Plymouth Council Tax 2026
South West, England · 123,430 domestic properties
According to MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026-27, Plymouth's Band D Council Tax is £2,441.85 for 2026-27, the 154th highest of 350 UK billing authorities (higher than 56% of them) and 4% above the UK average of £2,337.00. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Breckland, Forest of Dean, South Ribble, Kirklees, then Horsham, Luton. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Fenland, Peterborough, Erewash, Birmingham.
How we calculate this rank & percentile
We compare every UK billing authority with a published 2026-27 Band D rate (350 in total). Rank is one plus the number with a higher charge, so equal charges share a rank. Percentile is round(authorities with a lower charge ÷ 350 × 100). The UK average is the simple mean of every council's Band D rate in our coverage set. Because the rank spans all three nations, it compares what each authority charges, not what each charge buys. English bands rest on 1991 property values in eight bands, A to H, while Scotland uses its own 1991 thresholds and Wales revalued to 2003 values with a ninth band. An English Band D home is therefore not the same property profile as a Welsh or Scottish one. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Breckland, Forest of Dean, South Ribble, Kirklees, then Horsham, Luton. See our methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.
- £2,441.85
- Band D charge · 2026 statutory
- Above the UK average
- +5.01%
- year-on-year vs £2,325.42
- Middle-half rise
- +4.5%
- vs UK avg £2,337.00
- £4,883.70
- Band H · 18/9 of Band D
Nearest published Band D rates sit with Breckland, Forest of Dean, South Ribble, Kirklees, then Horsham, Luton. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Fenland, Peterborough, Erewash, Birmingham. Open Breckland for the closest published Band D on the same vintage.
Plymouth · year-on-year Band D
What changed for Plymouth
Plymouth's Band D Council Tax rose from £2,325.42 (2025-26) to £2,441.85 (2026-27). Among 350 billing authorities by percentage rise, it ranks 151.
How to read this Band D change
This is a change in the published Band D charge, not advice about household bills. Precepts, discounts, and banding decide the amount you pay.
See UK year-on-year changesPlymouth bands A-H schedule
Per-band charge 2026
Plymouth's nearest Band D charges nationwide
Plymouth is 154th of 350 on the national Band D list at £2,441.85. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Breckland, Forest of Dean, South Ribble, Kirklees, then Horsham, Luton. The six closest published 2026-27 rates, led by Breckland, ignore geography on purpose, so a map neighbour is not mistaken for a charge twin. Read the difference column as a pound gap; cross-check the South West ranking further down when you care about local neighbours, and the stock-weighted average when you care what most of Plymouth's 123,430 dwellings actually pay. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Fenland, Peterborough, Erewash, Birmingham.
| Council | Band D | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Breckland | £2,443.67 | +£1.82 |
| Forest of Dean | £2,443.42 | +£1.57 |
| South Ribble | £2,442.66 | +£0.81 |
| Kirklees | £2,441.07 | −£0.78 |
| Horsham | £2,441.01 | −£0.84 |
| Luton | £2,439.93 | −£1.92 |
Band A–H charge table (2026/2027)
| Band | Annual Charge | Monthly | Sole occupant (−25%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | £1,627.90 | £162.79 | £1,220.93 |
| B | £1,899.22 | £189.92 | £1,424.42 |
| C | £2,170.53 | £217.05 | £1,627.90 |
| D | £2,441.85 | £244.19 | £1,831.39 |
| E | £2,984.48 | £298.45 | £2,238.36 |
| F | £3,527.12 | £352.71 | £2,645.34 |
| G | £4,069.75 | £406.98 | £3,052.31 |
| H | £4,883.70 | £488.37 | £3,662.77 |
England 1991 valuation ranges (Band A–H)
- Band A: Up to £40,000 (1991 valuation)
- Band B: £40,001 to £52,000
- Band C: £52,001 to £68,000
- Band D: £68,001 to £88,000 (reference band)
- Band E: £88,001 to £120,000
- Band F: £120,001 to £160,000
- Band G: £160,001 to £320,000
- Band H: Over £320,000
Source: MHCLG, Council Tax levels set by local authorities in England 2026-27 (area Band D) + statutory England band ratios documented in our methodology. Monthly figure is the annual charge / 10 (most councils use 10 monthly instalments). The sole-occupant column applies the statutory 25% single-person discount, payable when only one adult lives in the property.
What Plymouth's 123,430 properties actually pay
Most homes in Plymouth sit in Band A, the bottom of the valuation list: 48,180 of 123,430 dwellings (39.0%). Band A is charged at two-thirds of the Band D rate, so the headline figure above describes a property type that is in the minority here. Bands A and B between them account for 66.1% of the stock. 85.3% of dwellings on the England valuation list here are banded below D.
