Country research
United Kingdom
Prices overall are about 0.89 of United States prices at market exchange rates (2025), and fixed broadband is 42.2 subscriptions per 100 people (2024). The United Kingdom ranks 39th of 163 in the Global Peace Index 2026, 21st of 31 for Ease of Settling In in Expat Insider 2026 and 28th for Quality of Life. London (Heathrow) has 5 comfortable months a year by the program's test (1991-2020). The government's visa pages name no residence route for remote workers: a visitor may do some work for an employer abroad remotely, as long as that is not the main purpose of the visit, and a visit is usually up to 6 months. The retired person of independent means route is closed to new applicants. English is the main language of 91.1% of residents in England and Wales (Census 2021), so English is scored from that rather than the EF English Proficiency Index 2025, which doesn't cover the United Kingdom. [L1] [C1] [K2] [S1] [Q1] [Q2] [W1] [K1] [K3] [K4] [R1] [F1]
The Fernshore Index
How it grades, factor by factor.
Each grade is against a published measure, with its source and the date we checked it. It is research information, not advice. Where we have no figure, the row says Unknown.
Cost of living
14 of 100Weak
Price level 0.892 of United States prices (2025), over the 0.75 line.
Source: Price level index (GDP), United Kingdom. Checked 16 October 2026.
Climate
33 of 100Weak
Heathrow (Met Office, 1991-2020): 5 comfortable months a year (May 18.37 C, June 21.57, July 23.89, August 23.40, September 20.22). April (15.00 C) and October (15.81 C) are under the 18 C line; no month is over 30 C and rain is under 150 mm in every month (the wettest, November, is 66.6 mm).
Source: Heathrow 1991-2020 averages. Checked 16 October 2026.
Safety
61 of 100Mixed
Global Peace Index 2026: 39th of 163 (score 1.730).
Source: Global Peace Index 2026, overall rank. Checked 16 October 2026.
Healthcare
92 of 100Strong
WHO UHC service coverage index 88 (2023). Expat Insider 2026 ranks the United Kingdom last of 31 for the quality of medical care, which this index does not measure.
Source: UHC service coverage index (SDG 3.8.1). Checked 16 October 2026.
Schools
Unknown
Our research doesn't cover schools yet.
Community
51 of 100Mixed
Expat Insider 2026: 21st of 31 for Ease of Settling In (22nd for Local Friendliness).
Source: Expat Insider 2026: Ease of Settling In. Checked 16 October 2026.
Lifestyle
38 of 100Mixed
Expat Insider 2026: 28th of 31 for Quality of Life.
Source: Expat Insider 2026: Quality of Life. Checked 16 October 2026.
Work and career
50 of 100Mixed
Mixed: one of the two tests holds. Fixed broadband is 42.2 per 100 people (2024), over the 30 line. But GOV.UK's work visa page names no digital nomad, remote worker or self-employed route, and the visitor rules allow remote work for an overseas employer only if it is not the primary purpose of the visit (a stay of up to 6 months, with no living in the UK through frequent or successive visits).
Source: Work visas; Immigration Rules Appendix Visitor: Permitted Activities; Standard Visitor visa: what you can do; Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, United Kingdom. Checked 16 October 2026.
Retirement
15 of 100Weak
Weak. The retired person of independent means route is closed to new applicants (GOV.UK, update of 13 June 2019) and its guidance was withdrawn on 9 November 2022 without replacement. GOV.UK's visa topics name no retirement or passive-income route.
Source: Extend your stay as a retired person of independent means; Browse: visas and immigration. Checked 16 October 2026.
Internet
95 of 100Strong
42.16 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people (2024), over the 30 line.
Source: Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, United Kingdom. Checked 16 October 2026.
English
100 of 100Strong
The UK has no official language in law. In England and Wales 91.1% of residents aged three and over had English (or Welsh in Wales) as a main language in Census 2021. EF EPI doesn't cover the UK, so the official-language rule applies.
Source: Language, England and Wales: Census 2021. Checked 16 October 2026.
Visa, United States passport
Unknown
Research for US passports is being checked
Visa, Canada passport
Unknown
Research for Canadian passports is being checked
Visa, Australia passport
Unknown
Research for Australian passports is being checked
Visa, New Zealand passport
Unknown
Research for New Zealand passports is being checked
Cities
Cities in United Kingdom.
Each city page shows which figures are its own and which are the country's.
Topics
The detail on United Kingdom.
Guides
United Kingdom, by passport.
Each guide is written for citizens of one country.
For your situation
United Kingdom for different circumstances.
Questions about United Kingdom.
How do prices in the United Kingdom compare with the United States?
Prices overall are about 0.89 of United States prices at market exchange rates (World Bank, 2025), an economy-wide average, not a household budget. The ONS puts average private rent in August 2026 at £2,332 a month in London, £1,459 in England and £1,013 in Scotland, all property sizes.
Does the United Kingdom have a digital nomad, remote worker or retirement visa?
