Most people in Walworth are renters in their thirties, and very few own their home. Fewer than one in five households owns. About half rent from a council or housing association. The typical resident is 33. Most people here pay a landlord of some kind, and that landlord is more often the public sector than a private one.
At the 2021 Census, the source for every population figure here, only about 18% of Walworth's households owned their home. About 29% rented privately and about 49% rented from a council or housing association. Social landlords house more of Walworth than owners and private landlords combined, and that explains a lot about how the district looks, from the estates to the length of the waiting lists.
The median resident is 33, and about 39% of the population is aged 25 to 44. Full-time students make up only about 4%, so the district is young without being a student area. The people in their late twenties here mostly have jobs and rent to pay.
The Office for National Statistics models typical household income across Walworth at about £66,100 a year before tax, for the financial year to March 2023. That is an average across six neighbourhood areas. A district where half the homes are socially rented and a growing minority of buyers are paying around £440,000 for a flat is very likely to have a wide spread of incomes, and one average describes few households exactly.
About 34% of households are one person living alone, and about 8% of all households are a pensioner living alone, counted within that same group. Couples with dependent children make up about 10% of households and lone-parent families about 18%. So Walworth is mainly single people and small households, with families in the minority.
About 49% of residents aged 16 and over hold a degree or equivalent, and about 17% have no formal qualifications. The two groups often live in the same blocks, sometimes on the same landing. That reflects how Walworth's homes are allocated, with social housing and private flats side by side, more than any difference between the people.
About 85% of residents described their health as good or very good at the census. Across the London Borough of Southwark, the rate of deaths from preventable causes is similar to the England average, and so is the smoking rate, at about 7%.
Walworth's population comes out below average for a buyer: mostly renters, with incomes spread widely and very little home ownership. It is a young district where many people are building their lives, but few are buying property to do it.