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Council tax in Powys

Last updated . Figures refresh every night. How each figure is worked out.

Council tax in Powys for 2026-27 is £2,352 a year for a Band D home, £1,568 for Band A and £5,487 for the top band. That is £26 above the Wales average of £2,326. It ranks 10 of 22 billing areas in Wales. Figures are the council's own set rates. Wales publishes Band D only, so the other bands here are worked out from the statutory ratios.

Figures for the 2026–27 financial year. Source: Welsh Government.

Key figures

  • £2,352Band D a year, 2026-27 As of 6 April 2026
  • £1,568Band A, the lowest As of 6 April 2026
  • +£26Band D against the Wales average of £2,326 Above average As of 6 April 2026
  • 10 of 22Rank in Wales, highest first As of 6 April 2026

Source: Welsh Government.

What is the bill for each band?

£2,352
Band D, Powys, 2026-27
Council tax by band in Powys, bands A to I
BandA yearA month
Band A
Details for Band A
£1,567.81£130.65
A month
£130.65
Band B
Details for Band B
£1,829.12£152.43
A month
£152.43
Band C
Details for Band C
£2,090.42£174.20
A month
£174.20
Band D
Details for Band D
£2,351.72£195.98
A month
£195.98
Band E
Details for Band E
£2,874.32£239.53
A month
£239.53
Band F
Details for Band F
£3,396.93£283.08
A month
£283.08
Band G
Details for Band G
£3,919.53£326.63
A month
£326.63
Band H
Details for Band H
£4,703.44£391.95
A month
£391.95
Band I
Details for Band I
£5,487.35£457.28
A month
£457.28

Wales publishes Band D only. The other bands are derived using the statutory ratios, which are fixed in law and the same for every Welsh authority, so these are exact rather than estimated.

Who gets the money?

County or county borough council 80%Police and crime commissioner 16%Community council 4%
Band D bill in Powys by receiving body
Who receives itBand DShare
County or county borough council
Details for County or county borough council
£1,87280%
Share
80%
Police and crime commissioner
Details for Police and crime commissioner
£38816%
Share
16%
Community council
Details for Community council
£924%
Share
4%

Each body sets its own precept and the council simply collects them together. The council that sends the bill keeps only its own share.

Where your council tax goes: from your bill to each service

How does it compare?

Band D here is £26 above the Wales average, 10 of 22 councils from the highest. It rose 5% on last year.

Powys among the Wales councils nearest it, Band D 2026-27

Ranked highest first. Every council is in the full table.

Show as a table
Powys among the Wales councils nearest it, Band D 2026-27
NameBand D
6. Gwynedd£2,469
7. Ceredigion£2,419
8. Monmouthshire£2,417
9. Flintshire£2,376
10. Powys (Powys)£2,352
11. Carmarthenshire£2,351
12. Denbighshire£2,339
13. Wrexham£2,309
14. Rhondda Cynon Taf£2,289

Figures for the 2026–27 financial year. Source: Welsh Government.

How does Powys compare? The report card

Official figures on complaints, finances, audit, pay and services for Powys, each from the body that published it and set against the figure for Wales. See every council on the council map.

  • Council tax rise this year5.3%Higher than the Wales figure of 5.2%
  • Council tax per head£1,202Higher than the Wales figure of £963
  • Ombudsman interventions16% (8 of 51 closed)Higher than the Wales figure of 13%
  • Recycling rate70.5%Higher than the Wales figure of 68.4%
  • Planning decisions on time92.5%Higher than the Wales figure of 90.5%

Each figure is set against the figure for Wales as a whole. They are plain comparisons, one measure at a time: there is no overall score and no ranking of councils. Higher is not always better or worse; what each measure does and does not show is on the methodology page.

What do complaints to the ombudsman show?

