Who Gets What

How does my area compare?

Tottenham has the highest spending on Universal Credit per resident in 2023-24.

Help with living costs for working-age people on a low income, in or out of work. Shown in 2026-27 prices, adjusted for inflation so that years can be compared.

Spending on Universal Credit, per resident, 2023-24, by constituency

Per resident, low to high

  1. Under £585
  2. £585 to £773
  3. £773 to £961
  4. £961 to £1,148
  5. £1,148 to £1,336
  6. £1,336 and over
Spending on Universal Credit, per resident, 2023-24, by constituency. 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 632 ranked constituencies. 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 16 to 641632Edmonton and Winchmore Hill 1Enfield North 2Brent East 3Tottenham 4Croydon West 5Hackney North and Stoke Newington 7Barking 9Lewisham East 12Queen's Park and Maida Vale 14Bethnal Green and Stepney 33

What changed

More people, more claims or bigger payments?

Great Britain, Universal Credit: yearly spending at the rate in May 2023 and in May 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.

£53.7bnMay 2023+£746.4mPopulation+£22.8bnShare claiming+£10.2bnPayment size£87.5bnMay 2026
What changed: Universal Credit
May 2023£53.7bn
Population+£746.4m
Share claiming+£22.8bn
Payment size+£10.2bn
May 2026£87.5bn
The share claiming is the number of households claiming per person aged 16 to 64. 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 working-age benefits per person aged 16 to 64, 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 = −£2,631 + £5,734 × share aged 0 to 15 + £551 × share aged 66 and over − £201 × deprivation decile + £429 × ln(median pay) + £353 × Wales + £111 × Scotland. Fitted by ordinary least squares across 626 constituencies. R² = 0.85. Gold dots are above the expected level and grey dots are below it.

Every constituency

Spending on Universal Credit, 2023-24. 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 632 rows are shown.

Spending on Universal Credit for every constituency, 2023-24
RankNotes
1Tottenham£287.1m£2,076£2,902
2Brent East£281.1m£2,072£3,046
3Edmonton and Winchmore Hill£252.6m£2,016£3,156
4Enfield North£250.8m£1,963£3,061
5Croydon West£233.1m£1,814£2,614
6Hackney North and Stoke Newington£207.9m£1,764£2,546
7Queen's Park and Maida Vale£208.6m£1,681£2,332
8Bethnal Green and Stepney£219.1m£1,642£2,144
9Barking£225.6m£1,630£2,440
10Lewisham East£188.8m£1,614£2,370
11Blackpool South£178.8m£1,603£2,560
12East Ham£214.9m£1,580£2,299
13Blackley and Middleton South£174.6m£1,527£2,447
14Peckham£169.0m£1,521£2,031
15Southgate and Wood Green£193.2m£1,515£2,242
16Leeds South£194.7m£1,510£2,234
17Birmingham Ladywood£244.4m£1,509£2,080
18Middlesbrough and Thornaby East£179.1m£1,503£2,333
19Poplar and Limehouse£223.1m£1,502£1,931
20West Ham and Beckton£214.5m£1,489£2,032
21Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North£185.1m£1,489£2,401
22Gorton and Denton£174.0m£1,483£2,320
23Birmingham Erdington£182.9m£1,468£2,289
24Ealing North£193.6m£1,467£2,196
25Birmingham Perry Barr£182.3m£1,460£2,229
26Erith and Thamesmead£199.4m£1,453£2,152
27Feltham and Heston£199.0m£1,443£2,143
28East Thanet£150.7m£1,435£2,428
29Hartlepool£136.6m£1,424£2,326
30Ealing Central and Acton£192.8m£1,409£1,979
31Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes£151.6m£1,406£2,301
32Bootle£144.6m£1,403£2,212
33Stratford and Bow£189.5m£1,400£1,855
34Hackney South and Shoreditch£161.4m£1,389£1,796
35Ilford South£187.0m£1,383£2,085
36Liverpool Walton£141.6m£1,381£2,172
37Birmingham Northfield£149.6m£1,379£2,244
38Wolverhampton South East£173.3m£1,378£2,203
39Hendon£187.4m£1,378£2,050
40Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough£156.6m£1,378£2,176
41Walsall and Bloxwich£167.6m£1,375£2,196
42Bradford East£168.3m£1,373£2,158
43Streatham and Croydon North£164.9m£1,370£1,956
44Walthamstow£169.6m£1,369£1,926
45Brentford and Isleworth£179.2m£1,369£2,032
46Croydon East£151.2m£1,367£2,119
47Bolton South and Walkden£175.1m£1,364£2,177
48Islington North£150.5m£1,359£1,813
49Dagenham and Rainham£168.1m£1,358£2,121
50Ealing Southall£174.9m£1,346£1,980

League table of every constituency 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.

Every measureThe full list, as plain links

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