The City of London is mostly home to young, highly qualified renters, and about half of them live alone. About three households in four rent. Half are one person living on their own. Two adults in three have a degree. The residents are mostly people between one job and the next promotion.
About 25% of the City's households own their home. About 58% rent privately and about 16% rent from a social landlord, much of it in the Corporation's own estates such as Golden Lane. Buying into a block here usually means having tenants for neighbours, so ask the managing agent how many flats in your building are let, because that tells you how often the faces in the lift will change.
The City's median age is about 32, and about 43% of residents are aged 25 to 44. There are 1,044 people aged 20 to 24 and 977 aged 25 to 29, a lot of young adults for a population of about 6,000, which pulls the median down. Most people living here are at an early stage of their careers.
The Office for National Statistics models gross household income at about £80,000 before tax for the financial year to March 2023, averaged across the area. That's a pre-tax figure and three years old. In a district where the median sale price comes with a lift and a service charge, the gross figure is the one renters quote and the net figure is the one landlords get paid from.
At the 2021 census, which is the source for every population figure here, about 48% of the City's 3,061 households were one person living alone. About 5% were a pensioner living alone, a group included in that 48%. Couples with children made up about 5% of households, and lone parents about 4%. Families are a small minority, and the big change in household life here is when someone gets a flatmate.
About 68% of residents aged 16 and over have a degree or higher, and about 8% have no qualifications. The census also counts about 4% as full-time students, but that measure only includes students who also work or are looking for work, so it misses those who only study and undercounts the City's students. Wherever they studied, a lot of the residents finished at degree level.
Another 552 residents live in communal establishments, not private households, so roughly one person in eleven in the City lives in shared accommodation of some kind. That lowers the average age, raises the share of young adults and weighs on the renting figures. The resident population has a busy, fast-changing section built into it.
The City's residents are educated, comfortably off and mostly passing through. Couples and families who stay for decades are a small group here.