Who Gets What

How does my area compare?

Blackpool has the most people on Universal Credit per 1,000 people aged 16 to 64 in May 2026.

People aged 16 to 64 on Universal Credit, in each month with published figures. Help with living costs for working-age people on a low income, in or out of work.

People aged 16 to 64 on Universal Credit, per 1,000 people aged 16 to 64, May 2026, by local authority

Per 1,000 people aged 16 to 64, low to high

  1. Under 129.0
  2. 129.0 to 161.5
  3. 161.5 to 194.1
  4. 194.1 to 226.7
  5. 226.7 to 259.2
  6. 259.2 and over
People aged 16 to 64 on Universal Credit, per 1,000 people aged 16 to 64, May 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 16 to 64 are drawn in dark lines.

TotalPer 1,000 residentsPer 1,000 people aged 16 to 641350Blackpool 1Birmingham 2Hartlepool 3Blaenau Gwent 4Burnley 5Kingston upon Hull, City of 6Enfield 7Bradford 8Middlesbrough 9Oldham 10

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+£675.6mPopulation+£22.9bnShare claiming+£10.2bnPayment size£87.5bnMay 2026
What changed: Universal Credit
May 2023£53.7bn
Population+£675.6m
Share claiming+£22.9bn
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 = −£567 + £3,670 × share aged 0 to 15 − £115 × share aged 66 and over − £170 × deprivation decile + £257 × ln(median pay) + £432 × Wales + £94 × Scotland. Fitted by ordinary least squares across 348 local authorities. R² = 0.85. Gold dots are above the expected level and grey dots are below it.

Every local authority

People aged 16 to 64 on Universal Credit, May 2026. Rank is for per 1,000 people aged 16 to 64, 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 aged 16 to 64 on Universal Credit for every local authority, May 2026
RankNotes
1Blackpool29,630206.7336.3
2Birmingham241,990204.6312.7
3Hartlepool18,060184.5302.3
4Blaenau Gwent12,488184.4299.1
5Burnley18,194183.4297.5
6Kingston upon Hull, City of52,511191.1295.6
7Enfield63,083190.3295.5
8Bradford101,539181.4291.7
9Middlesbrough28,438183.8291.4
10Oldham45,136180.0291.0
11Blackburn with Darwen29,433182.1288.5
12Great Yarmouth16,834167.2286.9
13Rochdale41,214175.4283.5
14Hyndburn15,070175.4283.0
15Pendle16,957170.2281.0
16Thanet23,228163.4280.4
17Merthyr Tydfil9,999170.3276.8
18Knowsley28,009173.2276.4
19Hastings15,478170.1276.4
20Sandwell61,658174.5274.6
21West Dunbartonshire15,201171.1274.0
22Walsall49,489168.0273.2
23Barking and Dagenham42,596181.4271.2
24North Ayrshire21,597161.4270.3
25South Tyneside24,618163.3269.9
26Wolverhampton47,491169.3269.8
27Liverpool92,408181.8268.3
28Redcar and Cleveland21,481154.8264.9
29Stoke-on-Trent44,457164.6262.6
30Hackney52,043193.7262.4
31North East Lincolnshire25,075157.0262.4
32Haringey50,367187.6262.3
33Manchester109,596186.2261.2
34Torfaen14,764157.0259.4
35Bolton49,262159.5258.9
36Sunderland45,860160.0258.3
37Neath Port Talbot22,238155.9255.7
38Nottingham59,162179.0255.0
39Glasgow City117,372180.5254.3
40Inverclyde12,327156.6254.2
41Brent62,813176.7253.3
42Halton20,494156.1251.4
43Boston10,969151.7250.8
44Caerphilly26,996153.2249.7
45Tameside37,442156.7249.2
46Peterborough35,193157.0248.2
47Rotherham41,681150.8245.8
48East Ayrshire18,153149.6244.9
49Tendring20,857133.4244.5
50Salford48,785166.2243.2

League table of every local authority for the latest period

Values are per 1,000 people aged 16 to 64 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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