League table · 185 areas
Which councils have the biggest budgets?
The largest council budgets by total pounds. Large budgets mostly reflect large populations, so see the per-resident table for a fairer comparison.
This is the council budget only (net current service expenditure). NHS, pensions, Universal Credit and debt interest are not included. In two-tier counties, education and social care sit with the county, not the district.
| # | Council | Total budget | Per resident |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham | £2.4bn | £2,013 |
| 2 | Glasgow City | £1.8bn | £2,751 |
| 3 | Leeds | £1.6bn | £1,940 |
| 4 | Manchester | £1.3bn | £2,150 |
| 5 | Liverpool | £1.3bn | £2,474 |
| 6 | City of Edinburgh | £1.2bn | £2,254 |
| 7 | Cardiff | £1.1bn | £2,950 |
| 8 | Sheffield | £1.1bn | £1,932 |
| 9 | North Yorkshire | £1.1bn | £1,697 |
| 10 | Durham | £1.0bn | £1,934 |
| 11 | Cornwall | £1.0bn | £1,766 |
| 12 | Buckinghamshire | £1.0bn | £1,760 |
| 13 | Bradford | £1.0bn | £1,837 |
| 14 | Somerset | £1.0bn | £1,709 |
| 15 | Fife | £999.7m | £2,673 |
| 16 | Tower Hamlets | £901.1m | £2,696 |
| 17 | Bristol | £878.8m | £1,774 |
| 18 | North Lanarkshire | £863.5m | £2,511 |
| 19 | South Lanarkshire | £830.2m | £2,483 |
| 20 | Wiltshire | £827.6m | £1,572 |
| 21 | Leicester City | £813.2m | £2,123 |
| 22 | Rhondda Cynon Taf | £804.7m | £3,339 |
| 23 | Lambeth | £802.9m | £2,555 |
| 24 | Kirklees | £801.3m | £1,797 |
| 25 | Cheshire West and Chester | £783.3m | £2,095 |
| 26 | Ealing | £778.4m | £2,011 |
| 27 | Lewisham | £777.9m | £2,584 |
| 28 | Swansea | £772.2m | £3,096 |
| 29 | Hackney | £763.5m | £2,868 |
| 30 | Newham | £760.9m | £2,021 |
| 31 | Croydon | £751.7m | £1,833 |
| 32 | Barnet | £738.9m | £1,811 |
| 33 | Greenwich | £727.4m | £2,415 |
| 34 | Dorset | £721.2m | £1,844 |
| 35 | Aberdeenshire | £715.9m | £2,705 |
| 36 | Wigan | £710.4m | £2,047 |
| 37 | Southwark | £701.1m | £2,245 |
| 38 | Wirral | £698.2m | £2,117 |
| 39 | West Northamptonshire | £693.3m | £1,561 |
| 40 | Redbridge | £692.3m | £2,151 |
| 41 | Camden | £688.5m | £3,178 |
| 42 | East Riding of Yorkshire | £685.6m | £1,903 |
| 43 | Highland | £684.8m | £2,886 |
| 44 | Enfield | £678.9m | £2,061 |
| 45 | Brent | £677.7m | £1,924 |
| 46 | Cheshire East | £669.4m | £1,573 |
| 47 | Sandwell | £661.0m | £1,873 |
| 48 | Nottingham City | £660.7m | £2,028 |
| 49 | Coventry | £648.4m | £1,778 |
| 50 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | £645.6m | £1,591 |
| 51 | Walsall | £640.6m | £2,166 |
| 52 | Wakefield | £633.0m | £1,713 |
| 53 | Islington | £610.3m | £2,718 |
| 54 | Haringey | £609.0m | £2,288 |
| 55 | Bolton | £605.0m | £1,953 |
| 56 | Carmarthenshire | £604.6m | £3,182 |
| 57 | Northumberland | £604.1m | £1,809 |
| 58 | Brighton & Hove | £603.5m | £2,124 |