No. GOV.UK's list of work visas names no digital nomad, remote worker or self-employed route, and the retired person of independent means route is closed to new applicants. Staying beyond a visit of up to 6 months needs a job offer, an endorsement, a qualifying degree or another listed route.
How long can I visit the United Kingdom, and can I work remotely while I am there?
US, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand passports can apply for a £20 ETA to visit for up to 6 months. A visitor may do work for an overseas employer remotely if that is not the main purpose of the visit, but cannot work for a UK company, be self-employed or live in the UK through repeated visits.
What income do I need for a UK work visa?
A Skilled Worker visa needs a job offer from an approved employer paying the higher of the general floor and the going rate for the job; to be safe, more than £42,000 a year, or the going rate if higher. You also need a bank balance held for 28 days (to be safe, more than £1,300) unless your employer certifies it.
Will I pay UK tax on income from abroad?
You are UK tax resident on a days-and-ties test; 183 or more days in the 6 April to 5 April year meets an automatic UK test. Residents normally pay UK tax on UK and foreign income: 20%, 40% and 45% above a £12,570 allowance, with different bands in Scotland. US citizens still file US returns.
What is the weather like in the United Kingdom?
Met Office 1991-2020 average highs run from 8.4 °C in January to 23.9 °C in July at Heathrow (London), and from 7.3 °C to 19.3 °C at Edinburgh. Fernshore counts 5 comfortable months (highs of 18 to 30 °C) in London, 4 in Birmingham and Bristol, 3 in Manchester and 2 in Edinburgh.
Sources
Where each figure comes from.
Every figure on this page links to the page we read, with the date we checked it.
- [L1] Language, England and Wales: Census 2021, Office for National Statistics. Checked 16 October 2026. England and Wales only (the United Kingdom has no official language in law): 91.1% (52.6 million) of usual residents aged three and over had English (English or Welsh in Wales) as a main language in 2021, and a further 7.1% were proficient in English but did not speak it as their main language. Read on 16 October 2026. Scotland and Northern Ireland were not read.
- [C1] Price level index (GDP), United Kingdom, World Bank. Checked 16 October 2026. 2025: 89.16 (United States = 100), read from the World Bank API on 16 October 2026; 84.89 in 2024.
- [K2] Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people, United Kingdom, International Telecommunication Union, via the World Bank. Checked 16 October 2026. 2024: 42.16 per 100 people, read from the World Bank API on 16 October 2026 (the 2025 value is empty).
- [S1] Global Peace Index 2026, overall rank, Institute for Economics and Peace. Checked 16 October 2026. The United Kingdom ranks 39th of 163 countries, score 1.730 (the ranking table in the report PDF, read on 16 October 2026). The report says the UK fell 7 places on the 2026 index, driven by the Ongoing Conflict domain.
- [Q1] Expat Insider 2026: Ease of Settling In, InterNations (Expat Insider survey, private). Checked 16 October 2026. The UK is 21st of 31 destinations in the Ease of Settling In index (22nd for Local Friendliness, 21st for Culture & Welcome, 21st for Finding Friends). The rank is read from the full-ranking image on the page (Expat-Insider-2026_Ease-of-Settling.png) on 16 October 2026; the page text names only the top 10 and bottom 10. A private survey of expats; 31 destinations met the 50-respondent minimum.
- [Q2] Expat Insider 2026: Quality of Life, InterNations (Expat Insider survey, private). Checked 16 October 2026. The UK is 28th of 31 destinations in the Quality of Life index, read on 16 October 2026 (the page text says 'the United Kingdom (28th)' among the bottom 10; the full-ranking image agrees). The page also says the UK ranks last (31st) for the quality of medical care. A private survey of expats.
- [W1] Heathrow 1991-2020 averages, Met Office (UK national meteorological service). Checked 16 October 2026. Read on 16 October 2026 (the Met Office's location-specific long-term averages page for the station, period 1991-2020). Mean daily maximum (C): Jan 8.42, Feb 8.98, Mar 11.73, Apr 15.00, May 18.37, Jun 21.57, Jul 23.89, Aug 23.40, Sep 20.22, Oct 15.81, Nov 11.47, Dec 8.79. Monthly rainfall 38.8 to 66.6 mm, under 150 mm in every month. Heathrow is the Met Office climate station taken for London; it is about 22 km west of the centre. Kew Gardens, the other London station the Met Office publishes, also has 5 comfortable months (May 18.39, Jun 21.43, Jul 23.78, Aug 23.37, Sep 20.29). The table gives maximum and minimum temperature but not mean temperature; the midpoint of the two puts the warmest month (Jul, 19.0 C) 13.5 C above the coolest (Jan, 5.5 C). That meets the 12 C test for 'seasons'.
