Reading population statistics

On this page
Reading Borough profile
Census and ward profiles
Measuring deprivation in Reading
Tackling social exclusion in Reading
Health, social care and wellbeing in Reading

Reading borough profile

The profile provides an overview of Reading, including statistics on: population, ethnicity, housing, economy, deprivation, health, crime and transport.

Ward profiles

Reading has 16 wards, areas that are used to help organise services and local elections. You can check your ward using the My Reading website.

To find population and demographic details about each ward (both Census and other data sets), visit the Office for National Statistics (ONS) interactive area profile tool.

Census

There were 67,700 households.

The full results are available from the Office of National Statistics.

We have produced a number of briefing notes on the following topics:

• Population by age and number of households
• Demography and migration
• Ethnic group, national identity, language, and religion
• Housing
• Labour market, travel to work and education
• Health, disability and unpaid care

Measuring deprivation in Reading

The most widely used way to measure deprivation (or poverty) is the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2019. The IMD combines information across seven areas (also known as domains):

• income
• employment
• health
• education
• barriers to housing and services
• living environment
• crime

There are also two extra measures: income deprivation affecting children and income deprivation affecting older people. Each of these has its own score.

The IMD was last updated in 2025, and the next update is expected in 2025.

According to the IMD, Reading ranks as the 147th most deprived area out of 296 local authorities in England, which puts Reading on the 50th percentile, that is average. Five small neighbourhoods (called Lower Super Output Areas, each with about 650). There are now no LSOAs within the most deprived 10% nationally (compared with 5 in 2019). 11 LSOAs are within the 20% most deprived. This does not necessarily mean that deprivation has improved in absolute terms these areas, only that it has improved relative to other LSOAs in England.

IMD 2025 briefing note

Tackling social exclusion in Reading

The social exclusion analysis outlines the essential data on poverty and social exclusion in Reading. It helps to show where people may be missing out on resources, opportunities or social connections.

Social Exclusion Analysis 2025 – PDF

Health, social care and wellbeing in Reading

The Reading Observatory provides lots of useful information and data about Reading. It also includes our Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), which looks at the health and wellbeing needs of people in Reading.

Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA)