What if everyone paid the same as council tax the English average?

Let us assume that all local authorities paid council tax with the same share as the England average. Namely 3.1% for the full tax and 4.6% for those on 0.75 of the full tax.  This is an exercise designed to further display the current inequalities in council tax as a means of funding local government.

 

Results

As might be expected, where earnings are higher people would pay more and vice versa. Of those analysed Nottingham would see the biggest fall of 40%, followed by Cornwall with 33%.  In contrast, Westminster would see charges equal 166% of current levels with Kensington & Chelsea an increase of 84%.

 

	Council tax		Council tax		Council tax		Council tax
	Band D	0.75	Band D	0.75	Band D	0.75	Band D	0.75
	Current	Current	Est	Est	Change	Change	Change	Change
Area	£	£	£	£	£	£	%	%
Nottingham	2755	2066	1641	1230	-1114	-836	-40	-40
Cornwall	2590	1943	1746	1309	-844	-633	-33	-33
Blackpool	2513	1885	1731	1299	-782	-586	-31	-31
Durham	2622	1967	1839	1379	-783	-587	-30	-30
Somerset	2561	1921	1851	1388	-710	-533	-28	-28
Canterbury	2419	1814	1868	1401	-551	-413	-23	-23
Milton Keynes	2800	2100	2232	1674	-568	-426	-20	-20
Portsmouth	2292	1719	1916	1437	-376	-282	-16	-16
Leeds	2172	1629	1960	1470	-212	-159	-10	-10
Bath & NE Somerset	1950	1463	2010	1508	60	45	3	3
East Hertfordshire	2492	1869	2732	2049	241	180	10	10
Surrey	1846	1385	2443	1832	597	448	32	32
Kensington & Chelsea	1569	1177	2889	2167	1320	990	84	84
Westminster	1050	788	2795	2097	1745	1309	166	166

 

Conclusion

If households council tax took the same share of income as the average for England then poorer areas would see charges fall and affluent areas would see charges rise.

  

Sources

Office for National Statistics (ONS), released 23 October 2025, ONS website, statistical bulletin, Employee earnings in the UK: 2025.

 

Local Authority Council tax data (various).