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Tower Hamlets

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is in East London, and forms part of Inner London. It has a population of 312,273 (Census 2021).

The grid below shows how Tower Hamlets compares against London overall on key poverty and inequality indicators. Red text denotes the fact that Tower Hamlets is worse than the selected comparison group for that indicator, and green means it is better.

Use the dropdown filter on the right to select different types of comparison. You can compare the borough with:

  • All other London boroughs
  • The average in the rest of England
  • Boroughs in the same London Plan area
  • CIPFA nearest statistical neighbours. This means the boroughs in London that are statistically similar to Tower Hamlets, with similar demographics and socio-economic profiles. Find out more about this and which boroughs are Tower Hamlets' statistical nearest neighbours here.

Tower Hamlets indicator rankings

Poverty and living standards

Child poverty rate

Child poverty rate (AHC)

48%

Worse compared to all London Boroughs (32%)

Worse compared to England (31%)

Worse compared to London Planning Area (East - 35.5%)

Worse compared to nearest neighbours (37%)

Income deprivation

Income deprivation (relative to London overall)

2.03

Worse compared to all London Boroughs ( 1)

Worse compared to England (0.8)

Worse compared to London Planning Area (East - 1.44)

Worse compared to nearest neighbours (1.5)

Pay inequality

80:20 ratio of earnings

2.37

Average compared to all London Boroughs (2.5)

Worse compared to England (1.72)

Average compared to London Planning Area (East - 2.395)

Average compared to nearest neighbours (2.49)

Poverty rate

Poverty rate

41%

Worse compared to all London Boroughs (25.93%)

Worse compared to England (22.01%)

Worse compared to London Planning Area (East - 29.5%)

Worse compared to nearest neighbours (25%)

Housing and homelessness

Evictions

Repossessions per 1,000 households

1.77

Average compared to all London Boroughs (2.3)

(Data not available)

Average compared to London Planning Area (East - 2.73)

Average compared to nearest neighbours (1.27)

Homeless acceptances

Main homelessness duty owed per 1,000 households

0.45

Better compared to all London Boroughs (1.14)

(Data not available)

Better compared to London Planning Area (East - 1.15)

Better compared to nearest neighbours (1.56)

Housing affordability

Median rent as a percentage of median pay

54.7%

Average compared to all London Boroughs (46.4%)

Worse compared to England (24.9%)

Worse compared to London Planning Area (East - 40.65%)

Average compared to nearest neighbours (51.4%)

Housing delivery

Average net affordable, social and discounted housing completions

662

Better compared to all London Boroughs (353)

(Data not available)

Better compared to London Planning Area (East - 324)

Better compared to nearest neighbours (246)

Rough sleeping

People seen sleeping rough by outreach

460

Average compared to all London Boroughs (219)

(Data not available)

Worse compared to London Planning Area (East - 232.5)

Average compared to nearest neighbours (337)

Temporary accommodation

Households in temporary accommodation per 1,000

19.63

Average compared to all London Boroughs (17.03)

Worse compared to England (4.54)

Average compared to London Planning Area (East - 19.815)

Average compared to nearest neighbours (22.605)

Work, worklessness and benefits

Benefits

Out-of-work benefits

14.6%

Average compared to all London Boroughs (13.4%)

Average compared to England (13.6%)

Average compared to London Planning Area (East - 15%)

Better compared to nearest neighbours (16%)

Low pay (resident)

Proportion of borough residents' jobs that are low paid

10.1%

Better compared to all London Boroughs (16.4%)

(Data not available)

Better compared to London Planning Area (East - 18.6%)

Better compared to nearest neighbours (15.5%)

Unemployment rate

Unemployment rate

6.5%

Worse compared to all London Boroughs (5.1%)

Worse compared to England (3.9%)

Worse compared to London Planning Area (East - 4.85%)

Worse compared to nearest neighbours (4.3%)

Unemployment rate change

Unemployment rate 1 year change

2.3pts

Average compared to all London Boroughs (0.8pts)

Worse compared to England (0.2pts)

Worse compared to London Planning Area (East - -0.15pts)

Worse compared to nearest neighbours (0.1pts)

Health

Infant mortality

Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births

3.9

Average compared to all London Boroughs (3.3)

Average compared to England (3.9)

Average compared to London Planning Area (East - 3.3)

Average compared to nearest neighbours (3.8)

Premature mortality

Deaths of <75 year olds per 100,000

394

Worse compared to all London Boroughs (309)

Worse compared to England (342)

Worse compared to London Planning Area (East - 348)

Worse compared to nearest neighbours (369)

Education

GCSE attainment

Percentage of pupils who achieved grade 9-4

69.3%

Average compared to all London Boroughs (71.2%)

Average compared to England (65.4%)

Average compared to London Planning Area (East - 69.35%)

Average compared to nearest neighbours (65.6%)

No qualifications

Proportion with no qualifications

6.5%

Average compared to all London Boroughs (6.7%)

Average compared to England (7.4%)

Average compared to London Planning Area (East - 6.3%)

Average compared to nearest neighbours (6.2%)

Qualifications at 19

19 year olds without level 3 qualifications

25%

Average compared to all London Boroughs (28.8%)

Better compared to England (34.6%)

Better compared to London Planning Area (East - 30.25%)

Better compared to nearest neighbours (36.1%)