While specific data shifts, Workington in Cumbria is often cited as one of England's whitest towns, with nearly 99% White British residents according to recent analysis, though areas like Easington (Durham) and parts of Cumbria (like Allerdale) also rank extremely high for White British population in census data.
Cities across the UK regions with high White British populations included Swansea (91.5%), Kingston Upon Hull (89.7%), Plymouth (92.2%), Darlington (93.7%), Belfast (96.4% – NI classification "white"), Norwich (84.7%), Liverpool (84.8%) and Chelmsford (90.0%).
Hialeah, Florida is the whitest city in the United States with 92.6% of its population identifying as White. The non-Hispanic white population, however, is only 2.57%.
Indians emerge wealthiest ethnic group in UK, says LSE study. A London School of Economics report reveals significant wealth growth for people of Indian origin in the UK over the past decade, while the Pakistani ethnic group experienced a decline.
Britain's Whitest Family | Out of Town | Channel 4
Where are the least immigrants in the UK?
Although less than 10% of the total UK-born population lived in London, the city was home to one-third of the total foreign-born population in the country. Northern Ireland, the North East, and Wales were the least popular destinations for migrants.
Which other UK cities have high pollution levels? Leeds, Manchester, Plymouth, Swansea, Leicester, Derry, Bournemouth, Norwich, and York are also among the top 10 most polluted cities in the UK.
Brent, Newham and Tower Hamlets have the highest percentage of non-White British residents and the highest proportion of households with multiple ethnic groups.
The community is particularly visible in places like Brixton and Peckham in South London, Hackney in the east and Notting Hill in the west. The rich culture of these African and Caribbean communities can be experienced in restaurants, bars and cultural institutions.
Poland's population of 38 million is about 97% ethnically Polish (36.86 million), predominantly of Slavic descent and European/White ancestry. Polish is the official language, and people of European descent are found throughout the country, particularly in urban areas like Warsaw, Kraków, and Poznań.
Asian British residents, especially Indians, have risen since post-war migration to the UK began, famously Asians from Uganda who were expelled in 1972. In 1991, Asians as a broad multi-ethnic group made up nearly a quarter of the city's population but have risen to above a third of the population at 37.1%.
The settlements with the largest numbers of Muslims are Birmingham, Bradford, London, Manchester and Leicester. There are also high numbers in Kirklees, Luton, Bolton, Slough, Rochdale and mill towns of Northern England like Oldham and Blackburn.
Over 400 years of mass migration from the northern Netherlands and Germany, as well as southern Scandinavia, provide the genetic basis of many English residents today. The people after which England is named made up more than three quarters of the nation's genetic ancestry during the early Middle Ages.
In 2020/21 there were approximately 696,000 Polish nationals living in the United Kingdom, the highest non-British population at this time. Indian and Irish were the joint second-largest nationalities at approximately 370,000 people.
According to the 2021 census, approximately 200,000 to 250,000 Muslims in England and Wales identified as White. That's approximately 6% of the British Muslim population. Not only that, approximately 6,000 people convert to Islam every year in the UK, with the vast majority being women!
There isn't one single "roughest" city, as rankings vary by data source and crime type, but Blackpool, Middlesbrough, Manchester, Bradford, and London boroughs like Westminster consistently appear high for overall crime or violent crime rates per capita in recent data (2024-2025), with issues like theft, assault, and antisocial behavior prevalent. Other cities frequently cited include Coventry, Liverpool, and Nottingham, often due to specific issues like knife crime or violent offenses.
While "gloomiest" is subjective, Bradford was frequently cited in 2023 studies by Betway as the UK's gloomiest city based on low sunshine, high wind, and rainfall, despite local defenses highlighting its cultural vitality. Other contenders often mentioned for dreary weather include Aberdeen, Blackpool, Glasgow, and Preston, though different metrics (sunshine vs. rain) yield varied results, with some recent surveys also pointing to places like Havering or Slough in terms of overall "miserable" living conditions.
There isn't one single "most run-down" town, as it depends on the metric, but recent reports frequently cite Walsall (West Midlands) as Britain's most deprived for overall quality of life (Good Growth for Cities Index 2025), while Jaywick (Essex) is repeatedly named England's most deprived neighbourhood by government data. Other towns often mentioned for significant decline due to economic hardship, unemployment, and urban decay include areas in Blackpool, Hastings, and Middlesbrough, alongside places like Portsmouth and Aldershot facing specific challenges.
But do people seeking asylum get this free housing forever? No. When someone gets refugee status, they can no longer stay in asylum accommodation. They can choose where to live, but they have to pay for their rent or ask for government help – like any UK citizen.
In the 1960s, civil and political unrest in Nigeria contributed to many refugees migrating to Britain, along with skilled workers. Nigerians emigrated in larger numbers in the 1980s, following the collapse of the petroleum boom.
