UK average cash ISA balance is £7,836
Customers in Derbyshire Dales have the highest cash ISA balance of £10,478, 34% above the UK average of £7,836, according to the latest Halifax Savings Map. South Bucks (£10,321), Harrow (£10,228), Chiltern (£10,165), East Dorset (£10,120) and Brentwood (£10,025) all also have balances over £10,000.
Almost three quarters of the top 30 local authorities with the highest Cash ISA balances are in Greater London and the South East.
Male Savers In Ashfield Have Balances 13% Higher Than Women In The Area
Male ISA customers tend to save only marginally more than women and have balances only 1% higher (£7,853 versus £7,771.) This increases to 4% in the North and West Midlands (£7,535 versus £7,831 and £7,780 versus £8,063), but rises further still to reach 13% in Ashfield in the East Midlands (£8,335 compared to £7,284).
The Western Isles in Scotland have the second highest differential at 10%, £7,133 compared to £6,438.
The highest male balances are in Derbyshire Dales at £10,317, followed by South Bucks (£10,303) and the Chilterns (£10,264). The lowest are in Hackney (£4,595), Glasgow City (£5,161) and Newham (£5,215).
Women In Cambridge Have Balances 16% Higher Than Men
In four LAs women have an average balance at least 10% above men; these are Cambridge (16% - £8,974 versus £7,759), Westminster (13% - £8,294 versus £7,336), Newham (10% £5,749 versus £5,215) and Oxford (10% - £8,599 versus £7,843.)
On a regional basis, Greater London and Scotland are the only areas where females have higher balances than men. In Greater London, female savers are 3% above (£8,137 versus £7,874) but this falls to only 1% in Scotland (£6,498 versus £6,436.)
The highest female balances are also in Derbyshire Dales at £10,517, followed by Harrow (£10,446) and South Bucks (£10,318). The lowest is in Hackney (£4,815) again, followed by Southwark (£5,119) and West Lothian (£5,295).
East Anglia Has The Highest Regional Balance
At £8,406, 7% above the UK average, East Anglia has the highest regional balance. This is followed by the East Midlands (£8,364) and the South East (£8,345).
Overall, LAs in Scotland had the lowest average balance at £6,515, 17% below the UK average, followed by the South West at £7,686.
The lowest ISA balances are in the London Boroughs of Hackney at £4,760, 39% below the UK average and Southwark (£5,260). This is followed by Scotland's; Glasgow City (£5,294) and West Lothian £5,346.
Flavia Palacios Umana, Head of Halifax Savings Products
"Despite the majority of the large cash ISA balances being held in London and the South East it is Derbyshire Dales in the East Midlands that has the highest average balance of all at £10,478. However, this only equates to just over twice the annual ISA limit and falls to as low as one and a half times at a national level.
"Many savers are still not making the most of their savings by using their full annual ISA allowance, which will earn them interest free of tax."