How does my area compare?

Blaenau Gwent has the highest benefit spending for each £1 of income tax (income tax only) in 2023-24.

How many pounds of benefits went to people in the area for each £1 of income tax that residents paid in the same year. This is income tax only.

For each £1 of income tax, low to high

Under £0.61
£0.61 to £1.00
£1.00 to £1.39
£1.39 to £1.78
£1.78 to £2.17
£2.17 and over

Estimated value
No value

Benefit spending for each £1 of income tax paid in the same year, for each £1 of income tax, 2023-24, 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

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.

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?

Benefit spending per resident, 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.

Expected level = £765 − £935 × share aged 0 to 15 + £9,046 × share aged 66 and over − £177 × deprivation decile + £267 × ln(median pay) + £581 × Wales + £224 × Scotland. Fitted by ordinary least squares across 346 local authorities. R² = 0.87. Gold dots are above the expected level and grey dots are below it.

Every local authority

Benefit spending for each £1 of income tax paid in the same year, 2023-24. Rank is for for each £1 of income tax, 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.

Benefit spending for each £1 of income tax paid in the same year for every local authority, 2023-24
Rank			Notes
1	Blaenau Gwent	£3.53	Survey estimate
2	Blackpool	£3.49	Survey estimate
3	Kingston upon Hull, City of	£2.80	Survey estimate
4	Burnley	£2.77	Survey estimate
5	Neath Port Talbot	£2.69	Survey estimate
6	Hyndburn	£2.67	Survey estimate
7	Stoke-on-Trent	£2.57	Survey estimate
8	Redcar and Cleveland	£2.56	Survey estimate
9	Great Yarmouth	£2.56	Survey estimate
10	Merthyr Tydfil	£2.55	Survey estimate
11	East Lindsey	£2.53	Survey estimate
12	Knowsley	£2.52	Survey estimate
13	Middlesbrough	£2.50	Survey estimate
14	Hartlepool	£2.48	Survey estimate
15	Sunderland	£2.38	Survey estimate
16	Pendle	£2.36	Survey estimate
17	South Tyneside	£2.35	Survey estimate
18	Caerphilly	£2.33	Survey estimate
19	Carmarthenshire	£2.32	Survey estimate
20	Rhondda Cynon Taf	£2.30	Survey estimate
21	Hastings	£2.30	Survey estimate
22	Torfaen	£2.27	Survey estimate
23	Sandwell	£2.26	Survey estimate
24	Denbighshire	£2.24	Survey estimate
25	Tendring	£2.24	Survey estimate
26	Leicester	£2.24	Survey estimate
27	Ceredigion	£2.23	Survey estimate
28	Liverpool	£2.22	Survey estimate
29	Conwy	£2.19	Survey estimate
30	Blackburn with Darwen	£2.19	Survey estimate
31	North East Lincolnshire	£2.17	Survey estimate
32	Nottingham	£2.17	Survey estimate
33	Rochdale	£2.17	Survey estimate
34	Pembrokeshire	£2.17	Survey estimate
35	Torridge	£2.17	Survey estimate
36	Isle of Wight	£2.17	Survey estimate
37	Walsall	£2.15	Survey estimate
38	County Durham	£2.14	Survey estimate
39	Thanet	£2.13	Survey estimate
40	Boston	£2.10	Survey estimate
41	Gateshead	£2.09	Survey estimate
42	Swansea	£2.08	Survey estimate
43	Dundee City	£2.08	Estimated, Survey estimate, Includes Scottish benefits
44	Oldham	£2.08	Survey estimate
45	Isle of Anglesey	£2.06	Survey estimate
46	North Ayrshire	£2.05	Estimated, Survey estimate, Includes Scottish benefits
47	Chesterfield	£2.04	Survey estimate
48	Dudley	£2.03	Survey estimate
49	Dumfries and Galloway	£2.03	Estimated, Survey estimate, Includes Scottish benefits
50	Mansfield	£2.02	Survey estimate

League table of every local authority for the latest period

Values are for each £1 of income tax unless a column says otherwise. Sources: Department for Work and Pensions, Social Security Scotland, HM Revenue and Customs.

Every measureThe full list, as plain links

More people, more claims or bigger payments?

Is spending higher or lower than expected?

Every local authority

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