Londonvs
LyonLondon vs Lyon: cost, size & quality of life compared
Trying to decide between London and Lyon? Here's the honest bottom line first — then the full, sourced breakdown on cost of living, salary, safety and quality of life.
Lyon comes out ahead overall — decisively.
But the "winner" depends on what you care about. Here's who takes each dimension:
LyonLyonLyonLyonComposite scores
Overall: Lyon wins by 1.5 points
Population & size
Is London bigger than Lyon?
London is the bigger city: about 9.0M people versus Lyon's 520k — roughly 17× larger.
City-proper / metro population estimates. Size is one input — scroll on for cost of living, salary equivalence and quality-of-life scoring.
National income
Is London richer than Lyon?
United Kingdom is the higher earner — average annual wage of $63,691 against $60,608 in France, about 5% more in purchasing-power terms.
Country-level figures — London is not United Kingdom and Lyon is not France, and both cities typically pay above their national average. Gross, before tax: see take-home pay by country for what lands in the account.
Distance
How far is London from Lyon?
London is about 740 km (460 mi) from Lyon in a straight line — roughly 1 h 35 m of nonstop flight time.
Great-circle distance, not a routed itinerary; flight estimate assumes ~850 km/h cruise plus 45 minutes of taxi, climb and descent.
Climate
Is London warmer than Lyon?
Lyon is the warmer city: January highs average 7°C vs 8°C, and July 28°C vs 23°C. Lyon gets noticeably more sun — about 470 more sunshine hours per year.
| Month | London | Lyon |
|---|---|---|
| January (high / low) | 8° / 2°C | 7° / 1°C |
| July (high / low) | 23° / 14°C | 28° / 17°C |
Famously gray and damp. Mild winters compared to continental peers, cool summers — heatwaves above 30°C still rare.
Semi-continental with Mediterranean influence. Warmer than Paris, four distinct seasons, sunnier than most French northern cities.
Lyon's 6.2 score significantly outpaces London's 4.9, suggesting the French city delivers measurably better outcomes across the metrics that matter most to residents.
A 1.3-point gap of this magnitude places Lyon in a distinctly different performance tier than London, not merely a marginal improvement.
If Lyon's strengths align with your priorities, examine what specific policies or infrastructure investments drive its higher score before deciding between these cities.
Data signals
What separates London and Lyon
How decisive
Lyon comes out ahead by 1.5 composite points — a decisive win.
Biggest difference
The widest gap is affordability, where Lyon leads by 4.1 points.
Where they match
They're most evenly matched on healthcare — within 0.1 points of each other.
Overall cost gap
Total monthly costs in Lyon run about 54% lower than in London.
Where budgets split most
Housing is the line item that diverges most: roughly 70% cheaper in Lyon than London.
Size difference
London is the larger metro — about 17.3× the population of the other, which shapes commute times, housing supply and how "big-city" daily life feels.
Score-by-score, side-by-side
Each axis is scored independently with disclosed weights and a calculation string.
The exact scores and winners:
| Axis | London | Lyon | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affordability | 3.2 | 7.3 | Lyon +4.1 |
| Quality of life | 6.4 | 6.8 | Lyon +0.4 |
| Remote-work friendliness | 5.9 | 7.5 | Lyon +1.6 |
| Healthcare | 8.3 | 8.4 | Lyon +0.1 |
Each axis is a weighted aggregate of underlying indicators normalized to a 0–10 scale. Weights are explicit and disclosed per axis. The composite is the unweighted mean of the four axes — axes are not collapsed further because the underlying trade-offs (e.g. low cost vs poor air quality) are user-dependent.
Affordability
- Cost-of-living index (weight 60%)70
- Rent index (weight 40%)65
How this is calculated
Affordability = ((100 − costIndex)/100 × 0.6 + (100 − rentIndex)/100 × 0.4) × 10. For London: ((100 − 70)/100 × 0.6 + (100 − 65)/100 × 0.4) × 10 = 3.2.
London is among the more expensive cities tracked. Salary expectations should be calibrated to the high cost base before relocating.
Quality of life
- Safety index (weight 40%)60
- Healthcare index (weight 35%)75
- Air quality index (weight 25%)55
How this is calculated
QoL = (safety/100 × 0.4 + healthcare/100 × 0.35 + airQuality/100 × 0.25) × 10. For London: (60/100 × 0.4 + 75/100 × 0.35 + 55/100 × 0.25) × 10 = 6.4.
London has a mixed quality profile. Safety: good; healthcare: good; air: good. Weigh the weakest axis against your personal priorities.
Remote-work friendliness
- Internet (median Mbps) (weight 45%)170 Mbps
- Effective income tax (lower = better) (weight 30%)14.8%
- Cost-of-living (lower = better) (weight 25%)70
How this is calculated
RemoteWork = (min(Mbps/300, 1) × 0.45 + (1 − incomeTax) × 0.3 + (100 − costIndex)/100 × 0.25) × 10. For London: (min(170/300, 1) × 0.45 + (1 − 0.1478) × 0.3 + (100 − 70)/100 × 0.25) × 10 = 5.9.
