How much money do you need to live in Jersey, Channel Islands? Budgets and salaries for 2026

On our October 2026 estimates, a single person renting a one-bed flat without a car spends about £31,000 a year, which takes a salary of about £38,000 after Jersey tax and social security. A working couple in a two-bed flat needs about £58,200 between them, and a family of four in a three-bed house with a child at nursery about £104,500. The "£30 million" figure is a myth: the only wealth route, high value residency, looks for income well above £1.25 million and at least £250,000 of tax a year.

This page turns the figures in our cost of living guide into the salaries that pay for them. Every budget assumes you rent, because almost every newcomer does, and every salary is worked through Jersey's 2026 tax rules so you can check the sums.

Is there a minimum income or savings requirement?

Not for British or Irish citizens. You register as a resident and pay £88.15 for a registration card if your status is Standard or Licensed. There is no savings or income test.

What money changes is your housing. Without a sponsoring employer you have Standard status and can rent only Registered property. Under guidance published in November 2025, a full-time job paying at least £54,000 can come with a Licensed permission to rent Qualified homes, and £60,000 or more to rent or buy. For many people that is the salary that matters most; see housing qualifications. Other nationalities face immigration tests, covered in can I move to Jersey?.

How the salaries are worked out

• Income tax, 2026. You pay the lower of 20 per cent of income, or 26 per cent of income above the £21,250 exemption threshold after allowances. Since 1 January 2026 everyone is taxed independently, so each adult has their own threshold.
• Social security. Employees pay 6 per cent of earnings up to £6,062 a month (£72,744 a year).
• Long-term care. Up to 1.5 per cent of income, using the same allowances; people on the 26 per cent calculation pay 1.95 per cent of income above their threshold.
• Allowances. £3,950 per child, and childcare relief of up to £20,950 a year for a pre-school child, limited to what you pay.
• Assumptions. Employment income only, a full tax year, no pension contributions. Budget lines are our October 2026 planning figures from the cost of living guide, not quotes; the couple and family budgets are the guide's own.

Your first year here is taxed differently; our tax guide explains how.

A single person in a one-bed flat

The rent matches gov.je's average for an advertised one-bed flat in the Registered market, about £1,400 a month in Q3 2025; that is the market open to newcomers on Standard status. Parish rates, contents insurance and saving are not included.

Salary needed: about £38,000.

For context, Statistics Jersey put median full-time earnings at £930 a week in June 2026, about £48,400 a year. That takes home £37,881, leaving about £570 a month after this budget. The minimum wage has been £13.59 an hour since 1 April 2026; 40 hours a week for a year is £28,267, which takes home £24,610, or £2,051 a month. That is about £530 a month short of this budget, so on minimum wage most people share or live in lodgings. Add a car at £350 a month and the salary needed rises to about £44,350.

A couple in a two-bed flat

Salary needed: about £58,200 between two equal earners, or £67,150 on one salary.

One salary has to be about £9,000 higher than two together, because since 2026 each adult is taxed on their own income with their own £21,250 threshold. Gov.je says couples who married or became civil partners before 1 January 2022, have not separated and have both lived in Jersey since 2021 or earlier get a compensatory allowance automatically where needed, so check your own position. A single earner on £67,150 is also above the £60,000 level at which a job can bring Licensed status.

A family of four in a three-bed house

Salary needed: about £52,250 each, £104,500 together. One parent claims both child allowances (£7,900) and childcare relief on the £13,200 of nursery fees. Parents can agree how to share the child allowance, and married couples and civil partners can usually claim childcare relief only if both work.

Together that is £86,798. Without the allowances each parent would need about £56,700. If one parent stays at home, the nursery line goes, the budget falls to £73,560, and the childcare relief goes with it. A single earner claiming both child allowances then needs about £96,850: tax of £17,602 (still on the 26 per cent calculation, because the allowances lift the point where 20 per cent becomes cheaper), £4,365 social security and £1,320 long-term care leave £73,563. Swap the States primary for a fee-paying States college and the budget rises again; see schools.

Costs before your first payday

• Deposit and first month's rent. A deposit is generally one month's rent; with the first month paid in advance, allow about £2,800 for the one-bed above, £4,000 for the two-bed and £6,000 for the house.
• Registration cards. £88.15 for each adult on Standard or Licensed status.
• GP fees. Until you have lived here six months you pay the full cost, with advertised visitor prices of £85 to £100 (December 2025), against an average of £33.86 with the subsidy.
• Hospital care. Beyond the Emergency Department it is free only after six months' residence while paying social security or income tax, or twelve months if not working, unless you are Licensed. Consider insurance for the gap.
• A cushion. Income Support typically needs five years' residence, so a few months of costs in savings is prudent.

Do you need £30 million to live in Jersey?

No. No law, gov.je page or Locate Jersey criterion we checked mentions £30 million. The myth most likely grows out of high value residency, whose real thresholds are big enough to swell in the retelling. It is an optional route that gives a wealthy newcomer Entitled status, with full housing rights, from day one, and it asks for:

• worldwide earnings "well above £1.25 million" a year, guaranteed for at least ten years (gov.je);
• a minimum of £250,000 in Jersey tax a year, with 20 per cent on the first £1.25 million and 1 per cent above, and Jersey property income at 20 per cent;
• a house worth more than £3.5 million or an apartment worth more than £1.75 million;
• personal wealth of more than £10 million excluding your main home, on Locate Jersey's criteria page (last updated July 2025).

About 260 families live in Jersey through the scheme, according to gov.je. A second route introduced in 2026, the Skilled High Earner route, asks for £250,000 a year of income from your own Jersey business and property worth £2 million or more. Confirm current conditions with Locate Jersey; our can I move to Jersey? guide has more detail.

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