Weighting each band's statutory charge by the number of properties in it gives a stock-weighted average of £1,974.28 per dwelling, £467.57 (19.1%) below the £2,441.85 Band D headline, because most of the stock sits in bands charged at less than the Band D rate. On that measure Plymouth is 259th of 318 authorities with published stock counts, against a £2,269.00 average. That places Plymouth 26th of the 27 billing authorities in South West, below the regional median of £2,376.53.
How to read this stock pattern
Band D is a poor description of the largest group in Plymouth's housing stock. The dominant group is Band A, where the statutory charge is two-thirds of the Band D rate, while the reference band describes a different part of the valuation list. The £1,974.28 stock-weighted figure is therefore the more representative area-level comparison. It does not predict an individual bill, because discounts, exemptions and the property's actual valuation band still determine liability.
This is a two-band centre rather than a single-band market. Bands A and B together contain 66.1% of dwellings, so neither band should be presented as a complete account of the area. The stock-weighted result combines both groups and the smaller tails into one comparable measure. The table shows where that mean comes from and prevents the distribution being flattened into an overconfident "typical property" claim.
Plymouth falls in the lower quarter of the South West stock-weighted ordering, below the regional median of £2,376.53. Its Band D figure may sit elsewhere in the national table, but applying the local stock mix produces a cheaper regional comparison. That difference is precisely why both measures are shown. Neither replaces an address-level bill, which depends on the property's valuation band and any applicable reductions.
Closest housing-stock shape: Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth is the closest full-distribution match for Plymouth. The profiles are close rather than identical: 3.1% of dwellings would need to shift between valuation bands for their published shares to align. The comparison therefore tests the whole ladder, not just the largest band.
Four largest band differences
- The largest separation sits at lower Band A, where Great Yarmouth holds 41.6% of its stock and Plymouth holds 39.0%. The peer is more bottom-weighted at this rung of the valuation list.
- A smaller distinction is lower on the ladder at Band B: Plymouth has 27.1% of dwellings there, against 25.6% in Great Yarmouth. That extra lower-band weight pulls its stock profile away from the peer.
- A smaller distinction is lower on the ladder at Band C: Plymouth has 19.2% of dwellings there, against 18.1% in Great Yarmouth. That extra lower-band weight pulls its stock profile away from the peer.
- A smaller distinction is at reference Band D: its share is 8.4% in Plymouth and 8.9% in Great Yarmouth. The familiar benchmark represents a larger slice of the peer's housing stock.
How the wider profile compares
Across Bands A to C the combined shares differ by only 0.1%. That net figure can hide opposing band-level gaps, so the individual Band A, B and C comparisons above remain the safer guide to where the lower-band stock differs.
Across Bands E and above the combined shares differ by 0.5%. As with the lower bands, this net comparison does not erase any opposing gaps between individual upper bands.
Both profiles peak in Band A, so the peer match agrees on the most common valuation group as well as the full-distribution distance. The band-by-band gaps above show why a shared mode does not make the profiles interchangeable.
Band H is the most stable point in the comparison, with shares of 0.0% and 0.0%. Reading that near-match beside the largest gaps prevents the peer label from hiding where the two published distributions actually agree.
Show every band direction
- Band A leans toward Great Yarmouth
- Band B leans toward Plymouth
- Band C leans toward Plymouth
- Band D leans toward Great Yarmouth
- Band E is closely balanced
- Band F is closely balanced
- Band G is closely balanced
- Band H is closely balanced
This sequence is read from the lowest published band to the highest.
Other close England matches for Plymouth: Fenland (3.5% redistribution distance); Peterborough (4.3% redistribution distance); Erewash (4.5% redistribution distance); Birmingham (4.6% redistribution distance). Ranked across every published band in the England valuation system, this shortlist shows whether Great Yarmouth stands alone or sits in a cluster of similarly shaped authorities.
| Band | Properties | Share of stock | Annual charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 48,180 | 39.0% | £1,627.90 |
| B | 33,410 | 27.1% | £1,899.22 |
| C | 23,690 | 19.2% | £2,170.53 |
| D | 10,320 | 8.4% | £2,441.85 |
| E | 5,260 | 4.3% | £2,984.48 |
| F | 1,890 | 1.5% | £3,527.12 |
| G | 620 | 0.5% | £4,069.75 |
| H | 60 | 0.0% | £4,883.70 |
Property-stock source, rounding and weighting notes
Property counts: VOA, Council Tax: stock of properties 2025 (Table CTSOP1.0_SUP, as at 9 September 2025), Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts are published rounded to the nearest 10, so shares are approximate and may not sum to exactly 100%. The stock-weighted average is our calculation: each band's 2026/2027 charge multiplied by its property count, divided by the total. It is a mean across the whole stock, not a bill any individual household receives.
