League table · 185 areas
Which councils spend the most per resident?
Single-tier councils run every local service, so spend per resident is a fair way to compare them. Ranked highest to lowest using the latest outturn year and ONS population estimates.
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 | Per resident | Total budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | City of London | £22,618 | £353.5m |
| 2 | Shetland Islands | £5,330 | £121.1m |
| 3 | Orkney Islands | £4,879 | £106.9m |
| 4 | Isles of Scilly | £4,819 | £11.1m |
| 5 | Na h-Eileanan Siar | £4,539 | £117.0m |
| 6 | Gwynedd | £3,805 | £457.7m |
| 7 | Merthyr Tydfil | £3,705 | £216.2m |
| 8 | Blaenau Gwent | £3,606 | £243.8m |
| 9 | Neath Port Talbot | £3,522 | £500.2m |
| 10 | Argyll and Bute | £3,406 | £297.4m |
| 11 | Rhondda Cynon Taf | £3,339 | £804.7m |
| 12 | Isle of Anglesey | £3,305 | £226.7m |
| 13 | Denbighshire | £3,289 | £323.1m |
| 14 | Ceredigion | £3,228 | £234.6m |
| 15 | Conwy | £3,224 | £368.9m |
| 16 | Caerphilly | £3,215 | £566.1m |
| 17 | Newport | £3,212 | £541.5m |
| 18 | Powys | £3,192 | £430.4m |
| 19 | Carmarthenshire | £3,182 | £604.6m |
| 20 | Camden | £3,178 | £688.5m |
| 21 | Torfaen | £3,162 | £297.2m |
| 22 | Bridgend | £3,120 | £458.6m |
| 23 | Swansea | £3,096 | £772.2m |
| 24 | Dumfries and Galloway | £3,039 | £442.2m |
| 25 | Pembrokeshire | £3,032 | £381.5m |
| 26 | Vale of Glamorgan | £2,973 | £402.4m |
| 27 | Wrexham | £2,972 | £410.1m |
| 28 | Inverclyde | £2,955 | £232.1m |
| 29 | Cardiff | £2,950 | £1.1bn |
| 30 | Scottish Borders | £2,920 | £341.0m |
| 31 | Highland | £2,886 | £684.8m |
| 32 | Flintshire | £2,886 | £450.1m |
| 33 | East Renfrewshire | £2,880 | £287.5m |
| 34 | Hackney | £2,868 | £763.5m |
| 35 | Stirling | £2,863 | £269.3m |
| 36 | East Dunbartonshire | £2,862 | £313.6m |
| 37 | North Ayrshire | £2,846 | £380.4m |
| 38 | Midlothian | £2,814 | £282.5m |
| 39 | Clackmannanshire | £2,812 | £145.1m |
| 40 | Dundee City | £2,792 | £414.3m |
| 41 | Angus | £2,787 | £319.5m |
| 42 | South Ayrshire | £2,776 | £311.7m |
| 43 | Glasgow City | £2,751 | £1.8bn |
| 44 | West Dunbartonshire | £2,743 | £242.3m |
| 45 | Perth and Kinross | £2,742 | £424.8m |
| 46 | Islington | £2,718 | £610.3m |
| 47 | Monmouthshire | £2,707 | £258.0m |
| 48 | Aberdeenshire | £2,705 | £715.9m |
| 49 | Tower Hamlets | £2,696 | £901.1m |
| 50 | Moray | £2,693 | £255.1m |
| 51 | Fife | £2,673 | £999.7m |
| 52 | Falkirk | £2,652 | £425.0m |
| 53 | Westminster | £2,645 | £561.8m |
| 54 | East Ayrshire | £2,638 | £320.1m |
| 55 | Knowsley | £2,632 | £430.9m |
| 56 | Lewisham | £2,584 | £777.9m |
| 57 | Halton | £2,562 | £338.0m |
| 58 | Renfrewshire | £2,555 | £483.6m |
| 59 | Lambeth | £2,555 | £802.9m |
| 60 | North Lanarkshire | £2,511 | £863.5m |
