The 10 British towns and cities most affected by rising energy costs
New analysis has identified towns and cities in Great Britain where households are most vulnerable to rising energy costs.
The war in Iran and the closure of the vital trade route the Strait of Hormuz have led to a sharp increase in fuel prices in recent months; Rising oil prices also affected gasoline and diesel costs.
The biggest factor in most people’s domestic energy bills is gas prices rather than oil; the exception is off-grid customers who are dependent on heating oil, for which the government already offers some support.
Gas prices have risen since the conflict began, but customers have so far been protected by the energy price cap.
It is not yet clear exactly how hard households will be hit by high energy prices in the coming months, as Ofgem announced on 27 May what the price cap will be for the three months covering 1 July to 30 September 2026, but a significant increase in bills is expected.
A spokesman for Energy UK said: Independent last week: “We have also experienced an increase in gasoline prices since the conflict started.
“Due to the way the price cap works this has not yet affected the majority of customers but there will be a significant increase when the next price cap starts in July.”
Analysis by think tank Center for Cities has now found the towns and cities most likely to be affected by increases in domestic fuel and spending on gasoline or diesel.
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It determined the average share of local household income spent on energy bills and gasoline or diesel in 2025 to find the places most vulnerable to increases.
At the top are Burnley, Doncaster and Derby, where the average household spends around 9 per cent of its income (after tax) on energy.
This makes them the most vulnerable to cost increases.
Household vulnerability depends on both energy-related expenditures (home energy and motor fuel) and income. High-income households are generally better able to absorb increases in costs than lower-income households.
In Cambridge, the least affected city, this rate is 3.7 percent, less than half of the most affected places.
The national average of after-tax income spent on energy currently stands at 6.7 percent.
Top 10 cities or towns
Those most affected by price increases
- Burnley (9.0 per cent of after-tax income is spent on energy)
- Doncaster (8.9 percent)
- Derby (8.9 percent)
- Leicester (8.6 percent)
- Northampton (8.4 percent)
- Stoke (8.4 percent)
- Preston (8.2 percent)
- Peterborough (8.2 percent)
- Bradford (8.1 percent)
- Barnsley (8.0 percent)
Bottom 10 cities or towns
Descending order, least affected by price increases
- Glasgow (6.0 percent)
- Southend (6.0 percent)
- Worthing (5.9 percent)
- Brighton (5.8 percent)
- Aberdeen (5.7 percent)
- Edinburgh (5.3 percent)
- Reading (5.0 percent)
- Oxford (4.8 percent)
- London (4.2 percent)
- Cambridge (3.7 percent)
Center for Cities analyst Yunze Wang said: “The government is right to target its support to poorer households.
“Much of the variation in household energy spending comes from income. Households in cities in the Greater Southeast have more disposable income, so they can better afford higher prices.”
“Home energy and motor fuel are necessities that households cannot completely do without. When it comes to home energy, poor households tend to live in lower quality housing that is less energy efficient, so their home energy bills are also higher.”