| 59 | Hounslow | £602.8m | £2,013 |
| 60 | Sefton | £600.7m | £2,089 |
| 61 | Waltham Forest | £593.5m | £2,092 |
| 62 | Stockport | £590.0m | £1,935 |
| 63 | Barking & Dagenham | £584.2m | £2,451 |
| 64 | Salford | £581.3m | £1,957 |
| 65 | Wandsworth | £567.0m | £1,668 |
| 66 | Caerphilly | £566.1m | £3,215 |
| 67 | North Northamptonshire | £566.0m | £1,491 |
| 68 | Westminster | £561.8m | £2,645 |
| 69 | Southampton | £558.6m | £2,155 |
| 70 | Dudley | £558.0m | £1,671 |
| 71 | Newcastle | £557.7m | £1,738 |
| 72 | Newport | £541.5m | £3,212 |
| 73 | Doncaster | £535.0m | £1,656 |
| 74 | Hillingdon | £533.1m | £1,632 |
| 75 | Shropshire | £531.0m | £1,594 |
| 76 | Oldham | £525.9m | £2,087 |
| 77 | Bromley | £522.4m | £1,554 |
| 78 | Milton Keynes | £520.4m | £1,685 |
| 79 | Wolverhampton | £519.6m | £1,846 |
| 80 | Rochdale | £511.9m | £2,154 |
| 81 | Aberdeen City | £510.9m | £2,219 |
| 82 | South Gloucestershire | £508.4m | £1,646 |
| 83 | Kingston-upon-Hull | £504.2m | £1,845 |
| 84 | Neath Port Talbot | £500.2m | £3,522 |
| 85 | Sunderland | £499.0m | £1,738 |
| 86 | Central Bedfordshire | £498.3m | £1,549 |
| 87 | Havering | £490.3m | £1,746 |
| 88 | Tameside | £486.0m | £2,018 |
| 89 | Renfrewshire | £483.6m | £2,555 |
| 90 | Derby City | £481.0m | £1,747 |
| 91 | Stoke-on-Trent | £479.8m | £1,762 |
| 92 | Luton | £474.8m | £2,008 |
| 93 | Merton | £470.6m | £2,150 |
| 94 | North Tyneside | £469.9m | £2,182 |
| 95 | Westmorland and Furness | £467.6m | £2,022 |
| 96 | West Lothian | £465.7m | £2,487 |
| 97 | Rotherham | £463.4m | £1,660 |
| 98 | Plymouth | £462.1m | £1,703 |
| 99 | Medway Towns | £460.9m | £1,575 |
| 100 | Bridgend | £458.6m | £3,120 |
| 101 | Gwynedd | £457.7m | £3,805 |
| 102 | Flintshire | £450.1m | £2,886 |
| 103 | Trafford | £446.7m | £1,854 |
| 104 | Dumfries and Galloway | £442.2m | £3,039 |
| 105 | Gateshead | £436.6m | £2,156 |
| 106 | Knowsley | £430.9m | £2,632 |
| 107 | Powys | £430.4m | £3,192 |
| 108 | Falkirk | £425.0m | £2,652 |
| 109 | Perth and Kinross | £424.8m | £2,742 |
| 110 | Harrow | £420.0m | £1,541 |
| 111 | Solihull | £416.5m | £1,881 |
| 112 | Dundee City | £414.3m | £2,792 |
| 113 | Barnsley | £414.1m | £1,638 |
| 114 | Wrexham | £410.1m | £2,972 |
| 115 | Sutton | £404.4m | £1,890 |
| 116 | Vale of Glamorgan | £402.4m | £2,973 |
| 117 | St Helens | £401.8m | £2,116 |
| 118 | Calderdale | £400.7m | £1,902 |
| 119 | Warrington | £397.7m | £1,846 |
| 120 | Richmond upon Thames | £396.7m | £2,017 |
| 121 | Portsmouth | £387.0m | £1,830 |
| 122 | Pembrokeshire | £381.5m | £3,032 |
| 123 | North Ayrshire | £380.4m | £2,846 |
| 124 | Bexley | £376.3m | £1,464 |
| 125 | Telford & the Wrekin | £374.4m | £1,878 |
| 126 | Peterborough | £372.6m | £1,658 |
| 127 | South Tyneside | £371.2m | £2,454 |
| 128 | Hammersmith & Fulham | £370.4m | £1,947 |
