Waltham Forest is a north east outer London borough, which performs in line with London averages on many indicators. The poverty rate of 28% is slightly above the London average of 27%, and unemployment ratio is also narrowly above the London average (5.1% compared to 4.9%). However, it is among the worst-performing boroughs for the proportion of the population accepted as homeless (and in priority need) by the council and placed in temporary accommodation outside the London.

On the positive side, income inequality is lower than every other borough except Barking & Dagenham and Newham though. However, 27.7% of workers are low paid in Waltham Forest, which is significantly above the London average of 21%

The rankings below show how Waltham Forest is performing on key poverty and inequality indicators, in comparison with all 32 London boroughs. The first section gives a snapshot from the latest data: the deeper the red, the worse the problem; those coloured green are in the top half of London boroughs, which are performing better.

The circles show whether the issue is getting better or worse in comparison to previous period. Where there is no change, the circle is orange. Where there is no comparative data, the circle is grey.