Nottingham 2026The independent atlas report on Nottingham, United Kingdom.

Nottingham in 200 numbers. Read this before you read anything else.

A temperate oceanic (Cfb) city of 337,000 (metro 788,000) on the United Kingdom side at 61 meters elevation, currency GBP, primary language English.

Nottingham scored 7.4 on the everycity index. A single person spends $1,680 a month here in USD including rent, groceries, transport and utilities. A working couple spends $2,620. Internet runs at a median 76 Mbps per OOKLA Speedtest April 2026. The average full time gross salary is $3,140 a month before tax per the national statistics office. The UK personal income tax sits at 0 percent below the 12,570 GBP personal allowance, 20 percent from 12,571 to 50,270 GBP, 40 percent from 50,271 to 125,140 GBP, and 45 percent above 125,140 GBP for tax year 2025 to 2026; National Insurance contributions add 8 percent on most earned income up to the upper earnings limit and 2 percent above. Safety reads 6.8 on a 0 to 10 scale, in the moderate band, with the night safety subindex at 6.2, the female solo subindex at 6.4, and the family subindex at 7.2. The metro area sits at 52.9548 degrees, -1.1581 degrees. The summer high lands at 21 Celsius, the winter low at 2. The city averages 1,460 sunshine hours a year. Compared with peer cities, see Leicester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Manchester for the regional read. See Nottingham vs Birmingham for the head to head. The methodology page covers the full index method.

Risk, by the subindex.

No moral panic, no rose tint. Four subindices, referenced to the national police statistics and UN Office on Drugs and Crime 2024 data.

Nottingham's overall safety score lands at 6.8 in the amber band, the structural soft spot of the city profile. The Office for National Statistics 2024 release placed Nottingham in the upper quintile of English cities for total recorded crime per 1,000 residents, with the city center antisocial behavior and the late night violence near Hockley and the Lace Market the structural driver. Violent crime against tourists is rare; the structural pattern is alcohol related night time violence within the local population. The Robin Hood mythology aside, the city operates a well resourced Nottinghamshire Police force with the Operation Reacher and the Operation Promote anti crime units. Solo female safety reads 6.4 in the amber band on the night walk subindex; the family safety read at 7.2 lifts on the suburban West Bridgford, Mapperley Park, and Beeston quarters. The 2023 city council Section 114 notice (effective municipal insolvency) has constrained street lighting and CCTV refresh budgets, a structural concern that some residents weigh. For expat coverage SafetyWing covers the visitor case; the National Health Service covers residents under the universal model. See Nottingham vs Leicester for the regional safety read.

Who pays, and how much.

Salaries are gross monthly figures from the national statistics office and the international employer market.

Largest employers in metro Nottingham

1. Boots UK (the historic 1849 founded pharmacy chain, the Beeston headquarters, the structural single largest private employer)
2. Experian (the FTSE 100 listed credit reporting headquartered at Sir John Peace Building, Nottingham)
3. Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (the Queens Medical Centre and the City Hospital, the largest NHS trust in the East Midlands)
4. The University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University (the combined 70,000 plus student research and teaching baseline)
5. Capital One Europe (the credit card and banking operations)
6. Games Workshop Group (the Lenton headquartered tabletop wargames company)
7. Speedo International (the swimwear brand headquartered in Nottingham)
8. Pendragon, RSPCA, and Nottingham City Council

Nottingham concentrates labor in the sectors above; the structural specialization is one of the city profile drivers and the structural diversification limit. The average gross salary at $3,140 a month places the city in its peer cost band; the senior specialist and technical roles command a structural premium. For an after tax estimate, run the tax calculator. Wise handles cross border salary transfers without the major bank spread; Booking.com covers the first month accommodation while you find the long term lease.

The system, and the bill.

Healthcare quality is a 0 to 10 score derived from WHO and national health ministry data.

Nottingham's healthcare quality score lands at 7.4 on the everycity scale. The structural anchor is the National Health Service universal model, free at point of use for residents. The Queens Medical Centre on Derby Road (one of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe by floor area) and the Nottingham City Hospital ground the public baseline; the private layer is anchored by BMI The Park Hospital, Spire Nottingham, and Nuffield Health. A specialist consultation under the NHS is free with referral from a registered general practitioner; private specialist out of pocket gaps run 220 to 480 GBP. The NHS post 2020 has been working through structural capacity constraints with elective wait times the recurring policy theme. Nottingham's healthcare quality reads at 7.4 in the amber band reflecting the strong academic medical baseline against the capacity constraints. SafetyWing Nomad Insurance covers Nottingham for non residents; the local public and private mix covers residents. For longer reads see the Nottingham healthcare expat guide and the United Kingdom country page.

How the city actually moves.

Walkability, transit, biking and the car question.

Nottingham scores 8.2 on walkability inside the central Market Square ring. The Nottingham Express Transit (NET) tram network operates two lines (line one Hucknall to Toton Lane via Beeston, line two Phoenix Park to Clifton South), the second largest tram network in England after Manchester Metrolink. The Robin Hood Network multi operator bus partnership covers the metropolitan area; a monthly pass at the equivalent of 78 USD covers the integrated tram and bus. East Midlands Railway operates the mainline rail link to London St Pancras in 1 hour 50 minutes and the Liverpool to Norwich cross country route. The East Midlands Airport (EMA) at Castle Donington is the structural regional airport with daily Ryanair, Jet2, and TUI flights across Europe; the larger Birmingham Airport (BHX) is one hour by car. The Big Wheel cycle network and the Robin Hood Line bike share serve the inner ring; cycling mode share trails Manchester and Cambridge. For occasional short term mobility, rental cars for relocation scouting run from the local airport. Most expat professionals on a long term posting buy or lease a car for the outer suburb and weekend country access. See the most walkable cities ranking for the regional comparison.

For the laptop, in 2026.

Internet speed, coworking density, nomad visa status, time zone fit.

The median residential download in Nottingham runs 76 Mbps on the Virgin Media O2 cable and the BT Openreach fiber network; the structural 1 Gbps service is available across most of the city center and inner suburbs via the CityFibre roll out. The UTC GMT and the British Summer Time UTC plus 1 are the structural English standard, well aligned with European hours and the standard 5 hour offset to the US East Coast. The coworking scene is anchored by Antenna Media Centre (the structural creative industries hub on Beck Street), the BioCity Nottingham incubator (the bioscience focused space), Cubo on Pelham Street, Centro on Mansfield Road, and the structural University of Nottingham Ingenuity Lab. The Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies and the dense creative agency scene in Hockley ground the structural freelancer ecosystem. For privacy on the local ISP infrastructure, the editorial side note on NordVPN covers the case. Use Wise for the USD to GBP remittance and Booking.com for the first month accommodation. The best cities for remote work ranking covers the global comparison.

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