- [K1] Work visas, UK Visas and Immigration, GOV.UK. Checked 16 October 2026. Read on 16 October 2026. Routes named without a job offer: British National (Overseas), Graduate, Youth Mobility Scheme, India Young Professionals Scheme, Global Talent, UK Ancestry and High Potential Individual. With an employer or by invitation: Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, Global Business Mobility routes (Senior or Specialist Worker, Graduate Trainee, Secondment Worker, Service Supplier, UK Expansion Worker), Representative of an Overseas Business, Scale-up Worker, temporary work routes, and Innovator Founder (start a business). Closed to new applicants: Entrepreneur and Investor (Tier 1), Start-up and the Turkish routes. No digital nomad, remote worker or self-employed route is named. The page is the evidence of absence; GOV.UK does not state in words that no such route exists.
- [K3] Immigration Rules Appendix Visitor: Permitted Activities, Home Office, GOV.UK. Checked 16 October 2026. Read on 16 October 2026 (page updated 8 October 2026). PA 4, General Business Activities: a Visitor may '(h) undertake activities relating to their employment overseas remotely from within the UK, providing this is not the primary purpose of their visit'. That is a limited allowance for a visitor, not a residence route.
- [K4] Standard Visitor visa: what you can do, UK Visas and Immigration, GOV.UK. Checked 16 October 2026. Read on 16 October 2026. 'You can usually stay in the UK for up to 6 months.' A visitor cannot 'do paid or unpaid work for a UK company or as a self-employed person' (apart from permitted business activities and paid engagements) or 'live in the UK for long periods of time through frequent or successive visits'.
- [R1] Extend your stay as a retired person of independent means, UK Visas and Immigration, GOV.UK. Checked 16 October 2026. Read on 16 October 2026. 'This category is closed for new applicants' (update of 13 June 2019). The publication was withdrawn on 9 November 2022: 'This guidance is no longer in use and has not been replaced.' It applied only to people who already held permission as a retired person of independent means.
- [F1] EF English Proficiency Index 2025, EF Education First (private test-taker index). Checked 16 October 2026. The United Kingdom is not among the 123 countries and regions in the 2025 edition: the index page's Europe list links 37 countries, none of them the UK (or Ireland), and ef.com/wwen/epi/regions/europe/united-kingdom/ returns the index front page with no UK entry (read on 16 October 2026). English is not scored; no figure is estimated. English is the main language, but the method's only measure is the EF index.
- [G1] Geography of the United Kingdom, Wikipedia (secondary). Checked 16 October 2026. Read on 16 October 2026 (first 100,000 characters). The UK 'occupies the major part of the British Isles archipelago', has a coastline of about 12,429 km and 'no location is more than 125 km from tidal waters'. 'At 1,345 metres, Ben Nevis is the highest peak in the UK'; Scotland's 'Highlands are predominantly mountainous' (Cairngorms and Cuillin among its ranges); Snowdon in Wales is 1,085 m and Snowdonia is a mountain range; England has uplands such as the Lake District.
- [N1] Population estimates for England and Wales: mid-2025 (local authority and region), Office for National Statistics. Checked 16 October 2026. Mid-2025 estimates (population on 30 June 2025). Values read through the Nomis API (dataset NM_2002_1, all ages, both sexes) on 16 October 2026: London region (Greater London) 9,122,909 (9,149,646 at mid-2024); Birmingham 1,176,960; Manchester 588,256; Bristol, City of 495,260. Scotland's estimates are from National Records of Scotland and are not in this series.
- [G3] Towns and cities: characteristics of built-up areas, England and Wales, Census 2021, Office for National Statistics. Checked 16 October 2026. Read on 16 October 2026 (article of 2 August 2023). 7,018 built-up areas were identified in England and Wales (6,439 in England, 579 in Wales). ONS size bands by usual residents: minor 0 to 4,999, small 5,000 to 19,999, medium 20,000 to 74,999, large 75,000 to 199,999, major 200,000 and over. The article gives no count per band. The 56.4 million people in built-up areas (94.6% of the population), divided by 7,018, is about 8,000 per area (my arithmetic), so the typical area is small even with the cities included. Scotland and Northern Ireland are not covered.
- [G2] Rural population (% of total population), United Kingdom, World Bank, World Development Indicators. Checked 16 October 2026. 2025: 16.7% of the population is rural (national definitions), read from the World Bank API on 16 October 2026.
- [H1] UHC service coverage index (SDG 3.8.1), World Health Organization. Checked 16 October 2026. United Kingdom: 88 out of 100 (2023), read from the WHO Global Health Observatory data service (indicator UHC_INDEX_REPORTED, spatial code GBR) on 16 October 2026; 88 also in 2020 and 2022, 87 in 2019. The index measures service coverage, not waiting times or whether care is available when needed.
- [R2] Browse: visas and immigration, UK Visas and Immigration, GOV.UK. Checked 16 October 2026. Read on 16 October 2026. The topics are: Visit the UK, Work in the UK, Study in the UK, Family in the UK, EU, EEA and Swiss citizens, Ukrainians and their families, Commonwealth citizens and British nationals (overseas), Live permanently in the UK, seek protection or asylum, appeals and travelling to the UK. None names a retirement or independent means route.