UK Financial Stress Index: Which cities and towns are feeling the greatest financial pressure?

Financial wellbeing means different things to different people. For some, it’s having enough income left at the end of the month. For others, it’s feeling confident about managing bills, savings, and unexpected expenses.

While headlines often focus on the cost of living, the reality is that financial pressure isn’t experienced equally across the country. Some areas face greater challenges linked to income, employment and debt, while others tend to score more strongly across these measures.

To better understand these differences, we created the UK Financial Stress Index. Rather than looking at a single statistic, the index combines official data on debt, income, employment support and financial wellbeing indicators to provide a broader picture of how financial pressures vary across UK cities and towns.

The result is a ranking that highlights where financial pressures appear highest, where financial resilience is strongest, and how different indicators can tell very different stories about financial wellbeing across the UK.

Key findings

• Birmingham ranks first in the UK Financial Stress Index with a score of 75.5.

• The top five most financially stressed areas are Birmingham, Salford, Manchester, Walsall, and Rochdale.

• Seven of the top 10 locations are in either the North West or West Midlands.

• London ranks 31st despite having one of the highest levels of financial-related search activity.

• Barnet, York, and Trafford record the lowest overall stress scores in the index.

• The average city moves nearly nine places when moving from a search-only ranking to the full composite index, highlighting the importance of using multiple data sources.

How to read this table

• Financial Stress Score: The overall UK Financial Stress Index score, combining all indicators into a single ranking. Higher scores indicate greater financial pressure relative to other areas in the study.

• Insolvencies (per 10K): The number of people entering formal insolvency for every 10,000 residents.

• Breathing Space (per 10K): The number of residents using the government’s debt respite scheme for every 10,000 residents.

• IMD Rank or (Income Deprivation Rank): A measure of income deprivation. Lower ranks indicate higher levels of deprivation.

• Claimant Rate (%): The percentage of working-age residents claiming job-seeking benefits.

• Universal Credit Rate (%): The percentage of residents receiving Universal Credit.

• Disposable Income (£): The average amount of income available to residents after taxes and benefits.

• Search (per 100K): The number of searches related to debt, budgeting and financial support topics per 100,000 residents.

The 5 cities and towns ranking highest in the UK Financial Stress Index

1. Birmingham Birmingham tops the index with the highest overall score. The city records some of the highest claimant rates in the dataset, alongside lower levels of disposable household income, contributing to greater overall financial pressure compared to other major UK locations.

2. Salford Salford ranks second due to a combination of income deprivation indicators and debt-related measures. While it doesn’t lead any single category outright, consistently high scores across multiple indicators push it near the top of the index.

3. Manchester Manchester records high levels of financial stress despite being a major economic centre. Strong search demand around financial topics, combined with deprivation and debt-related indicators, contribute to its position within the top three.

4. Walsall Walsall performs poorly across several measures included in the index, particularly those linked to income and employment support. Its results suggest that many households may face greater financial pressures than the national average.

5. Rochdale Rochdale ranks significantly higher in the overall index than it does in search data alone. This suggests that official measures of income, debt and deprivation reveal a greater level of financial pressure than online behaviour might indicate.

The 5 cities and towns ranking lowest in the index

At the other end of the table, several locations record considerably lower scores.

35. Barnet Barnet records the lowest financial stress score in the study. Higher levels of disposable household income, combined with lower rates of insolvencies and welfare-related indicators, contribute to its position at the bottom of the ranking.

34. York York performs strongly across several of the index’s measures, particularly those linked to income and debt. Lower levels of financial distress indicators help place the city among the least financially pressured locations analysed.

33. Trafford Trafford benefits from some of the strongest income-related metrics in the dataset. Lower claimant rates and comparatively favourable deprivation measures contribute to its low overall financial stress score.

32. Solihull Solihull ranks among the lowest-scoring areas thanks to a combination of higher disposable incomes and relatively low levels of debt-related distress. Its results suggest stronger financial resilience across many of the indicators included in the index.

31. London Despite ranking highly for financial-related search activity, London places much lower in the overall index. Higher average incomes and lower rates of insolvency help offset its elevated search volumes, highlighting the difference between online behaviour and broader financial indicators.

Why your credit report matters

Financial pressures could lead some people to rely on credit for expenses where they otherwise may not have done. This could be anything like:

• A personal loan to cover a deposit.

