How Much Is Council Tax? Band A to H Costs for 2026/27

How much is Band D council tax? In England the average is £2,392 a year for 2026/27, and every other band is charged as a fixed fraction or multiple of it. That means one table can answer the cost question for every band, A to H. This guide gives the England average for each band with monthly equivalents, explains why Band D is the reference point, and shows you how to find the exact figure your own council charges. If you want to know how the bands themselves were set (the 1991 value thresholds), that is covered in our separate guide to how council tax bands work; this page is purely about what each band costs.

How much is council tax in each band in 2026/27?

The table below shows the England average for every band in 2026/27. One honest caveat before you read it: the government publishes one headline figure, the average Band D charge of £2,392 (from the MHCLG council tax levels release of 25 March 2026). The other bands are computed by Council Tax Challenger from that figure using the statutory band proportions in section 5 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, which fix the bands in the ratio 6:7:8:9:11:13:15:18. They are computed England averages, not published statistics, and your actual bill depends on the charge your council sets.

Monthly figures are the annual bill divided by 12. Most councils actually collect over 10 instalments (April to January) by default, so the payments leaving your account will be about 20% higher than the monthly column unless you ask for 12.

How much is Band A council tax?

Band A council tax averages £1,595 a year in England for 2026/27, about £133 a month. Band A is the cheapest band, charged at six ninths of the Band D rate. It is also the floor of the system: there is no band below A, so a Band A home has nothing to gain from a band challenge and nothing to lose either.

How much is Band B council tax?

Band B council tax averages £1,860 a year in England for 2026/27, about £155 a month. It is charged at seven ninths of Band D. A Band B home that should be Band A would save an average of £266 a year, every year, and successful challenges are backdated to when you became the taxpayer.

How much is Band C council tax?

Band C council tax averages £2,126 a year in England for 2026/27, about £177 a month. It is charged at eight ninths of Band D. Dropping from Band C to Band B is worth an average of £266 a year on 2026/27 charges.

How much is Band D council tax?

Band D council tax averages £2,392 a year in England for 2026/27, about £199 a month. That is £111 (4.9%) higher than the year before, according to the MHCLG release of 25 March 2026. Band D is the reference band: it is the one figure every council publishes and the one the news reports each March, so if you only remember one number, this is it. A Band D home wrongly banded instead of Band C overpays an average of £266 a year.

How much is Band E council tax?

Band E council tax averages £2,924 a year in England for 2026/27, about £244 a month. Band E is where the steps get bigger: it is charged at eleven ninths of Band D, a jump of two ninths rather than one, so moving from Band E down to Band D saves an average of £532 a year.

How much is Band F council tax?

Band F council tax averages £3,455 a year in England for 2026/27, about £288 a month. It is charged at thirteen ninths of Band D. A successful challenge from Band F to Band E is worth an average of £532 a year.

How much is Band G council tax?

Band G council tax averages £3,987 a year in England for 2026/27, about £332 a month. It is charged at fifteen ninths (five thirds) of Band D, so a Band G bill is two thirds higher than a Band D bill in the same area. Dropping to Band F saves an average of £532 a year.

How much is Band H council tax?

Band H council tax averages £4,784 a year in England for 2026/27, about £399 a month. Band H is charged at exactly double the Band D rate and covers homes worth more than £320,000 on 1 April 1991. The step from Band G is the largest in the system: three ninths of Band D, an average of £797 a year.

Why is Band D the average?

Band D is the reference band because the law defines every other band's charge as a fraction or multiple of it. Section 5 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 fixes the proportions at 6:7:8:9:11:13:15:18 for bands A to H, with Band D as the ninth-ninths baseline. A council only ever sets one figure, its Band D charge, and the other seven charges follow automatically from the ratios. That is why government statistics, news reports and this guide all quote Band D: it is the single number from which everything else is derived.

Band D is the reference band, not the typical bill. Most homes in England sit in bands A to C, which is why the average bill actually paid per dwelling in 2026/27 is £1,868, well below the £2,392 Band D headline. Both figures come from the same MHCLG release; they just answer different questions.

How do I find my council's exact charges?

Look up your local authority, because the England averages hide big regional differences: the average Band D charge in London is £2,068 for 2026/27, £324 below the England average. Our directory of council tax bands by council lists the actual charge for every band in each council area, so you can see your real figure rather than a national average. Your council's own website publishes the same numbers, usually with any parish precept added on top.

What about Wales and Scotland?

The figures above are England only. Wales has nine bands, A to I, and its Band I is charged at twenty-one ninths of Band D; Welsh bands are also based on 1 April 2003 values rather than 1991. See our guide to council tax bands in Wales. Scotland kept the eight bands but has charged bands E to H at higher multipliers than England since April 2017, so higher-band Scottish homes pay a larger share of the Band D charge. Scottish challenges also work differently, as our Scotland guide explains.

What if your band is one too high?

If your home is one band too high, you overpay at least one ninth of your area's Band D charge every year: an average of £266 on 2026/27 figures for the steps between bands A and D, £532 for each step between D and G, and £797 from H to G. Because the error repeats every year and refunds are backdated, checking is worth an hour of anyone's time. Challenging your band with the VOA is free, and 27% of challenges resolved in the year to March 2024 ended in a reduction. Start with our two-check guide to see whether your band looks wrong, then follow the step-by-step challenge guide. If you want the groundwork done for you, Council Tax Challenger's £9.99 evidence pack compares your home against official data for your postcode and tells you plainly whether a challenge is worth submitting.