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Where your council tax goes in Cardiff
Last updated . Figures refresh every night. How each figure is worked out.
A Band D council tax bill in Cardiff is £2,013.18 for 2026-27, split between Cardiff £1,603.72, South Wales Police £405.14, Community and town councils (average for the area) £4.32. Shared out in proportion to what each body spends, the largest single line is education at Cardiff: £708.92 of the bill. Council tax pays for 11% of the council's own spending; the rest is government grant, business rates and fees.
Figures for the 2026–27 financial year. Source: Welsh Government.
Key figures
- £2,013.18Band D bill, 2026-27
- £1,603.72Goes to Cardiff itself (80%)
- £708.92Largest line: education
- 10.7%Of the council's money that comes from council tax, 2024-25
Source: Welsh Government.
Who gets your bill
Figures are for a Band D home. Bands A to I pay a fixed fraction of this, set in law.
Fire and rescue in Wales is paid for by a levy on each council, so it is inside the council part of the bill rather than a separate precept.
And where does that bit go?
Choose any part of the bill to see how it divides, then keep going as far as the published returns allow. Every level has its own link you can share.
Your bill: £2,013.18
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Cardiff £1,603.72
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South Wales Police £405.14
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Community and town councils (average for the area) £4.32
Cardiff
£1,603.72 of your bill goes to Cardiff. It is shared out below in proportion to how Cardiff spent its money in 2024-25, its latest published return.
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Education £708.92
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Adult social care £268.27
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Housing (not council homes) £222.97
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Children's social care £208.33
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Environment and regulation £78.91
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Roads and transport £39.55
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Running the council £38.68
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Planning and development £8.96
Which councils count as similar
Medians are across the 10 Welsh councils closest in population: Swansea, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Carmarthenshire, Caerphilly, Newport, Flintshire, Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot, Wrexham, Vale of Glamorgan. Per-resident figures use ONS mid-year population estimates.
Education
£708.92 of your bill goes to education at Cardiff. Here is how its £469.0m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Schools £693.84
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Other education £15.08
Adult social care
£268.27 of your bill goes to adult social care at Cardiff. Here is how its £177.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Older people (65 and over) £125.00
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Learning disability support £86.89
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Physical support £28.72
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Other adult services £15.52
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Mental health support £12.14
Older people (65 and over)
£125.00 of your bill goes to older people (65 and over) at Cardiff. Here is how its £82.7m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Home care £50.30
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Nursing home placements £26.12
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Residential care home placements £21.77
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Other services £9.11
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Direct payments £7.37
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Assessment and care management £6.53
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Equipment and adaptations £1.72
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Supported and other accommodation £1.40
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Day care £0.49
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Meals £0.20
Learning disability support
£86.89 of your bill goes to learning disability support at Cardiff. Here is how its £57.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Home care £46.85
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Residential care home placements £13.86
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Day care £10.20
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Other services £6.60
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Direct payments £4.13
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Assessment and care management £3.12
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Nursing home placements £1.43
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Supported and other accommodation £0.68
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Equipment and adaptations £0.03
Physical support
£28.72 of your bill goes to physical support at Cardiff. Here is how its £19.0m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Home care £13.29
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Direct payments £7.67
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Nursing home placements £1.96
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Residential care home placements £1.87
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Other services £1.16
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Equipment and adaptations £1.02
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Day care £0.97
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Assessment and care management £0.79
Mental health support
£12.14 of your bill goes to mental health support at Cardiff. Here is how its £8.0m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Assessment and care management £3.62
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Residential care home placements £2.66
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Home care £1.98
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Other services £1.82
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Nursing home placements £1.04
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Day care £1.00
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Equipment and adaptations £0.01
Housing (not council homes)
£222.97 of your bill goes to housing (not council homes) at Cardiff. Here is how its £147.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Housing benefit, homelessness and housing services £176.17
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Other General Fund housing £46.80
Council homes are not in this. Council housing is paid for through the Housing Revenue Account, from tenants' rents, and the law keeps it separate from the General Fund that council tax goes into. Cardiff reported no Housing Revenue Account for 2024-25: it has no council homes of its own, or they were transferred to a housing association. What council tax does and doesn't pay for.
Children's social care
£208.33 of your bill goes to children's social care at Cardiff. Here is how its £137.8m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Children looked after £131.22
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Safeguarding and social work £30.87
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Children's centres and early years £21.76
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Family support £16.54
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Youth justice £4.18
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Asylum-seeking children £3.46
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Other children's and families' services £0.30
Environment and regulation
£78.91 of your bill goes to environment and regulation at Cardiff. Here is how its £52.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Waste collection, disposal and recycling £52.07
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Street cleaning £15.81
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Environmental health, food safety, pest control and licensing £7.11
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Community safety and CCTV £3.82
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Flood defence, land drainage and coast protection £0.10
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Trading standards £0.00
Roads and transport
£39.55 of your bill goes to roads and transport at Cardiff. Here is how its £26.2m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Concessionary bus fares £11.71
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Other transport (airports, harbours, tolls) £7.30
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Support for bus, rail and other public transport £4.74
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Street lighting (including energy) £4.44
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Transport planning and policy £3.05
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Winter service (gritting) £0.70
Road and bridge maintenance
£7.62 of your bill goes to road and bridge maintenance at Cardiff. Here is how its £6.5m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges) £4.20
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Environmental, safety and routine maintenance £3.42
Running the council
£38.68 of your bill goes to running the council at Cardiff. Here is how its £25.6m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Collecting council tax and business rates £20.73
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Corporate and democratic core £13.61
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Non-distributed costs (past pensions, unused assets) £2.10
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Coroners' and other courts £1.74
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Other central services £0.50
Parks, leisure, libraries and culture
£29.12 of your bill goes to parks, leisure, libraries and culture at Cardiff. Here is how its £19.3m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Parks and open spaces (including play areas) £12.58
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Libraries £7.65
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Sport and leisure £5.53
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Museums, arts, heritage and archives £2.25
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Tourism £1.10
Planning and development
£8.96 of your bill goes to planning and development at Cardiff. Here is how its £5.9m of net spending on it divides in the return.