• A credit card to bridge a gap between paydays.

• Buying something on finance instead of outright.

Lenders review your credit report whenever you apply, and a healthy file can mean the difference between competitive rates and costly borrowing – or a successful application and a declined one.

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Search data doesn’t always tell the full story

One of the most interesting findings from the study is the difference between online search behaviour and real-world financial indicators.

Several locations moved significantly across the ranking when debt, income and welfare data were added to the analysis.

Cities and towns where search activity appears to overstate financial pressure

• London – 6th by search data, 31st overall.

• Leeds – 8th by search data, 27th overall.

• Newcastle upon Tyne – 3rd by search data, 19th overall.

• Reading – 13th by search data, 29th overall.

Cities and towns where financial pressure is less visible in search data

• Knowsley – 31st by search data, 8th overall.

• Barnsley – 33rd by search data, 13th overall.

• Salford – 18th by search data, 2nd overall.

• Rochdale – 17th by search data, 5th overall.

• Walsall – 14th by search data, 4th overall.

This highlights why relying solely on search trends can create an incomplete picture. People may search for financial information for many reasons, while official measures provide additional insight into underlying economic conditions.

A closer look at debt support usage

Our index also incorporates registrations for the government’s Breathing Space scheme, which provides temporary protection from lender action while people seek debt advice.

Three locations recorded more Breathing Space registrations than insolvencies:

• Knowsley.

• St Helens.

• Coventry.

This may suggest that more residents in these areas are seeking support and guidance before reaching formal insolvency proceedings.

Regional trends

While financial pressures exist across the country, some regional patterns emerge.

North West

The North West features strongly in the top rankings, with the following locations all appearing in the top 10:

• Salford.

• Manchester.

• Rochdale.

• Liverpool.

• Knowsley.

• Oldham.

West Midlands

The West Midlands is also well represented, with the following locations all ranking among the highest-scoring locations:

• Birmingham

• Walsall

• Wolverhampton

• Coventry

These results reflect a combination of income, employment and debt-related factors rather than any single measure.

Methodology

1. WHAT THIS INDEX MEASURES

This index combines four independent data pillars into a composite score ranking 35 UK towns and cities by financial distress. Unlike search-volume-only approaches, it uses formal insolvency outcomes, government deprivation measures, welfare dependency rates, and refined search behavior — producing rankings grounded in what is actually happening, not just what people are searching for.

2. DATA SOURCES

• Insolvency Service, Individual Insolvencies by Location 2015-2025: Table 1b (insolvency rate per 10K adults) and Table 5b (Breathing Space registrations per 10K adults). Published 27 March 2026.

• MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025, File 1 (published 30 Oct 2025). LSOA-level ranks averaged per LA, ranked 1-296. ONS Regional GDHI All ITL Regions, Table 3, 2022 data (released 10 Sep 2025).

• ONS CC01 Claimant Count, April 2026 (released 19 May 2026). DWP Stat-Xplore Universal Credit by LA, January 2026. Working-age pop: ONS mid-2024 via NOMIS (exact 16-64).

3. COMPOSITE FORMULA

Pillar 1: Hard Debt Distress: 40% (Insolvency rate 70% + Breathing Space rate 30% — Insolvency Service 2025)

Pillar 2: Income Deprivation: 25% (IMD 2025 Rank 50% + GDHI per head inv 50% — MHCLG + ONS 2022)

Pillar 3: Welfare & Employment: 15% (Claimant count 50% + UC rate 50% — ONS CC01 Apr 2026 + DWP Jan 2026)

Pillar 4: Distress Search Behavior: (20% Reweighted search index per 100K — Search data)

Score = (P1 × 0.40) + (P2 × 0.25) + (P3 × 0.15) + (P4 × 0.20). Each pillar normalized 0-100 via min-max. P1 sub-weights: insolvency 70%, breathing space 30%. P2 sub-weights: IMD rank (inverse) 50%, GDHI (inverse) 50%. P3 sub-weights: claimant count 50%, UC rate 50%.

4. GEOGRAPHIC NOTES

35 English towns and cities matching the original research scope. 'West Bromwich' = Sandwell MBC (pop 353,860). 'London' = GLA aggregate; IMD rank computed as average of 33 borough averages (rank 113/296). London UC from Stat-Xplore regional grouping (535,438).