Revealed: Find out if your neighbours are on a better state pension than you. We

After a lifetime of hard work and paying taxes, the state pension offers a well-earned financial ­cushion that most people depend on in retirement. But far from ­paying out a flat rate, there is a huge disparity in the amount pensioners receive across different regions of the UK.

It has never been a secret that the state ­pension pays out different amounts, but the sheer disparity between various postcodes might surprise you.

Our analysis of official state pension records has found pensioners in some towns on average receive thousands more each year than their neighbours, often only a few miles away.

Pensioners in Newham, London, receive £2,105 a year less on average than those in the City of London. Over a 20-year retirement, they’ll end up getting a staggering £42,000 less in state pension income than their ­neighbours only eight miles away.

Today, we reveal the ten towns across Britain where pensioners receive the highest and lowest state pension income.

So how does yours stack up compared to the average in your town?

And why are some areas so much better off than others? We ask experts what it is about ­different parts of Britain that causes such large regional variations.

Why the state pension varies

There are two types of state pension so the amount you receive in retirement will depend on your age and how many years you made National Insurance (NI) contributions.

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Anyone who reached state pension age before 2016 receives the old state pension, also known as the basic state pension, which pays up to £176.45 a week or £9,175.40 a year. You need 30 years of NI contributions to get the full amount.

Younger pensioners who have reached pension age since 2016 are on the new state pension and can get up to £230.25 a week – £11,973 a year.

They need 35 years of NI contributions for the full amount.

The new state pension is advertised as a flat rate that at first glance appears more generous, but Government data shows older pensioners actually receive more than their younger counterparts.

Older retirees in their 80s and 90s, who are on the basic version, typically receive the largest state pensions.

This is because anyone on the old state pension was also permitted to build up entitlement to extra state pension income.

Those who did so now receive this extra pension, known as ‘Serps’ (state earnings-related pension scheme), on top of their basic payment.

Some will receive a few pounds extra. But others could be receiving as much as the full basic pension of £176.45 plus a maximum Serps pension of £222.10 a week.

Richer areas get more

The ability to boost the old state pension via your earnings means that people in wealthier parts of the UK receive higher average state pensions.

Pensioners living in the heart of the capital in the City of London receive an average of £12,101 in state pension income, £2,105 a year more than those in the poorest areas.

Those in leafy commuter belt towns such as St Albans and ­Tandridge, Surrey, also receive about £12,000 on average.

The top ten areas receiving the largest state pensions are all located in the South of England, with many such as Hertfordshire, Surrey Heath and Mole Valley bordering the M25.

Outside of the South and East of England, the area with the next largest state pension average is Aberdeen, Scotland, where pensioners receive £228.44 a week (£11,879 a year). This is followed by Harborough, south-west of Leicester in the East Midlands, where pensioners get £228.39 a week (£11,876 a year),

Workers in wealthier areas are more likely to have complete work histories and have contributed to Serps, thereby boosting their pot.

Pension and retirement policy expert Tom McPhail explains that the Serps system mainly benefited higher earners. He says: ‘The two-tier state pension for people who had a full working career could result in really quite generous state pensions.

‘Now the new state pension is less generous than those combined double-tier state pensions for those on higher salaries, but more generous to low earners.’

However, higher earnings don’t always mean a higher state pension. Millions of workers paid into workplace pension schemes that were ‘contracted out’. This means they contributed less to National Insurance, and the funds were redirected into a workplace pension scheme instead.

So they receive a smaller sum from the state, but should get a…