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Community development £3.83
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Planning policy £2.43
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Planning applications (development management) £1.43
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Economic development and business support £1.11
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Building control £0.17
South Wales Police
£405.14 of your bill is this year's adult social care precept, which councils may raise on top of the usual limit for adult social care. It is shown against how South Wales Police's adult social care spending of £433.1m divided in 2024-25. MHCLG publishes only this year's increase; the running total since 2016-17 printed on your bill is in the council part above.
Parks, street cleaning and roads here
What Cardiff spent, net of income, on the lines readers ask about most. Roads and street cleaning are also shown per mile of road the council looks after, where it is the highway authority. Gully cleaning and verge cutting are inside routine maintenance; no return splits them out.
| Line | Net spending | Per resident | Similar councils, per resident | Per mile of road | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Parks and open spaces (including play areas)Details for Parks and open spaces (including play areas) | £8.3m | £22 | £24 | — | up 2.1% on 2023-24 |
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Street cleaningDetails for Street cleaning | £10.5m | £28 | £19 | £15,449 (similar: £5,361) | up 1.4% on 2023-24 |
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Road and bridge maintenanceDetails for Road and bridge maintenance | £6.5m | £17 | £36 | £9,499 (similar: £10,012) | down 6.5% on 2023-24 |
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Environmental, safety and routine maintenanceDetails for Environmental, safety and routine maintenance | £2.9m | £7.60 | £23 | £4,265 (similar: £4,060) | down 21.4% on 2023-24 |
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Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges)Details for Structural maintenance (resurfacing, bridges) | £3.6m | £9.33 | £14 | £5,234 (similar: £2,561) | up 10.7% on 2023-24 |
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Winter service (gritting)Details for Winter service (gritting) | £593k | £1.55 | £4.07 | £872 (similar: £1,156) | up 8.0% on 2023-24 |
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Street lighting (including energy)Details for Street lighting (including energy) | £3.8m | £9.87 | £12 | £5,535 (similar: £3,081) | down 10.1% on 2023-24 |
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Miles of road: Department for Transport road lengths, 2025; locally managed major roads and all minor roads. More on what council tax does and doesn't pay for.
What it adds up to
| Service | Per resident | Median |
|---|---|---|
EducationDetails for Education | £1,229 | £1,247 |
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Adult social careDetails for Adult social care | £465 | £623 |
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Housing (not council homes)Details for Housing (not council homes) | £387 | £319 |
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Children's social careDetails for Children's social care | £361 | £347 |
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Environment and regulationDetails for Environment and regulation | £137 | £169 |
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Roads and transportDetails for Roads and transport | £69 | £105 |
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Running the councilDetails for Running the council | £67 | £92 |
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Parks, leisure, libraries and cultureDetails for Parks, leisure, libraries and culture | £51 | £80 |
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Planning and developmentDetails for Planning and development | £16 | £67 |
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- Staff costs are not published by service for Cardiff, so its split between its own staff and everything else cannot be shown.
What this data does and doesn't show
- These are each body's own figures, as reported to government in its revenue outturn return. Net spending is after the fees, charges and grants a service brings in.
- Your bill is for 2026-27; it is shared out using the latest published return, which covers an earlier year. The mix of spending changes little from one year to the next, but it does change.
- Council tax is not ring-fenced: this shows your bill in proportion to spending, not what your money bought. Where a precept is set aside for adult social care, it is shown against adult social care.
- No council publishes spending at street or property level, so nothing here says what was spent near you.
- Sub-service lines are the ones the national returns itemise. Councils describe their own budgets differently; their budget books and statements of accounts have more detail.
Sources
- Welsh Government, Composition of average band D council tax by billing authority (StatsWales), published 24 March 2026. Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Welsh Government, Local authority revenue outturn expenditure and financing (StatsWales), published 16 October 2025. Open Government Licence v3.0.
How the split is worked out, and how the three nations' returns are matched to one list of services, is on the methodology page. The dataset is on the data page. See also council tax in Cardiff and everything else about Cardiff.
Common questions
- What does council tax pay for in Cardiff?
- A Band D bill of £2,013.18 is split between Cardiff, South Wales Police, Community and town councils (average for the area). In proportion to spending, the largest line is education, £708.92.
- Is council tax ring-fenced for particular services?
- No. Council tax is pooled with grants, business rates and fees. The adult social care precept is the exception: councils raise it for adult social care.
Sources for this page
| Source | Publisher | Figures as of | Updated | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Council Tax levels | Welsh Government | the 2026–27 financial year | annual | Open Government Licence v3.0 |
| Local authority revenue outturn expenditure and financing (StatsWales) | Welsh Government | 16 October 2025 | annual | Open Government Licence v3.0 |
Each source's figures are used under the licence shown. Our own words, analysis, charts and derived calculations are ours, under CC BY 4.0.