GeraNexus · Civic Data
UK Charity Density & Civic Vitality by Local Authority
Real Charity Commission data on 183,997 active registered charities across 172 local authority areas in England and Wales, ranked by the Gera Civic Vitality Index (GCVI/100).
Which local authorities in England and Wales have the highest concentration of charities?
As of the June 2026 Charity Commission daily extract, England and Wales has 183,997 active registered charities across 172 local authority areas. Rutland leads the Gera Civic Vitality Index (GCVI) with a score of 97.9/100 and 95.0 charities per 10,000 residents.
Gera Civic Vitality Index51 / 100England & Wales national average GCVI (172 LAs)How this index is calculated
Active Charities183,997England & Wales, June 2026
Areas Covered172Local Authority areas
Top 5 local authorities by GCVI
| Local Authority | GCVI | Charities | Per 10k pop | Total income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutland | 97.9/100 | 391 | 95.0 | £202.5m |
| City Of London | 97.9/100 | 775 | 714.5 | £769.1m |
| Windsor And Maidenhead | 97.6/100 | 817 | 52.8 | £691.2m |
| Gwynedd | 97.5/100 | 631 | 53.7 | £435.3m |
| Bath And North East Somerset | 97.1/100 | 1,013 | 51.8 | £727.4m |
Lowest 5 local authorities by GCVI
| Local Authority | GCVI | Charities | Per 10k pop | Total income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Havering | 18.9/100 | 397 | 15.0 | £128.2m |
| Thurrock | 20.2/100 | 250 | 14.1 | £120.2m |
| Stoke-on-trent City | 21.1/100 | 395 | 15.2 | £166.0m |
| Enfield | 21.3/100 | 547 | 16.7 | £172.4m |
| Brent | 23.2/100 | 599 | 17.6 | £207.8m |
Explore all local authorities
Filter, sort, and compare all 172 local authority areas by charity density, income, or diversity score.
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Showing 20 of 172 local authorities
| # | Local Authority | GCVI | Charities | Per 10k | Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rutland | 97.9 | 391 | 95.0 | £202.5m |
| 2 | City Of London | 97.9 | 775 | 714.5 | £769.1m |
| 3 | Windsor And Maidenhead | 97.6 | 817 | 52.8 | £691.2m |
| 4 | Gwynedd | 97.5 | 631 | 53.7 | £435.3m |
| 5 | Bath And North East Somerset | 97.1 | 1,013 | 51.8 | £727.4m |
| 6 | West Berkshire | 93.8 | 986 | 60.8 | £546.5m |
| 7 | Ceredigion | 92.6 | 345 | 48.2 | £474.1m |
| 8 | Dorset | 91.7 | 2,387 | 62.3 | £1.2bn |
| 9 | Bedford | 91.5 | 1,173 | 62.6 | £582.5m |
| 10 | Denbighshire | 91.2 | 450 | 46.6 | £397.1m |
| 11 | Reading | 89.3 | 866 | 49.5 | £566.5m |
| 12 | Isle Of Anglesey | 87.2 | 298 | 43.2 | £258.0m |
| 13 | Herefordshire | 81.2 | 1,095 | 58.0 | £411.2m |
| 14 | Bracknell Forest | 79.4 | 543 | 42.8 | £390.4m |
| 15 | Gateshead | 78.4 | 905 | 45.8 | £518.8m |
| 16 | Wiltshire | 77.8 | 2,427 | 47.0 | £1.3bn |
| 17 | Hackney | 77.8 | 1,125 | 43.0 | £764.2m |
| 18 | Cheshire West & Chester | 77.5 | 1,665 | 46.0 | £913.2m |
| 19 | Oxfordshire | 75.7 | 3,152 | 42.7 | £2.0bn |
| 20 | Shropshire | 75.3 | 1,514 | 46.3 | £748.2m |
Frequently asked questions
- How many registered charities are there in England and Wales?
- As of the June 2026 daily extract from the Charity Commission, there are 183,997 active registered charities in England and Wales, operating across 172 local authority areas tracked in this dataset.
- What is the Gera Civic Vitality Index (GCVI)?
- The Gera Civic Vitality Index (GCVI/100) is a composite measure of charitable activity density in a Local Authority. It combines three components: active charities per 10,000 population (weight 45%), charitable income density per 10,000 population (weight 35%), and a cause-mix diversity score based on the Shannon entropy across 17 Charity Commission cause categories (weight 20%). Higher scores indicate a more civically active area with a broader and deeper charitable sector.
- Which local authorities have the highest charity density?
- Civic vitality varies substantially by area. Rural and commuter areas with high household incomes tend to score highly, while some urban authorities with large populations score lower in per-capita terms despite hosting many absolute charities. See the full rankings on this page for the current top and bottom areas by GCVI.
- What data source does Gera use for charity figures?
- All data comes from the Charity Commission for England and Wales Full Register Daily Extract, published daily at register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Gera processes the publicextract.charity.txt, publicextract.charity_classification.txt, and publicextract.charity_area_of_operation.txt files. Income figures are the "latest_income" field from each charity's most recent annual return.
- Does a higher GCVI mean an area is better to live in?
- A high GCVI indicates a dense, diverse, and well-funded charitable sector — often a sign of strong civic engagement. However, it reflects registered charitable activity, not overall quality of life. An area may have many charities precisely because it has greater social need, or because it hosts large national charity headquarters. Read the methodology page for a full explanation of what the index does and does not measure.
- How often is this data updated?
- The Charity Commission publishes a fresh daily extract every day. Gera re-processes and republishes this cluster monthly, or whenever a substantial change in the total register count occurs. The freshness line on each page shows the extract date used.
Contains public sector information published by Charity Commission for England and Wales and licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Charity Commission — Full Register Daily Extract (June 2026, published 2026-06-20).
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