The UK areas with the highest and lowest council tax burden

London residents are less impacted by council tax compared to other parts of the UK, new data shows

Man looks at council tax demand letter and scratches his head.
(Image credit: coldsnowstorm via Getty Images)

Residents in some northern towns and cities have a higher council tax burden than those in the most exclusive neighbourhoods in London, new analysis has found.

The study, by removals company Getamover.co.uk, looked at government data on band D council tax costs for 2025/26 versus median household incomes from 2022/23 across all English local authorities.

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Top 10 local authorities with highest council tax burden relative to median income:

Rank

Local authority

Band D council tax cost 2025 to 2026

Median annual income

Council tax as percentage of median income

1

Pendle

£2,535.19

£23,100

10.97%

2

City of Nottingham

£2,656.19

£24,300

10.93%

3

Burnley

£2,455.83

£23,600

10.41%

4

Blackpool

£2,392.21

£23,300

10.27%

5

Torridge

£2,479.12

£24,200

10.24%

6

Redcar and Cleveland

£2,424.47

£23,800

10.19%

7

Middlesbrough

£2,487.65

£24,500

10.15%

8

Ashfield

£2,506.63

£24,700

10.15%

9

Walsall

£2,498.27

£24,700

10.11%

10

North Devon

£2,514.66

£24,900

10.10%

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Top 10 local authorities with lowest council tax burden relative to median income:

Rank

Local authority

Band D council tax cost 2025 to 2026

Median annual income

Council tax as percentage of median income

1

City of London

£1,274.07

£60,700

2.10%

2

Wandsworth

£997.75

£42,200

2.36%

3

Westminster

£1,019.00

£42,600

2.39%

4

Kensington and Chelsea

£1,591.59

£47,700

3.34%

5

Hammersmith and Fulham

£1,451.42

£38,300

3.79%

6

Tower Hamlets

£1,754.57

£37,300

4.70%

7

Windsor and Maidenhead

£1,823.50

£38,200

4.77%

8

Islington

£2,012.10

£40,300

4.99%

9

Southwark

£1,877.90

£36,200

5.19%

10

Camden

£2,106.69

£40,600

5.19%

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is an experienced financial and business journalist. Formerly on staff at the Daily Telegraph, her freelance work now appears in the money pages of all the national newspapers. She endeavours to make money issues easy to understand for everyone, and to do justice to the people who regularly trust her to tell their stories. She lives by the sea in Aberystwyth. You can find her tweeting @thatlaurawrites