Public Services Ombudsman for Wales: Powys, 2024-25
MeasurePowysFor comparison
Complaints closed
Details for Complaints closed
51—
For comparison
—
Closed with the Ombudsman intervening
Details for Closed with the Ombudsman intervening
8 (16%)13% across Welsh councils
For comparison
13% across Welsh councils

The Ombudsman publishes one row per closed case; the counts here are this site’s own, from those rows, for the 2024-25 financial year. The Ombudsman’s annual letter to each council may count slightly differently.

Source: Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, Open data: complaints closed, 2024-25.

How healthy are its finances?

Reserves, spending and borrowing: Powys
MeasurePowysFor comparison
Outstanding borrowing at 30 June 2026
Details for Outstanding borrowing at 30 June 2026
£357.9m—
For comparison
—

The Welsh Government publishes council reserves as a PDF report only, so no figure is shown here. Much of any council’s reserves is set aside for particular purposes. Borrowing is total outstanding loans of every kind; councils borrow mainly to pay for buildings, roads and housing, and the figure does not show what the borrowing was for.

Source: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Local authority borrowing and investment live table, 30 June 2026.

What have the auditors said?

Audit reports: Powys
ReportTitlePublished
Latest local report (Audit Wales)Powys County Council – Making growth count? Economic development in Powys27 August 2026
Latest Annual Audit Summary (Audit Wales)Powys County Council – Annual Audit Summary 202527 March 2026

Audit Wales publishes an Annual Audit Summary for each council, which states its opinion on the accounts, and reports on particular services. Follow each link for the findings in full.

Source: Audit Wales, Local reports and Annual Audit Summaries, latest report. Checked 22 September 2026.

What are senior staff and councillors paid?

Senior pay and councillor allowances for Powys have not yet been read from its statement of accounts. There is no central dataset of either; they are being added council by council, each with a link to the page of the accounts it comes from.

How are its services rated?

Service ratings and performance: Powys
MeasurePowysFor comparison
Municipal waste reused, recycled or composted (the statutory target measure), 2024-25
Details for Municipal waste reused, recycled or composted (the statutory target measure), 2024-25
70.5%68.4% for Wales
For comparison
68.4% for Wales
Planning decisions on time, January to March 2026
Details for Planning decisions on time, January to March 2026
92.5%90.5% for Wales
For comparison
90.5% for Wales

Inspections happen at different times, so a rating can be several years old; the date is shown with each. Planning figures are measured differently in each nation: share of planning applications determined within the statutory or an agreed time, in one quarter. Recycling rates are measured differently in England, Scotland and Wales, so compare within a nation.

Source: Welsh Government, Local authority municipal waste management, 2024-25; Welsh Government, Development management quarterly survey, January to March 2026.

What has happened recently?

Decisions and publications by official bodies about Powys, newest first. Each links to the body that made or published it. News reports are not included.

  1. Audit
    Audit Wales
  2. Council tax
    Welsh Government
  3. Audit
    Audit Wales
  4. Election
    Liberal Democrats 23, Independent 15, Conservative and Unionist Party 11, Labour Party 7, Labour and Co-operative Party 2, Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales 2, Green Party 1
    Democracy Club

Does the council think something here is wrong?

If you represent Powys and think a figure here is wrong, out of date or unfairly presented, email hello@whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk with this page’s address and the source you would point to. Every correction is logged, with its date, on the corrections page.

How much of the council's spending does this cover?

Council tax funds 33% of this authority's budget. The rest comes from central government grant, business rates and fees. That is why a grant cut can raise your bill even when the council has not changed what it does, and why cutting council tax would not shrink services by the same proportion.

Where can I find out more?

What council tax is and why it works this way, including why the bands are still based on 1991 property values in England and Scotland, and how every area compares, everything else on Powys: parking, roads, your MP and local services, and Powys on the council map.

Common questions

How much is council tax in Powys?
Band D is £2,352 a year for 2026-27. Band A is £1,568 and the top band £5,487.
Is council tax in Powys higher than average?
Yes. Band D here is £26 above the Wales average of £2,326.

Sources for this page

SourcePublisherFigures as ofUpdatedLicence
Council Tax levelsWelsh Governmentthe 2026–27 financial yearannualOpen 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.

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