Climate
Cardiff logs 10 frost days a year to London's 18 — Cardiff wins by 8. London also leads on outdoor-dinner months by 1.
Cardiff
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
London
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
Cost of Living
Cardiff is $1722/mo cheaperCardiff runs about $2,015/mo for a balanced lifestyle against London's $3,737/mo — Cardiff comes in $1,722 cheaper each month, roughly 85% less.
Cardiff
$2,015monthly · balanced
London
$3,737monthly · balanced
Mobility
On mobility, London scores 4.0 vs Cardiff's 2.8 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on flight connectivity. Cardiff still holds an edge on car efficiency.
Culture
London's culture score of 4.9 sits well above Cardiff's 3.7, with the biggest gap on arts & culture.
Nature & Outdoors
Cardiff's nature & outdoors score of 4.2 sits well above London's 3.8, with the biggest gap on mountain access. London still holds an edge on forest access.
Safety
Cardiff's safety score is ~1.4× London's — in the middle of the scale, while London lands in the middle of the scale, with the biggest gap on property crime safety. London still holds an edge on flooding safety.
Career
London's career score of 5.0 sits well above Cardiff's 3.3, with the biggest gap on career opportunities.
Social & Community
London's social & community score of 4.0 sits well above Cardiff's 3.6, with the biggest gap on expat-first community. Cardiff still holds an edge on local-first community.
Food & Dining
On food & dining, London scores 5.0 vs Cardiff's 3.0 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on restaurant variety.
Family
On family, London scores 4.6 vs Cardiff's 3.1 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on international schools.
Healthcare
On healthcare, London scores 3.4 vs Cardiff's 2.7 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on private healthcare quality.
Air Quality
Cardiff averages 8.5 µg/m³ (good) PM2.5 annually versus London's 8.6 µg/m³ (good) — Cardiff breathes ~2% cleaner air (0.1 µg/m³ lower).
Cardiff
London
PM2.5 annual average
WHO classification
City Scale
Both maps at the same real-world scale — 1 cm on either map is the same distance.
Cardiff (388K) and London (10.4M) are 27x in population — London is the larger metro, Cardiff the smaller; on land area London spans roughly 15x more ground.
London is roughly 20x the scale of Cardiff
Combined population & area comparison
LondonCardiffCity Scale Rankings
London10.4M27xCardiff388K1xLondon1,649 km²15xCardiff113 km²1xCardiff
London
Who Thrives Here
Cardiff favours the ocean lover, while London suits the big city energy. Both cities work well for the english speaker.
Also compared
Frequently asked about Cardiff vs London
▶Which is cheaper, Cardiff or London?
▶How does the climate compare between Cardiff and London?
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