London works for remote work but isn't optimized for it: internet 170 Mbps, income tax 15%, cost index 70.
Healthcare
- Healthcare quality index (weight 70%)75
- Healthcare out-of-pocket / month (lower = better) (weight 30%)0
How this is calculated
Healthcare = (qualityIndex/100 × 0.7 + max(0, 1 − OOP/500) × 0.3) × 10. For London: (75/100 × 0.7 + max(0, 1 − 0/500) × 0.3) × 10 = 8.3.
London combines good system quality with a manageable out-of-pocket cost (~0 GBP/month). Travel insurance still recommended for non-residents.
Each axis is a weighted aggregate of underlying indicators normalized to a 0–10 scale. Weights are explicit and disclosed per axis. The composite is the unweighted mean of the four axes — axes are not collapsed further because the underlying trade-offs (e.g. low cost vs poor air quality) are user-dependent.
Affordability
- Cost-of-living index (weight 60%)32
- Rent index (weight 40%)19
How this is calculated
Affordability = ((100 − costIndex)/100 × 0.6 + (100 − rentIndex)/100 × 0.4) × 10. For Lyon: ((100 − 32)/100 × 0.6 + (100 − 19)/100 × 0.4) × 10 = 7.3.
Lyon sits well below the New York baseline on both cost-of-living and rent. Budgets stretch further here than in benchmark Tier-1 cities.
Quality of life
- Safety index (weight 40%)60
- Healthcare index (weight 35%)80
- Air quality index (weight 25%)65
How this is calculated
QoL = (safety/100 × 0.4 + healthcare/100 × 0.35 + airQuality/100 × 0.25) × 10. For Lyon: (60/100 × 0.4 + 80/100 × 0.35 + 65/100 × 0.25) × 10 = 6.8.
Lyon has a mixed quality profile. Safety: good; healthcare: excellent; air: good. Weigh the weakest axis against your personal priorities.
Remote-work friendliness
- Internet (median Mbps) (weight 45%)220 Mbps
- Effective income tax (lower = better) (weight 30%)16.2%
- Cost-of-living (lower = better) (weight 25%)32
How this is calculated
RemoteWork = (min(Mbps/300, 1) × 0.45 + (1 − incomeTax) × 0.3 + (100 − costIndex)/100 × 0.25) × 10. For Lyon: (min(220/300, 1) × 0.45 + (1 − 0.1622) × 0.3 + (100 − 32)/100 × 0.25) × 10 = 7.5.
Lyon combines fast internet (220 Mbps median), a 16% effective income tax and cost index 32 — a strong configuration for remote workers earning in a stronger currency.
Healthcare
- Healthcare quality index (weight 70%)80
- Healthcare out-of-pocket / month (lower = better) (weight 30%)38
How this is calculated
Healthcare = (qualityIndex/100 × 0.7 + max(0, 1 − OOP/500) × 0.3) × 10. For Lyon: (80/100 × 0.7 + max(0, 1 − 38/500) × 0.3) × 10 = 8.4.
Lyon combines excellent system quality with a manageable out-of-pocket cost (~38 EUR/month). Travel insurance still recommended for non-residents.
Monthly cost delta: London vs Lyon
Normalized to GBP at 1 EUR = 0.8503 GBP.
| Category | London | Lyon | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| housing | £2,233 | €785 | -70% |
| food | £292 | €376 | +9% |
| transport | £200 | €74 | -69% |
| utilities | £275 | €233 | -28% |
| leisure | £324 | €301 | -21% |
| healthcare | £0 | €38 | +0% |
Where each city's money goes
Two cities can have the same monthly total but very different shapes — one might burn 50% on housing while the other splits more evenly. The composition matters as much as the headline.
The biggest shape difference is housing: London spends 23.7 percentage points more of its budget on it (67% vs. 43%). If you're sensitive to that category, weight the per-axis scores accordingly.
Buying property
Apartment prices: London vs Lyon
Approximate asking prices in EUR per square meter (as of 2025-01), central vs mid-distance neighborhoods.
Buying in central Lyon runs about 54% cheaper per square meter (€5,500/m² vs €12,000/m²).
Midpoints of public listing ranges — a scoping number for rent-vs-buy thinking, not a valuation. Renting comparisons live in the cost table above.
Getting around
Public transport: London vs Lyon
Monthly pass and casual-ride pricing in EUR (as of 2025-01) plus the modes each network runs.
Travelcard zones 1-2 ≈ £170/mo; Oyster pay-as-you-go with daily caps is usually cheaper than the monthly for most commute patterns.
Day pass: €8.5 · Modes: Metro, Tram, Bus, Commuter rail, Ferry, Light rail
TCL pass; metro is compact (4 lines) but supplemented by frequent trams and the funicular up Fourvière hill.