| 129 | Conwy | £368.9m | £3,224 |
| 130 | Herefordshire | £363.3m | £1,887 |
| 131 | Bedford | £357.0m | £1,818 |
| 132 | Reading | £353.8m | £1,925 |
| 133 | City of London | £353.5m | £22,618 |
| 134 | Stockton-on-Tees | £352.2m | £1,700 |
| 135 | Bury | £350.8m | £1,760 |
| 136 | Kensington & Chelsea | £348.3m | £2,390 |
| 137 | Blackburn with Darwen | £348.2m | £2,126 |
| 138 | Scottish Borders | £341.0m | £2,920 |
| 139 | Kingston Upon Thames | £338.7m | £1,960 |
| 140 | Halton | £338.0m | £2,562 |
| 141 | North Somerset | £336.1m | £1,480 |
| 142 | Swindon | £334.7m | £1,365 |
| 143 | North Lincolnshire | £333.9m | £1,948 |
| 144 | West Berkshire | £332.4m | £2,008 |
| 145 | Denbighshire | £323.1m | £3,289 |
| 146 | East Ayrshire | £320.1m | £2,638 |
| 147 | Angus | £319.5m | £2,787 |
| 148 | East Dunbartonshire | £313.6m | £2,862 |
| 149 | South Ayrshire | £311.7m | £2,776 |
| 150 | Isle of Wight | £305.4m | £2,169 |
| 151 | York | £301.0m | £1,439 |
| 152 | Argyll and Bute | £297.4m | £3,406 |
| 153 | Torfaen | £297.2m | £3,162 |
| 154 | Middlesbrough | £296.0m | £1,937 |
| 155 | Wokingham | £295.5m | £1,563 |
| 156 | Blackpool | £291.1m | £2,029 |
| 157 | Southend-on-Sea | £288.2m | £1,556 |
| 158 | East Renfrewshire | £287.5m | £2,880 |
| 159 | East Lothian | £283.4m | £2,434 |
| 160 | Midlothian | £282.5m | £2,814 |
| 161 | Bath & North East Somerset | £281.1m | £1,399 |
| 162 | Slough | £272.3m | £1,626 |
| 163 | North East Lincolnshire | £269.6m | £1,684 |
| 164 | Stirling | £269.3m | £2,863 |
| 165 | Monmouthshire | £258.0m | £2,707 |
| 166 | Moray | £255.1m | £2,693 |
| 167 | Torbay | £252.7m | £1,812 |
| 168 | Redcar & Cleveland | £250.3m | £1,794 |
| 169 | Windsor & Maidenhead | £250.0m | £1,564 |
| 170 | Bracknell Forest | £243.9m | £1,846 |
| 171 | Blaenau Gwent | £243.8m | £3,606 |
| 172 | West Dunbartonshire | £242.3m | £2,743 |
| 173 | Ceredigion | £234.6m | £3,228 |
| 174 | Inverclyde | £232.1m | £2,955 |
| 175 | Isle of Anglesey | £226.7m | £3,305 |
| 176 | Merthyr Tydfil | £216.2m | £3,705 |
| 177 | Hartlepool | £205.8m | £2,065 |
| 178 | Thurrock | £201.7m | £1,111 |
| 179 | Darlington | £187.5m | £1,653 |
| 180 | Clackmannanshire | £145.1m | £2,812 |
| 181 | Shetland Islands | £121.1m | £5,330 |
| 182 | Na h-Eileanan Siar | £117.0m | £4,539 |
| 183 | Orkney Islands | £106.9m | £4,879 |
| 184 | Rutland | £70.7m | £1,698 |
| 185 | Isles of Scilly | £11.1m | £4,819 |
Common questions
Which UK council has the biggest budget?
Birmingham has the biggest net service budget of the 185 single-tier councils ranked here.
What does a council budget cover?
Net current service expenditure on services such as social care, education, highways, housing and waste. It excludes NHS spending, pensions, Universal Credit and debt interest.