Index of Multiple Deprivation Explained
The IMD is the most widely used measure of deprivation in England. This guide explains what it measures, how the scores work, why deciles matter more than ranks, and how to use deprivation data alongside census statistics for neighbourhood-level analysis.
What is the Index of Multiple Deprivation?
The English Indices of Deprivation — commonly referred to as the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) — measure relative deprivation across every small area in England. The most recent version was published in September 2019 by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (now the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities).
The IMD ranks all 32,844 Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) in England from 1 (most deprived) to 32,844 (least deprived). It is not a measure of affluence; it specifically captures the concentration of disadvantage in an area. An LSOA ranked 1 is the most deprived neighbourhood in England. An LSOA ranked 32,844 has the lowest concentration of deprivation — but that does not necessarily mean it is wealthy.
Important distinction: The IMD measures area-level deprivation, not individual deprivation. Not everyone in a deprived LSOA is deprived, and not everyone in a non-deprived LSOA is well-off. The index captures the proportion of the local population experiencing disadvantage across multiple dimensions.
The Seven Domains
The IMD is built from seven weighted domains, each measuring a different type of deprivation:
| Domain | Weight | What It Measures |
|---|---|---|
| Income | 22.5% | Proportion of population on low income (means-tested benefits) |
| Employment | 22.5% | Proportion of working-age population in involuntary exclusion from work |
| Education, Skills & Training | 13.5% | Lack of qualifications and school performance among children and adults |
| Health & Disability | 13.5% | Premature death, morbidity, disability, and mental health |
| Crime | 9.3% | Rates of recorded crime (violence, burglary, theft, criminal damage) |
| Barriers to Housing & Services | 9.3% | Housing affordability, overcrowding, distance to services (GP, school, post office) |
| Living Environment | 9.3% | Housing quality (lack of central heating, poor condition) and air quality/road safety |
Income and Employment are the most heavily weighted, accounting for 45% of the overall score between them. This reflects the evidence that financial deprivation is the strongest driver of disadvantage across other life outcomes.
Sub-Domains
Two additional sub-domains provide supplementary indices:
- Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) — the proportion of children aged 0–15 living in income-deprived households
- Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index (IDAOPI) — the proportion of people aged 60+ living in income-deprived households
These are published separately and are widely used in education funding (IDACI feeds into the schools National Funding Formula) and adult social care planning.
Understanding Ranks, Scores, and Deciles
Ranks
Every LSOA has a rank from 1 to 32,844. Rank 1 is the most deprived. Ranks are ordinal — they tell you the relative position but not the magnitude of difference between areas. The gap between rank 1 and rank 2 might be tiny; the gap between rank 16,000 and rank 17,000 might also be tiny. Ranks are useful for identifying the most and least deprived areas but should not be used for statistical analysis that requires interval-scale data.
Scores
Each LSOA also has an IMD score (ranging from about 0.5 to 92.6 in the 2019 release). Higher scores indicate greater deprivation. Scores are exponentially transformed, which means the scale is compressed at the less-deprived end and stretched at the more-deprived end. This is a deliberate design choice: the IMD is intended to discriminate most effectively between the most deprived areas, since that is where policy intervention is targeted.
Deciles
For most practical purposes, deciles are the most useful way to work with IMD data. LSOAs are divided into 10 equal groups, each containing roughly 3,284 areas:
- Decile 1: the 10% most deprived LSOAs in England
- Decile 10: the 10% least deprived LSOAs in England
Deciles smooth out the noise in individual ranks and make it straightforward to compare areas. When someone says "this neighbourhood is in the most deprived 20%", they mean decile 1 or 2. When a funding formula targets "the most deprived third of areas," it means deciles 1 to 3.
Decile vs. quintile: Some reports use quintiles (5 groups) instead of deciles. Quintile 1 = most deprived 20%. The principle is the same; deciles just provide finer granularity. Always check which is being used when reading policy documents or funding criteria.
Geographic Patterns of Deprivation
The Most Deprived Local Authorities
The IMD 2019 identified the following local authority districts as having the highest proportion of LSOAs in the most deprived decile:
- Blackpool — 39% of LSOAs in decile 1
- Knowsley (Merseyside) — 36%
- Kingston upon Hull — 35%
- Liverpool — 34%
- Manchester — 33%
- Middlesbrough — 32%
- Blackburn with Darwen — 29%
- Burnley — 29%
- Birmingham — 27%
- Bradford — 26%
The pattern is strongly tilted toward northern and midland post-industrial areas. London is more mixed: it contains some of the most deprived LSOAs in England (in Tower Hamlets, Hackney, Newham) alongside some of the least deprived (in Richmond, Kingston, Bromley).
