I don't think indeed is representative. https://www.cwjobs.co.uk/salary-checker/average-tech-salary https://www.cwjobs.co.uk/salary-checker/average-tech-salary

I don't think indeed is representative. https://www.cwjobs.co.uk/salary-checker/average-tech-salary https://www.cwjobs.co.uk/salary-checker/average-tech-salary Lists average salary for central London as £77k vs £58k for Manchester — still not 2-3x though. However these figures aren't representative of the actual market. Due to the UK's peculiar tax laws developers exist here in two classes: the contractors and the permies. A contractor typically makes 1.5-2x the equivalent full-time salary. There's contractors in both cities but from experience I bet London has a much higher % who are contractors. Furthermore while the median contractor rate within London might only be 20-30% higher than outside, there's a whole market at the top end (the £500-1000/day folk) that doesn't exist or is very rare elsewhere.