Authorities charging a similar average across their stock
These are the closest authorities to Plymouth on the stock-weighted measure, which is a different ordering from the Band D neighbours above because it accounts for how each area's properties are banded.
- Norwich£1,981.94
- Torfaen£1,969.96
- Gloucester£1,969.79
- Bolsover£1,967.82
- Bradford£1,967.40
Plymouth's nearest year-on-year movers
Plymouth moved Band D from £2,325.42 to £2,441.85 (+5.01%, competition rank 151st of 350). The closest published movements sit with Bristol, Derby City, Isles of Scilly.
- Bristol5.02%
- Derby City5.02%
- Isles of Scilly5.02%
- Forest of Dean5.01%
- Basingstoke & Deane5.00%
- Fife5.00%
How Plymouth compares in South West
Among the 27 billing authorities in South West, Plymouth's 2026-27 Band D charge of £2,441.85 ranks 19th of 27, higher than 30% of them (£69.15 below the South West average of £2,511.00). Its nearest-charged neighbours in the region:
| Region rank | Council | Band D 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|
| 17th | Torbay | £2,470.25 |
| 18th | Forest of Dean | £2,443.42 |
| 19th | Plymouth | £2,441.85 |
| 20th | Swindon | £2,438.10 |
| 21st | Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole | £2,435.58 |
Regional rank out of 27 South West billing authorities by 2026-27 Band D charge (1 = dearest). See the full UK ranking or the complete directory.
Questions answered from Plymouth's data
These answers use Plymouth's £2,441.85 Band D rate, the England statutory multipliers, and the VOA stock mix (modal Band A, 85.3% below D).
Is Plymouth Council Tax above the UK average?
Plymouth's 2026-27 Band D rate is £2,441.85, 4.5% above the UK average of £2,337.00. It has competition rank 154th of 350, with equal charges sharing a rank. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Breckland, Forest of Dean, South Ribble, Kirklees, then Horsham, Luton.
Which councils have charges closest to Plymouth?
The closest published Band D rates are Breckland (£2,443.67), Forest of Dean (£2,443.42), South Ribble (£2,442.66), Kirklees (£2,441.07), Horsham (£2,441.01), Luton (£2,439.93). The comparison table above shows the six nearest authorities and the exact difference from Plymouth.
What is the average Council Tax bill in Plymouth?
Across Plymouth's 123,430 domestic properties, the stock-weighted average charge is £1,974.28 for 2026-27. That is £467.57 below the £2,441.85 Band D rate, because the most common band here is Band A (39.0% of the stock) and 85.3% of dwellings are banded below D. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Fenland, Peterborough, Erewash, Birmingham. Property counts are from the VOA 2025 stock release; the weighting is our calculation.
How did Plymouth Council Tax change for 2026-27?
Band D moved from £2,325.42 to £2,441.85, a 5.01% rise. Its competition rank by annual increase is 151st of 350; the closest movements include Bristol, Derby City, Isles of Scilly.
Advice boundary for Plymouth
They are not personalised advice - expand a question for the figure that matches the tables above for the 2026-27 vintage, then follow the methodology or gov.uk links for a binding bill on a specific property.
Council Tax figure, precept and liability disclaimer
Council Tax charges shown on this page are derived from the published England Band D dataset and statutory England band ratios. They are intended as informational guidance, not as a personalised tax statement or legal advice. Your actual bill depends on your property's assigned band and on any discounts or exemptions that apply to your household. Plymouth is unitary, so this figure combines its own charge (including adult social care) with police and fire precepts where separate, plus any average parish precept. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Breckland, Forest of Dean, South Ribble, Kirklees, then Horsham, Luton. Closest published housing-stock shapes include Fenland, Peterborough, Erewash, Birmingham. For a binding figure consult your Plymouth Council Tax bill or the official gov.uk Council Tax service. Figures published in 2026 reflect the 2026/2027 financial year only.
UK tools, directories and band challenge
- Compare councils side-by-side →
- Browse all UK councils →
- Band D national rollup →
- Challenge your band guide →
Charges shown for Plymouth are the area Band D and statutory band multiples with no county tier. Nearest published Band D rates sit with Breckland, Forest of Dean, South Ribble, Kirklees, then Horsham, Luton.