Rural Deprivation
The IMD's structure tends to understate rural deprivation. The "Barriers to Housing and Services" domain captures distance to services, but this only accounts for 9.3% of the total score. Rural areas with low incomes, poor transport, and limited healthcare access may score relatively well on the overall IMD because their crime rates are low and housing quality is reasonable. The ONS recommends using domain-level scores (not just the overall IMD) when analysing rural areas.
Explore deprivation by local authority. See IMD scores and census demographics side by side for any area in England and Wales.
Open Data ExplorerHow the IMD Relates to Census Data
The IMD and the census are separate datasets — the IMD is not derived from census data. However, they complement each other powerfully:
- Census data tells you who lives in an area (age, ethnicity, qualifications, housing tenure, health status)
- IMD data tells you how deprived that area is, and in what dimensions
Combining the two gives you a rich picture. For example, you might use census data to identify all LSOAs with more than 30% of residents aged 65+ and then overlay IMD data to find which of those areas also have high health deprivation. This intersection is exactly what adult social care commissioners need for service planning.
Matching Geographies
Both the census and the IMD use LSOAs as their core small-area geography, which makes joining them straightforward. The 2021 Census uses 2021 LSOA boundaries; the IMD 2019 uses 2011 LSOA boundaries. ONS publishes a lookup table mapping 2011 LSOAs to 2021 LSOAs, but most LSOAs have not changed between the two versions — approximately 97% have a direct one-to-one mapping.
How to Download IMD Data
The full IMD 2019 dataset is available from the UK government's open data portal:
- Go to gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2019
- Download "File 1: Index of Multiple Deprivation" (Excel format)
- The file contains ranks, scores, and deciles for all 32,844 LSOAs across every domain
The data is published under the Open Government Licence v3.0 — free to use for any purpose.
For mapping, MHCLG also provides an interactive explorer at dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/imd that lets you look up deprivation for any postcode or area.
Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland
The English IMD covers England only. Wales publishes the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD), Scotland publishes the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD), and Northern Ireland publishes the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure (NIMDM). These use similar but not identical methodologies, so direct comparisons across nations require caution. The UK government publishes a composite UK-wide deprivation index, but it is less commonly used than the individual national indices.
Common Pitfalls
Don't Compare Across Years Without Adjustments
The IMD has been published in 2004, 2007, 2010, 2015, and 2019. Each release uses slightly different indicators and methodologies. You cannot directly compare an area's rank in 2015 with its rank in 2019 and conclude it has become more or less deprived. MHCLG publishes "change over time" analyses that handle this properly.
Don't Use IMD for Individual-Level Analysis
The IMD describes areas, not people. Assigning an individual's deprivation status based on their LSOA's IMD rank commits the ecological fallacy — inferring individual characteristics from group-level data. Approximately 58% of income-deprived people in England do not live in the most deprived 20% of areas.
Don't Ignore Domain-Level Variation
An LSOA can be in decile 3 overall but in decile 8 for crime and decile 1 for education. The overall rank is a summary; the domain-level data tells a much richer story. Always look at domain scores when doing detailed analysis.
Updating the IMD: The government has committed to updating the Indices of Deprivation, but no firm date has been set for the next release beyond 2019. The 2021 Census data and more recent administrative data will likely form the basis of the next update.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does IMD decile 1 mean?
Decile 1 means the area is among the 10% most deprived Lower Super Output Areas in England, across all seven domains of deprivation (income, employment, education, health, crime, barriers to housing, and living environment).
Is the IMD the same as poverty?
No. Deprivation is broader than poverty. The IMD captures multiple dimensions including health, education, crime, and living environment — not just income. An area can be income-rich but highly deprived in health or education terms.
How often is the IMD updated?
Historically, every 3–5 years. The most recent release was in September 2019. No firm date has been announced for the next update, though the availability of 2021 Census data makes a refresh increasingly likely.
Can I compare English IMD with Scottish SIMD?
Not directly. The English IMD and Scottish SIMD use different indicators, weightings, and geographies. A composite UK-wide index exists but is less commonly used. For cross-border analysis, use the domain-level indicators rather than overall ranks.
Where can I find deprivation data for my postcode?
Use the MHCLG interactive explorer at dclgapps.communities.gov.uk/imd, which lets you look up any English postcode. For bulk analysis, download the full IMD dataset and join it to the ONS postcode lookup (NSPL) via LSOA codes.
Related Guides