find something that comes DECENTLY furnished.  The housing standard is just incredibly low, in my opinion.  So if you're looking for flats that meet a higher standard and that are in a desirable location, they can charge pretty much anything they want. 

We plan to move in two years anyways, but if we decided to have a baby before then, we will most likely do anything we can to make do with our current 1 bedroom flat because there is no way I see us finding an affordable two bedroom place anywhere near the standards/location we are in now.     

Around the station they can be, I would say most flats in that range would be a two bedroom, but one beds aren't that much cheaper.

Most of the housing here are houses, as opposed to flats because most of the colleges own the flats in town.  There are a bunch of new build flats along the river, but they are pricey and not near the station.  (Well, relatively).    

Studios are about 700-800ish, maybe a little more or less if you are lucky.  A room in a shared professional house, not student, between 450 (rarely and not near the station) and whatever.  

It depends if this person wants to work in London and commute.  If you are working in Cambridge and have no need to go to the station then you can live in a variety of places, but if you want to take the train being near the station is important.  

Also, the flats aren't that great either.  Students will take any old junked up place.  

We plan to move in two years anyways, but if we decided to have a baby before then, we will most likely do anything we can to make do with our current 1 bedroom flat because there is no way I see us finding an affordable two bedroom place anywhere near the standards/location we are in now.     

You need to move out with us.  Then I can babysit.  Also, I should have a car by then and I can drive you around.  Toot-toot. 

For instance, we live 25 minutes by bus from Cambridge centre and pay about 700/mnth for a good sized 2 bed house. 

We were incredibly lucky, I mean amazingly, I assume because the house has serious issues (the landlord made us sign the lease before October 2008 so he didn't have to do a energy certificate HA) and because it is at the far end of the village.   Although the village really isn't that big of a place. 

Still we are a good 45 minutes by bus, or more, from the station because it is not in the centre of town.  Taking a car to the station is stupid, there are never spots (building more high priced flats!) and taxi is about 13.00-16.00 depending on time of day. 

I like Cambridge sometimes.....and I don't like it sometimes....

Rent does seem a bit much, Bookgirl is just about right...

Just a few disjointed thoughts:

Day trips into London are pretty easy, so you can pop in and do a lot of the City activities without much trouble (there's an express). I think it costs about £4000 a year to commute in tho, and it is true you will more than likely end up standing cheek to jowl the whole way during rush hour. When you get to London at Kings Cross you have to change over to the underground, and with the walk to the office, you can be staring at 2 hours from door to door.

You need to move out with us.  Then I can babysit.  Also, I should have a car by then and I can drive you around.  Toot-toot. 

For instance, we live 25 minutes by bus from Cambridge centre and pay about 700/mnth for a good sized 2 bed house. 

We probably do need to look into moving, but since we are without car and because of my husband's job, it's pretty important that he able to walk to his lab (he has to go in to check on cells and other experiments throughout the weekends and sometimes at odd hours when the busses aren't running).  We lucked out and landed a nice one bedroom place near the station for £800/mo, but in the past year, I've seen similar one bedroom properties go for £1000/mo, and the really nice new one bedrooms across the street are going for £1200-£1400, depending on size/amenities. 

I sort of feel like now we're just stuck in our place because it came (nicely) furnished and when I look at other properties that we could afford, I can't deal with how awful the quality of the furniture is...and since I want to move back to the US in two years, I am not sure it makes sense for us to get an unfurnished place that we would only be at for no more than a year and a half. 

But, anyways.  I didn't mean to turn this into an "I hate living in the UK thread"  

So bottom line, don't move here to save cash if you are going to be working in London.   

So, it sounds like it could be a 95-99 around Cambridge station or in the town centre, or more like 80-90 elsewhere within Cambridge proper?

I appreciate everyones' feedback.