Who Gets What

How does my area compare?

Hackney has the most people receiving State Pension per 1,000 people aged 66 and over in March 2026.

People receiving State Pension, in each month with published figures. The State Pension, paid from State Pension age. It includes the new State Pension and the older basic and additional pensions.

People receiving State Pension, per 1,000 people aged 66 and over, March 2026, by local authority

Per 1,000 people aged 66 and over, low to high

  1. Under 972.5
  2. 972.5 to 986.6
  3. 986.6 to 1,000.7
  4. 1,000.7 to 1,014.8
  5. 1,014.8 to 1,028.9
  6. 1,028.9 and over
People receiving State Pension, per 1,000 people aged 66 and over, March 2026, by local authority. Boundaries are simplified. London is also shown larger, in a separate box. Northern Ireland is not covered. Every value is in the table below.
More ways to look at itHow ranks change, why spending changed, and spending compared with the expected level

Total or per person

Does the order change when you count per person?

Each line is one of the 350 ranked local authorities. It joins the area's rank for each way of counting. The 10 highest per 1,000 people aged 66 and over are drawn in dark lines.

TotalPer 1,000 residentsPer 1,000 people aged 66 and over1350Hackney 1Islington 2Knowsley 3Broxbourne 4Lambeth 5Waltham Forest 6Lewisham 7Liverpool 8High Peak 9Southwark 10

What changed

More people, more claims or bigger payments?

Great Britain, State Pension: yearly spending at the rate in February 2023 and in March 2026. The chart splits the change into three parts: the number of people in the age group, the share of them claiming, and the average payment. Cash terms, not adjusted for inflation.

£104.6bnFebruary 2023+£2.3bnPopulation+£4.8bnShare claiming+£28.8bnPayment size£140.6bnMarch 2026
What changed: State Pension
February 2023£104.6bn
Population+£2.3bn
Share claiming+£4.8bn
Payment size+£28.8bn
March 2026£140.6bn
The share claiming is the number of people claiming per person aged 66 and over. Yearly spending here is the number claiming, times the average weekly payment, times 52. It is not the amount paid out over the year. Population after mid-2024 stays at the mid-2024 figure, so later growth shows in the share claiming.

Compared with similar areas

Is spending higher or lower than expected?

Spending on pensioner benefits per person aged 66 and over, 2024-25. We compare it with the level we would expect from each area's share of children and of people aged 66 and over, how deprived it is compared with the rest of its nation, and the typical pay of people who live there. Cash terms, not adjusted for inflation.

Chart step
This chart needs JavaScript. Each area's expected level is on its area page.
Expected level = £12,909 + £3,353 × share aged 0 to 15 − £1,419 × share aged 66 and over − £40 × deprivation decile − £91 × ln(median pay) + £207 × Wales + £80 × Scotland. Fitted by ordinary least squares across 346 local authorities. R² = 0.35. Gold dots are above the expected level and grey dots are below it.

Every local authority

People receiving State Pension, March 2026. Rank is for per 1,000 people aged 66 and over, and 1 is the highest. Areas with fewer than 1,000 people in the age group have no rank. The first 50 of 350 rows are shown.

People receiving State Pension for every local authority, March 2026
RankNotes
1Hackney22,09882.31,063.5
2Islington21,15693.51,057.8
3Knowsley27,706171.31,053.8
4Broxbourne17,506171.81,049.7
5Lambeth29,08591.21,047.8
6Waltham Forest29,307103.31,044.7
7Lewisham30,06499.41,043.4
8Liverpool76,178149.91,043.0
9High Peak20,790226.21,040.0
10Southwark27,35486.31,036.8
11Hartlepool19,034194.51,036.6
12Redditch16,528188.41,035.3
13Caerphilly35,811203.21,035.2
14Merthyr Tydfil11,213190.91,035.2
15Flintshire33,657215.91,034.7
16Torridge20,247290.41,034.5
17Haringey28,821107.31,034.4
18Tamworth15,376190.11,033.9
19Calderdale40,214191.61,033.7
20Halton24,528186.91,033.7
21Harlow13,659139.21,033.0
22Basildon32,094166.41,033.0
23Rochford20,289226.61,032.5
24Tewkesbury21,931215.61,032.4
25Uttlesford19,764208.11,032.3
26Brighton and Hove39,325137.91,031.4
27Ceredigion18,676256.81,031.3
28North West Leicestershire21,860195.41,030.9
29Blaenau Gwent13,612201.01,029.7
30Maldon17,516253.71,029.4
31West Dunbartonshire17,753199.91,029.1
32Medway46,562159.61,028.7
33Barnsley48,812194.21,028.3
34South Tyneside31,369208.11,027.9
35Northumberland85,625259.01,027.4
36Central Bedfordshire55,708176.31,027.4
37Torfaen19,328205.51,026.7
38West Lothian32,064172.21,026.5
39Lancaster29,478202.81,026.3
40Glasgow City86,420132.91,026.3
41Swale29,476185.71,026.2
42Sunderland57,665201.11,026.1
43Bristol, City of60,077121.61,024.9
44Derbyshire Dales20,414284.51,024.6
45Hinckley and Bosworth25,870221.91,024.3
46North Tyneside44,034205.71,024.3
47Melton12,673235.01,023.6
48Doncaster60,443188.71,023.5
49Telford and Wrekin33,656171.61,023.4
50South Ribble24,703213.51,022.7

League table of every local authority for the latest period

Values are per 1,000 people aged 66 and over unless a column says otherwise. Sources: Department for Work and Pensions, Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland.

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