How does my area compare?

North Norfolk has the highest spending on State Pension per resident in 2024-25.

The State Pension, paid from State Pension age. It includes the new State Pension and the older basic and additional pensions. Shown in 2026-27 prices, adjusted for inflation so that years can be compared.

Spending on State Pension, per resident, 2024-25, by local authority

Per resident, low to high

  1. Under £1,341
  2. £1,341 to £1,720
  3. £1,720 to £2,100
  4. £2,100 to £2,479
  5. £2,479 to £2,859
  6. £2,859 and over
Spending on State Pension, per resident, 2024-25, 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 348 ranked local authorities. It joins the area's rank for each way of counting. The 10 highest per resident are drawn in dark lines.

TotalPer residentPer person aged 66 and over1348Derbyshire Dales 88New Forest 91Tendring 189Rother 200Dorset 210East Lindsey 223North Norfolk 246Torridge 263Isle of Wight 291East Devon 293

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. 2026-27 prices.

£120.7bnFebruary 2023+£2.5bnPopulation+£5.2bnShare claiming+£15.0bnPayment size£143.4bnMarch 2026
What changed: State Pension
February 2023£120.7bn
Population+£2.5bn
Share claiming+£5.2bn
Payment size+£15.0bn
March 2026£143.4bn
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. 2026-27 prices.

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

Spending on State Pension, 2024-25. Rank is for per resident, 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.

Spending on State Pension for every local authority, 2024-25
RankNotes
1North Norfolk£390.8m£3,778£11,397
2Rother£343.1m£3,576£11,480
3East Lindsey£497.4m£3,422£11,442
4New Forest£600.6m£3,415£11,660
5Dorset£1.3bn£3,339£11,463
6Tendring£507.1m£3,242£11,506
7Derbyshire Dales£232.4m£3,238£11,665
8East Devon£511.6m£3,238£11,216
9Isle of Wight£457.4m£3,236£11,246
10Torridge£222.1m£3,186£11,349
11Arun£541.4m£3,172£11,473
12East Suffolk£789.5m£3,163£11,457
13West Devon£184.7m£3,138£11,127
14Malvern Hills£259.5m£3,116£11,452
15South Hams£284.4m£3,089£11,271
16Fylde£263.7m£3,085£11,189
17Conwy£348.9m£3,049£11,338
18Chichester£393.4m£3,044£11,548
19Teignbridge£419.3m£3,032£11,438
20Wyre£358.4m£3,028£11,183
21Dumfries and Galloway£441.0m£3,022£11,429
22Powys£407.4m£3,021£11,038
23Cotswold£276.9m£3,018£11,539
24Staffordshire Moorlands£290.6m£3,011£11,708
25Wealden£500.5m£3,001£11,583
26Lewes£304.9m£2,980£11,576
27South Ayrshire£332.4m£2,960£11,446
28Scottish Borders£345.5m£2,948£11,419
29Babergh£285.1m£2,942£11,382
30Argyll and Bute£258.0m£2,940£11,222
31East Riding of Yorkshire£1.0bn£2,936£11,410
32Isle of Anglesey£201.6m£2,927£11,246
33Na h-Eileanan Siar£75.8m£2,924£11,306
34Rutland£120.7m£2,917£11,604
35Herefordshire, County of£559.7m£2,914£11,422
36Monmouthshire£276.2m£2,904£11,503
37Northumberland£959.8m£2,903£11,516
38Maldon£200.1m£2,899£11,762
39Torbay£404.0m£2,888£11,088
40Castle Point£259.4m£2,879£11,656
41King's Lynn and West Norfolk£449.3m£2,877£11,378
42Westmorland and Furness£660.3m£2,873£11,422
43North Devon£289.1m£2,861£11,369
44Fareham£329.5m£2,860£11,625
45South Staffordshire£326.2m£2,857£11,641
46Broadland£392.0m£2,843£11,446
47Shropshire£941.3m£2,837£11,289
48West Lindsey£280.5m£2,835£11,589
49North Yorkshire£1.8bn£2,824£11,442
50Pembrokeshire£354.8m£2,823£11,023

League table of every local authority for the latest period

Values are per resident unless a column says otherwise. Sources: Department for Work and Pensions, Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland.

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