| 61 | West Lothian | £2,487 | £465.7m |
| 62 | South Lanarkshire | £2,483 | £830.2m |
| 63 | Liverpool | £2,474 | £1.3bn |
| 64 | South Tyneside | £2,454 | £371.2m |
| 65 | Barking & Dagenham | £2,451 | £584.2m |
| 66 | East Lothian | £2,434 | £283.4m |
| 67 | Greenwich | £2,415 | £727.4m |
| 68 | Kensington & Chelsea | £2,390 | £348.3m |
| 69 | Haringey | £2,288 | £609.0m |
| 70 | City of Edinburgh | £2,254 | £1.2bn |
| 71 | Southwark | £2,245 | £701.1m |
| 72 | Aberdeen City | £2,219 | £510.9m |
| 73 | North Tyneside | £2,182 | £469.9m |
| 74 | Isle of Wight | £2,169 | £305.4m |
| 75 | Walsall | £2,166 | £640.6m |
| 76 | Gateshead | £2,156 | £436.6m |
| 77 | Southampton | £2,155 | £558.6m |
| 78 | Rochdale | £2,154 | £511.9m |
| 79 | Redbridge | £2,151 | £692.3m |
| 80 | Manchester | £2,150 | £1.3bn |
| 81 | Merton | £2,150 | £470.6m |
| 82 | Blackburn with Darwen | £2,126 | £348.2m |
| 83 | Brighton & Hove | £2,124 | £603.5m |
| 84 | Leicester City | £2,123 | £813.2m |
| 85 | Wirral | £2,117 | £698.2m |
| 86 | St Helens | £2,116 | £401.8m |
| 87 | Cheshire West and Chester | £2,095 | £783.3m |
| 88 | Waltham Forest | £2,092 | £593.5m |
| 89 | Sefton | £2,089 | £600.7m |
| 90 | Oldham | £2,087 | £525.9m |
| 91 | Hartlepool | £2,065 | £205.8m |
| 92 | Enfield | £2,061 | £678.9m |
| 93 | Wigan | £2,047 | £710.4m |
| 94 | Blackpool | £2,029 | £291.1m |
| 95 | Nottingham City | £2,028 | £660.7m |
| 96 | Westmorland and Furness | £2,022 | £467.6m |
| 97 | Newham | £2,021 | £760.9m |
| 98 | Tameside | £2,018 | £486.0m |
| 99 | Richmond upon Thames | £2,017 | £396.7m |
| 100 | Birmingham | £2,013 | £2.4bn |
| 101 | Hounslow | £2,013 | £602.8m |
| 102 | Ealing | £2,011 | £778.4m |
| 103 | Luton | £2,008 | £474.8m |
| 104 | West Berkshire | £2,008 | £332.4m |
| 105 | Kingston Upon Thames | £1,960 | £338.7m |
| 106 | Salford | £1,957 | £581.3m |
| 107 | Bolton | £1,953 | £605.0m |
| 108 | North Lincolnshire | £1,948 | £333.9m |
| 109 | Hammersmith & Fulham | £1,947 | £370.4m |
| 110 | Leeds | £1,940 | £1.6bn |
| 111 | Middlesbrough | £1,937 | £296.0m |
| 112 | Stockport | £1,935 | £590.0m |
| 113 | Durham | £1,934 | £1.0bn |
| 114 | Sheffield | £1,932 | £1.1bn |
| 115 | Reading | £1,925 | £353.8m |
| 116 | Brent | £1,924 | £677.7m |
| 117 | East Riding of Yorkshire | £1,903 | £685.6m |
| 118 | Calderdale | £1,902 | £400.7m |
| 119 | Sutton | £1,890 | £404.4m |
| 120 | Herefordshire | £1,887 | £363.3m |
| 121 | Solihull | £1,881 | £416.5m |
| 122 | Telford & the Wrekin | £1,878 | £374.4m |
| 123 | Sandwell | £1,873 | £661.0m |
| 124 | Trafford | £1,854 | £446.7m |
| 125 | Wolverhampton | £1,846 | £519.6m |
| 126 | Warrington | £1,846 | £397.7m |
| 127 | Bracknell Forest | £1,846 | £243.9m |
| 128 | Kingston-upon-Hull | £1,845 | £504.2m |