Single ride: €2.2 · Modes: Metro, Tram, Bus, Cable car
Salary equivalence: London ↔ Lyon
What earning the same purchasing power costs in each city. Cost-adjusted using the local cost-of-living index (London = 70, Lyon = 32); currency-converted at 1 EUR = 0.8503 GBP. Tax differences are not modeled.
| London gross | Lyon equivalent |
|---|---|
| £40,000 | €21,505 |
| £75,000 | €40,322 |
| £120,000 | €64,515 |
| Lyon gross | London equivalent |
|---|---|
| €40,000 | £74,401 |
| €75,000 | £139,502 |
| €120,000 | £223,204 |
Equivalence here means same cost-of-living purchasing power, not same net take-home. Effective tax rates differ between countries; a salary equivalent on cost can still net more or less depending on the destination's tax regime. Use the calculator for tax-adjusted figures at a specific lifestyle tier.
Pros and cons
Why pick London
London doesn't have any standout advantages of ≥0.3 points on the scoring model.
Why pick Lyon
- Wins on affordability (+4.1 points vs London).
- Wins on quality of life (+0.4 points vs London).
- Wins on remote-work friendliness (+1.6 points vs London).
London trade-offs
- Trails Lyon on affordability by 4.1 points.
- Trails Lyon on remote-work friendliness by 1.6 points.
Lyon trade-offs
No material trade-offs versus London on the scored axes.
Remote work logistics
Time zones and language: London vs Lyon
London (Europe/London) and Lyon (Europe/Paris) sit 1 hour apart in standard time. A 9-to-5 in one overlaps the other's for 7 hours a day.
Official: English · English: Native-equivalent · Local language: Not needed
English-native. Multicultural enough that other languages are common in specific neighborhoods but English is the universal default for everything.
Official: French · English: Moderate · Local language: Recommended
French is required for daily-life bureaucracy and most workplaces. English usable in Part-Dieu business district and at international firms; limited elsewhere.
Who should choose which
The composite winner doesn't always match what matters to you. These four reader profiles weigh the axes differently — find the closest fit.
Single, salaried remote worker, 25-40, optimizing for runway + bandwidth.
Axes scored: affordability, remoteWork
Couple with school-age children, prioritizing safety, healthcare, and air quality.
Axes scored: qualityOfLife, healthcare
Fixed income, healthcare-sensitive, prefers low cost and stable infrastructure.
Axes scored: healthcare, qualityOfLife, affordability
Salary stretch matters most. Cuts everything else if it lowers the burn rate.
Axes scored: affordability
Profiles use simple axis averaging — for a deeper read with your own weights, use the per-axis breakdown above.
Zoom out from cities to countries: compare United Kingdom vs France on average wage, take-home after tax and cost of living.
Going deeper
Visa landscape for both countries — and case studies that touch this corridor.
Tools that work for either choice
Some links below are affiliate links — if you sign up we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.
How this page is calculated
Data sources
- Mundevo per-city dataset. Cost basket, rent index, safety, healthcare, air quality and median internet for both cities. Reference date: 2026-05-23 (London) and 2026-05-28 (Lyon).
- FX rate. 1 EUR = 0.8503 GBP, used to normalize cost baskets.
- CityScoreCalculator. Four axes (Affordability, Quality of life, Remote work, Healthcare) computed with explicit weights and explanations. See per-axis calculation strings rendered on this page.
- ComparisonService. Per-category cost deltas (housing, food, transport, utilities, leisure, healthcare) normalized to the origin currency.
Update cadence
Data as of . Last reviewed .
Calculation
For each of the four axes we compute an independent 0–10 score using the formulas printed beside each axis. The composite is the unweighted mean of the four axes. The overall winner is the city with the higher composite, unless the margin is under 0.05 points — in which case London is shown first as a tiebreaker to keep results stable.
Limitations
- Climate is not scored — we don't yet hold a maintained climate dataset, so weather-driven preferences are not modeled.
- Tax differences between cities in the same country are not modeled (Spain and Germany don't have material regional differences for this dataset).
- Indices are population-level. Personal cost varies with neighborhood, employer benefits and family status.
- Quality-of-life axis weights (safety 0.4 / healthcare 0.35 / air 0.25) are editorial defaults — readers with strong preferences should re-weight manually.
Frequently asked questions
London vs Lyon: which is cheaper?
Lyon is roughly 54% cheaper than London on the monthly cost basket (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare). London has cost index 70 vs Lyon at 32 (both with New York = 100).
Which city has better quality of life?
London scores 6.0/10 on the Mundevo composite versus Lyon at 7.5/10. The composite weights safety (40%), healthcare (35%) and air quality (25%). Lyon wins overall by 1.5 points.
Is London or Lyon better for remote work?
London has 170 Mbps median internet vs Lyon at 220 Mbps. The four-axis decision rubric on this page (affordability, quality of life, remote work, healthcare) gives a per-dimension breakdown rather than a single answer.
Is London bigger than Lyon?
London is larger — about 9.0M people versus Lyon's 520k, roughly 17.3× the size.
Is London safer than Lyon?
London and Lyon score similarly on safety (60 vs 60 / 100 on the Mundevo safety index).
Should I move to London or Lyon?
It depends on what you weight. Lyon wins the overall Mundevo composite by 1.5 points, but Lyon is cheaper, and the two split differently across affordability, quality of life, remote work and healthcare. Use the per-axis table and the reader-profile section above to match the verdict to your own priorities.