Plaistow is home to young working households, mostly renting and mostly short of money. Only about a third own their home. The typical resident is in their mid-thirties. Families with children are common. Money is tighter here than the London postcode would suggest.
At the 2021 Census, the source for every population figure here, Plaistow had about 57,200 residents in roughly 18,200 households. About 32% of households owned their home, around 35% rented privately and about 31% rented from a council or housing association. With three groups of almost equal size, no single kind of tenure sets the tone of a street.
The median age was 34, and about 35% of residents were aged 25 to 44. Plaistow's population is mostly at the age of first jobs, young children and moving house.
The Office for National Statistics models average household income across the area at about £59,000 before tax for the financial year to March 2023, and about £45,500 after tax for the same year. The second figure is the one that has to cover the rent, and in this part of London rent takes a large share of it.
About 21% of households were couples with children and about 16% were lone parents. About 24% were people living alone, a group that includes the 7% of households made up of a single pensioner. On most streets in Plaistow, families with children outnumber people living alone.
About 36% of residents held a degree-level qualification, and about 24% had no formal qualifications at all. Full-time students made up about 5%. Plaistow has plenty of residents at both ends of the qualifications scale, often living on the same street.
At the Census, about 84% of Plaistow's residents described their health as good or very good. For Newham as a whole, Public Health England's measures put the rate of preventable deaths similar to England's, and the borough's smoking rate of about 11% is also similar to England's. The health picture is about average for the country, which can't be said of the money.
Plaistow is a young and stretched place to live. Most residents rent, incomes are thin once tax and rent are paid, and on the economic measures it is one of the harder-pressed parts of London.