| 129 | Dorset | £1,844 | £721.2m |
| 130 | Bradford | £1,837 | £1.0bn |
| 131 | Croydon | £1,833 | £751.7m |
| 132 | Portsmouth | £1,830 | £387.0m |
| 133 | Bedford | £1,818 | £357.0m |
| 134 | Torbay | £1,812 | £252.7m |
| 135 | Barnet | £1,811 | £738.9m |
| 136 | Northumberland | £1,809 | £604.1m |
| 137 | Kirklees | £1,797 | £801.3m |
| 138 | Redcar & Cleveland | £1,794 | £250.3m |
| 139 | Coventry | £1,778 | £648.4m |
| 140 | Bristol | £1,774 | £878.8m |
| 141 | Cornwall | £1,766 | £1.0bn |
| 142 | Stoke-on-Trent | £1,762 | £479.8m |
| 143 | Bury | £1,760 | £350.8m |
| 144 | Buckinghamshire | £1,760 | £1.0bn |
| 145 | Derby City | £1,747 | £481.0m |
| 146 | Havering | £1,746 | £490.3m |
| 147 | Sunderland | £1,738 | £499.0m |
| 148 | Newcastle | £1,738 | £557.7m |
| 149 | Wakefield | £1,713 | £633.0m |
| 150 | Somerset | £1,709 | £1.0bn |
| 151 | Plymouth | £1,703 | £462.1m |
| 152 | Stockton-on-Tees | £1,700 | £352.2m |
| 153 | Rutland | £1,698 | £70.7m |
| 154 | North Yorkshire | £1,697 | £1.1bn |
| 155 | Milton Keynes | £1,685 | £520.4m |
| 156 | North East Lincolnshire | £1,684 | £269.6m |
| 157 | Dudley | £1,671 | £558.0m |
| 158 | Wandsworth | £1,668 | £567.0m |
| 159 | Rotherham | £1,660 | £463.4m |
| 160 | Peterborough | £1,658 | £372.6m |
| 161 | Doncaster | £1,656 | £535.0m |
| 162 | Darlington | £1,653 | £187.5m |
| 163 | South Gloucestershire | £1,646 | £508.4m |
| 164 | Barnsley | £1,638 | £414.1m |
| 165 | Hillingdon | £1,632 | £533.1m |
| 166 | Slough | £1,626 | £272.3m |
| 167 | Shropshire | £1,594 | £531.0m |
| 168 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | £1,591 | £645.6m |
| 169 | Medway Towns | £1,575 | £460.9m |
| 170 | Cheshire East | £1,573 | £669.4m |
| 171 | Wiltshire | £1,572 | £827.6m |
| 172 | Windsor & Maidenhead | £1,564 | £250.0m |
| 173 | Wokingham | £1,563 | £295.5m |
| 174 | West Northamptonshire | £1,561 | £693.3m |
| 175 | Southend-on-Sea | £1,556 | £288.2m |
| 176 | Bromley | £1,554 | £522.4m |
| 177 | Central Bedfordshire | £1,549 | £498.3m |
| 178 | Harrow | £1,541 | £420.0m |
| 179 | North Northamptonshire | £1,491 | £566.0m |
| 180 | North Somerset | £1,480 | £336.1m |
| 181 | Bexley | £1,464 | £376.3m |
| 182 | York | £1,439 | £301.0m |
| 183 | Bath & North East Somerset | £1,399 | £281.1m |
| 184 | Swindon | £1,365 | £334.7m |
| 185 | Thurrock | £1,111 | £201.7m |
Common questions
Which council spends the most per resident?
City of London spends the most per resident of the 185 single-tier councils ranked here.
Why is per-resident spending different across councils?
Councils with older populations, higher deprivation, rural areas to serve or large social care bills spend more per head. Per-resident figures also depend on the population estimate used.