In this section: Your area
Cardiff: your area
Last updated . Figures refresh every night. How each figure is worked out.
Cardiff sets a Band D council tax of £2,013 for 2026-27, 22 of 22 councils in Wales from the highest. Police: South Wales. Fire and rescue: South Wales. Health: Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. This page links to everything the site holds on the area; the full bill, the report card and parking each have a page of their own.
Figures for the 2026–27 financial year. Source: Welsh Government.
Key figures
- £2,013Band D council tax, 2026-27
- £4.8mParking surplus, 2024-25
- 64.0%Household waste recycled, 2024-25
Sources: Welsh Government, Welsh Government (StatsWales).
What is the council tax in Cardiff?
Band D is £2,013 a year for 2026-27, and Band A, the lowest, £1,342. That is £313 below the Wales average of £2,326, 22 of 22 in Wales from the highest. It rose 4.5% on last year.
Of a Band D bill, £1,604 goes to County or county borough council, £405 goes to Police and crime commissioner, £4 goes to Community council.
Every band, who gets the money and how Cardiff compares
How does the council compare?
- Council tax rise this year4.5%Lower than the Wales figure of 5.2%
- Council tax per head£826Lower than the Wales figure of £963
- Ombudsman interventions20% (37 of 183 closed)Higher than the Wales figure of 13%
- Recycling rate64.0%Lower than the Wales figure of 68.4%
- Planning decisions on time98.6%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.
The full report card: complaints, finances, audit, pay and services
Roads, bins and planning
| Measure | Figure | Period |
|---|---|---|
Household waste reused, recycled or compostedDetails for Household waste reused, recycled or composted | 64.0% | 2024-25 |
| ||
Planning decisions made on timeDetails for Planning decisions made on time | 98.6% | January to March 2026 |
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Road condition is not published in the same form for Wales councils. Road condition is from the Department for Transport; each figure is compared with Wales as a whole in the report card.
What does the council make from parking?
| Authority | Year | Income | Surplus |
|---|---|---|---|
CardiffDetails for Cardiff | 2024-25 | £10.6m | £4.8m |
| |||
What the law lets a council spend a parking surplus on is on parking fines and council parking income.
Who is your MP?
A council area can span several constituencies, so your MP depends on your address. Enter your postcode in the box at the top of this page to see your MP and what their office cost, find any MP by name or constituency, or see every constituency and its MP on the MP map.
How much crime is recorded here?
In the 12 months to June 2026, police recorded 94.5 crimes per 1,000 residents in Cardiff, excluding anti-social behaviour, against 81.3 across Wales.
Cardiff on the crime map, down to streets of a few hundred homes
Your police precept
A Band D home in Cardiff pays £405.14 police precept in 2026-27. It funds South Wales, which has £468m in all for 2026-27. The precept is set once for the whole force area and spent across the whole force area, so the crime figures above for Cardiff are not what its precept bought.
South Wales: funding, precept and results for the whole force
Who runs police, fire, health and ambulances here?
| Service | Body | Latest | Per resident |
|---|---|---|---|
PoliceDetails for Police | South Wales | £468m (2026-27) | £345 |
| |||
Fire and rescueDetails for Fire and rescue | South Wales Fire and Rescue Service | £90m (2024-25) | £57.21 |
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AmbulanceDetails for Ambulance | Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust | £345m (2025-26) | £109 |
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NHSDetails for NHS | Cardiff and Vale University Health Board | £1.4bn (2023-24) | £2,791 |
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RoadsDetails for Roads | Cardiff | £11m (2024-25) | £28.27 |
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SchoolsDetails for Schools | Cardiff | £469m (2024-25) | £1,228 |
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Council spendingDetails for Council spending | Cardiff | £1.1bn (2024-25) | £2,777 |
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Social careDetails for Social care | Cardiff | £315m (2024-25) | £825 |
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HousingDetails for Housing | Cardiff | £148m (2024-25) | £386 |
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Waste and recyclingDetails for Waste and recycling | Cardiff | not published | — |
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Each body serves a wider area than Cardiff, and its money is for the whole of that area. Its page has its funding over time and what is recorded alongside it; public services near you looks them up for any postcode. Water is not covered yet: see Discover Water.
Which bodies cover Cardiff: ONS lookups of local authorities to police force areas, fire and rescue authorities, integrated care boards and local health boards (Open Government Licence v3.0).
How does Cardiff look against other councils?
See Cardiff on the council map, alongside every other council on council tax, complaints, reserves, audit and inspections, or browse every council.
Common questions
- How much is council tax in Cardiff?
- Band D is £2,013 a year for 2026-27. Every band.
- Which police force covers Cardiff?
- South Wales police force area. Fire and rescue: South Wales.
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 |
| Roads and transport revenue outturn expenditure by authority and service | Welsh Government (StatsWales) | the 2024–25 financial year | 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.