# Cardiff: senior pay and councillor allowances url: https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/councils/pay-and-allowances/cardiff/ updated: 29 September 2026 licence: Our words, analysis, charts and derived calculations: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), credit [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). Figures: each source's own licence, listed under Sources. publisher: [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk) # Cardiff: senior pay and councillor allowances Last updated 29 September 2026. Figures refresh every night. [How each figure is worked out](/methodology/). In its draft statement of accounts for 2025-26, Cardiff reports total remuneration of **£248,491** for its chief executive (including employer pension contributions), **61** employees paid £100,000 or more, and **£1,951,000** paid in members' allowances. ## Key figures - £248,491Chief Executive, 2025-26 - 61Staff paid £100,000 or more, 2025-26 - £1,951,000Members' allowances, 2025-26 - £19,771Basic allowance per councillor, 2025-26 ## Chief Executive Total remuneration of **£248,491** in 2025-26, including employer pension contributions. That is up 3.2% on 2024-25 (£240,786). The median among the 2 other Welsh councils collected so far is £200,946. From the accounts: Chief Executive - Paul Orders. 2025/26: salary, fees & allowances 208,116; taxable benefits, compensation and pension strain 0; pension column 40,375; total 248,491. 2024/25: 201,663; 39,123; 240,786. Column headings in the PDF are rotated and could not be read cleanly; the total equals salary plus the pension column. Note (a): the Chief Executive is the Returning Officer and fees for that role are additional to the table. A total excluding pension is not printed as a column. PDF page 65, Note 8.3 ## Employees paid £60,000 or more 953 employees in 2025-26, up 31.4% on 2024-25 (725). 61 were paid £100,000 or more, 16.0 per 100,000 residents. The median among the 3 other Welsh councils collected so far is 8.0 per 100,000. Search | Band | 2025-26 | 2024-25 | | --- | --- | --- | | £60,000 to £64,999Details | 350 | 307 | | 2024-25307 | | | | £65,000 to £69,999Details | 215 | 118 | | 2024-25118 | | | | £70,000 to £74,999Details | 103 | 63 | | 2024-2563 | | | | £75,000 to £79,999Details | 61 | 76 | | 2024-2576 | | | | £80,000 to £84,999Details | 64 | 53 | | 2024-2553 | | | | £85,000 to £89,999Details | 48 | 32 | | 2024-2532 | | | | £90,000 to £94,999Details | 34 | 7 | | 2024-257 | | | | £95,000 to £99,999Details | 17 | 24 | | 2024-2524 | | | | £100,000 to £104,999Details | 19 | 8 | | 2024-258 | | | | £105,000 to £109,999Details | 7 | 4 | | 2024-254 | | | | £110,000 to £114,999Details | 3 | 5 | | 2024-255 | | | | £115,000 to £119,999Details | 3 | 3 | | 2024-253 | | | | £120,000 to £124,999Details | 4 | 2 | | 2024-252 | | | | £125,000 to £139,999Details | 0 | 0 | | 2024-250 | | | | £125,000 to £129,999Details | 2 | 5 | | 2024-255 | | | | £130,000 to £134,999Details | 3 | 2 | | 2024-252 | | | | £135,000 to £139,999Details | 1 | 3 | | 2024-253 | | | | £140,000 to £144,999Details | 3 | 6 | | 2024-256 | | | | £145,000 to £149,999Details | 9 | 0 | | 2024-250 | | | | £150,000 to £154,999Details | 0 | 2 | | 2024-252 | | | | £150,000 to £164,999Details | 0 | 0 | | 2024-250 | | | | £155,000 to £159,999Details | 2 | 0 | | 2024-250 | | | | £160,000 to £199,999Details | 0 | 0 | | 2024-250 | | | | £165,000 to £169,999Details | 0 | 2 | | 2024-252 | | | | £170,000 to £174,999Details | 0 | 0 | | 2024-250 | | | | £175,000 to £179,999Details | 1 | 0 | | 2024-250 | | | | £180,000 to £184,999Details | 1 | 1 | | 2024-251 | | | | £185,000 to £189,999Details | 1 | 0 | | 2024-250 | | | | £190,000 to £194,999Details | 0 | 0 | | 2024-250 | | | | £195,000 to £199,999Details | 1 | 1 | | 2024-251 | | | | £200,000 to £204,999Details | 0 | 1 | | 2024-251 | | | | £200,000 to £209,999Details | 0 | 0 | | 2024-250 | | | | £205,000 to £209,999Details | 1 | 0 | | 2024-250 | | | Includes schools staff. Includes senior officers. From the accounts: Welsh threshold £60,000. Note 8.2: 'the number of employees, whose remuneration is over £60,000 per annum within bands of £5,000 ... including senior officers whose remuneration is disclosed in more detail in note 8.3. It excludes any staff paid via agency.' Includes some severance payments and Returning Officer fees; excludes employer's pension. Separately identifies individuals directly employed by school governing bodies. Non Schools and Teaching columns; totals Non Schools 240 / Teaching 713 (2025/26) and 181 / 544 (2024/25). Runs of all-zero bands collapsed here. Source: Cardiff, [Draft Statement of Accounts 2025/26](https://www.cardiff.gov.uk/media/1947/Draft-Statement-of-Accounts-2025-to-2026/pdf/lc2_Draft_Statement_of_Accounts_2025-26.pdf) (draft), PDF pages 63-64, Note 8.2. Read by hand; checked 2026-09-24. ## Councillors' allowances £1,951,000 in 2025-26, up 6.1% on 2024-25 (£1,839,000), or £5.11 per resident. The median among the 3 other Welsh councils collected so far is £8.41 per resident. | Paid as | Total | | --- | --- | | Basic allowances | £1,081,996 | | Special responsibility allowances | £851,643 | | Expenses | £17,491 | | All | £1,951,130 | The basic allowance for each councillor is £19,771 a year (2025-26). It is set nationally: £19,771 for 2025-26. From the accounts: "The total amount of Members' Allowances (including basic and special responsibility) paid in 2025/26 was £1.951 million (£1.839 million in 2024/25)." (PDF page 70, Note 8.5) Published allowances: [Member Remuneration and Allowances 2025 to 2026](https://www.cardiff.gov.uk/media/2152/Member-Remuneration-and-Allowances-2025-to-2026/excel/ebMember_Remuneration_and_Allowances_2025_to_2026.xlsx). ## What this data does and doesn't show - Every figure is as Cardiff printed it, in accounts that have not yet been audited. Counts in the £100,000 figure are our sum of the council's bands. - Comparisons are with the other Welsh councils read so far; no national figure is published for England. - Published 2025/26 spreadsheet Total row: Basic Salary 1,081,995.91; Senior Salary - Executive Members 800,806.44; Civic Salary 50,836.50; Travel 145.27; Subsistence 28.00; Reimbursement of care costs 17,317.55; Total 1,951,129.67; Pension Contributions 69,399.72 (not in Total). 'sra' is our sum of the senior and civic salary columns; 'expenses' our sum of travel, subsistence and care. Co-opted members are shown separately (total 22,004.36). Basic rate is the national Welsh basic salary for 2025-26 (£19,771); the spreadsheet shows 19,770.96 paid. ## Related pages - [Back to Council senior pay and councillor allowances](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/councils/pay-and-allowances/) - [How much is council tax and what does it pay for?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/council-tax/) - [Who is my MP, and what does their office cost?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/mps/) - [Where does my tax money actually go?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/for-every-100-pounds-of-tax/) ## More from this publisher - [UK tax calculators](https://howlongisit.co.uk) Published by [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). Our words, analysis, charts and derived calculations: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), credit [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). The figures belong to the publishers listed under Sources and are used under their licences. Figures last updated 29 September 2026.