Barking and Dagenham is one of London's most deprived boroughs, frequently ranking among the top 5 most deprived local authorities in England. Around 29% of residents live in poverty, with 42% of children affected, and it faces high levels of low pay, unemployment, and housing, education, and health challenges.
The four boroughs with the highest levels of child poverty are all in Inner and East London - Hackney, Islington, Tower Hamlets and Newham. In these boroughs, more than 40% of children are in poverty.
It experiences high levels of deprivation and complex health and care needs, with an Index of Multiple Deprivation score of 10 (10 being most deprived). Nationally, it is ranked 5th out of 153 local authorities for deprivation.
The poorest place in the UK, based on official English Indices of Deprivation (IMD) data, is often cited as Jaywick, a coastal village in Essex, frequently topping the list for overall deprivation due to issues like low income, unemployment, poor housing, and crime. However, areas like Blackpool, Middlesbrough, Hull, and parts of London (Hackney, Tower Hamlets) also consistently rank highly for deprivation, especially concerning child poverty.
Visiting The Poorest Town In London: Barking & Dagenham
What are the roughest areas of the UK?
The "roughest" areas in the UK, often defined by high crime, deprivation, and social challenges, include Blackpool (high violent crime), Camden & Westminster in London (high overall crime rates), Lambeth & Hackney (deprivation, violence), and cities like Liverpool & Leicester (deprivation, health issues). Specific estates, like London's Aylesbury Estate, are also noted for notoriety, though "rough" can mean different things, from violent crime to economic hardship.
Following an investigation by our Pollution Control Team, the likely source has been identified as a farm located within the neighbouring borough of Barking & Dagenham, where agricultural muck spreading was taking place.
The least happy borough in London, according to Rightmove's data, was Barking and Dagenham. Coming in dead-last place out of the capital's 33 boroughs, the east London area ranked 220th nationally.
. . . while the least white place in London - by far - is Southall Broadway, where just 8.7% of the population consider themselves White British. There's only one ward in the city with a more than 5% Chinese population, which Millwall in Tower Hamlets at 5.4%.
The area with the roughest reputation in London is Westminster, recording the highest crime rate of 432 crimes per 1,000 people in the year ending December 2024—though this is likely skewed by massive daytime footfall from tourists, which inflates the crime-per-resident ratio.
Is Barking and Dagenham the saddest place to live?
The 2025 index reveals that Barking and Dagenham is the saddest place to live in the entire country, ranking last out of 220 areas included in the study. Barking and Dagenham is joined at the bottom of the happiness table by two other east London boroughs: Newham at 219th and Havering at 218th.
What is the biggest ethnic group in Barking and Dagenham?
Barking and Dagenham (borough) displays distinctive ethnic group characteristics: The main ethnic group is White British, representing 31% of the population.
How many people are homeless in Barking and Dagenham?
Some 320,000 people in the United Kingdom are currently either roofless or languishing in temporary accommodation awaiting a permanent place to call home. More than half of these are in the capital, including 6,532 people in Barking and Dagenham.
Croydon and Hackney see the most stabbings. Knife crime jumps there, often tied to gangs. It is advised to people and tourists to not visit those areas alone after midnight. Moreover, the police department is actively engaged to deal with those knife stabbing crimes in Croydon and Hackney.
Middlesbrough, Birmingham, Hartlepool, Kingston upon Hull and Manchester are the Local Authority Districts with the highest proportions of neighbourhoods among the most deprived in England. Two London boroughs (Tower Hamlets and Hackney) rank as the most deprived regarding income deprivation among children.
That said, across recent years (patterns visible in Met and ONS dashboards) the highest volumes of theft and street-theft reports tend to be concentrated in central shopping and nightlife boroughs — notably Westminster (West End, Oxford Street, Leicester Square), Camden (markets, busy streets), Lambeth (parts of ...
Dagenham is an East London area within the Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Residents and investors prefer this location for its convenient transport links, affordable housing options, lush green spaces and solid community.
The London borough of Bexley has been named as one of the top ten friendliest parts of the city, second only to Havering in the north-east of the capital. In a survey by Experian, some 85.6 per cent of the borough's residents said they feel confident that their neighbours will look out for them.
No, Barking and Dagenham isn't predominantly a "white area" in terms of being overwhelmingly white; it's a very ethnically diverse London borough, though it has seen significant shifts, with substantial populations of Black and Asian heritage alongside its White British residents, making it a diverse "melting pot" rather than a homogenous white community, as shown in London Sport and Crystal Roof reports.
Barking and Dagenham 015D has a higher rate of income deprivation affecting children (IDACI) than most neighbourhoods in England. It also has a higher rate of income deprivation affecting older people (IDAOPI) than most neighbourhoods in England.
Dagenham is famous for a few standout aspects. History buffs will remember Dagenham as home to the largest car plant in Europe, a significant contribution to the area's industrial growth.
