Who Gets What

How does my area compare?

North Yorkshire has the highest total number of people receiving State Pension 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, total, March 2026, by local authority

Total, low to high

  1. Under 28,183
  2. 28,183 to 45,165
  3. 45,165 to 62,148
  4. 62,148 to 79,130
  5. 79,130 to 96,112
  6. 96,112 and over
People receiving State Pension, total, 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 total are drawn in dark lines.

TotalPer 1,000 residentsPer 1,000 people aged 66 and over1350North Yorkshire 53County Durham 71Leeds 110Cornwall 138Wiltshire 152Somerset 171Dorset 176Sheffield 215Buckinghamshire 231Birmingham 299

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

People receiving State Pension, March 2026. Rank is for total, 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
1North Yorkshire159,912252.41,022.3
2Cornwall145,869250.61,013.8
3Birmingham143,940121.7993.3
4Somerset143,662244.31,009.7
5Leeds126,341149.91,016.5
6Wiltshire115,293220.01,011.6
7Dorset114,452294.01,009.1
8County Durham113,067210.61,020.2
9Buckinghamshire104,980181.51,004.5
10Sheffield92,834160.01,006.3
11East Riding of Yorkshire92,635260.71,013.1
12Cheshire East90,596215.51,005.5
13Glasgow City86,420132.91,026.3
14Northumberland85,625259.01,027.4
15Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole84,757207.71,001.8
16Shropshire83,703252.31,003.8
17Bradford83,135148.51,010.2
18City of Edinburgh80,416151.11,002.9
19Fife79,291211.61,010.8
20Cheshire West and Chester77,132207.91,014.8
21Kirklees77,098172.91,008.5
22Liverpool76,178149.91,043.0
23West Northamptonshire74,183168.11,021.1
24Wirral71,038216.41,014.2
25East Suffolk69,141277.01,003.3
26Wakefield67,325183.51,018.6
27South Lanarkshire66,614200.01,022.6
28North Northamptonshire65,805175.31,010.2
29Sefton64,886227.41,009.7
30Cumberland64,839231.61,021.8
31Dudley63,913192.91,003.7
32Wigan63,211183.61,008.4
33Doncaster60,443188.71,023.5
34North Lanarkshire60,102174.91,010.9
35Bristol, City of60,077121.61,024.9
36Stockport58,683194.21,012.0
37Westmorland and Furness58,367254.01,009.7
38Bromley57,829172.81,015.4
39Sunderland57,665201.11,026.1
40Aberdeenshire55,758210.31,009.0
41Central Bedfordshire55,708176.31,027.4
42South Gloucestershire55,138180.31,018.6
43Highland55,132232.11,002.6
44Barnet54,943135.3958.8
45Cardiff53,692140.51,021.2
46Croydon53,573131.11,009.1
47Rotherham52,200188.91,016.8
48North Somerset52,149232.11,012.1
49Manchester51,75087.91,011.5
50New Forest51,603293.51,001.9

League table of every local authority for the latest period

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

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