United Kingdom · Wales · Local Authority
Cardiff
Local Authority · Wales · population ~369k
Expensive to live in, average to earn in. Cardiff's median house price is 7.2 times median annual pay, and rent takes a high 37.5% of gross earnings, the highest proportion in Wales. While council tax is the lowest in the region at £2,013, crime is also high, at 96.8 per 1,000 people, higher than 86% of Wales authorities. This is a city where the cost of housing and rent significantly outstrips local pay, making it a challenging prospect for those on average incomes.
Written from the indicators on this page, 2026-08 data.
The signature
How Cardiff ranks across 361 UK Local Authorities
Pay
£37,024/yr
Low
Worse than 74% of UK LAs
House price
£266,000
Mid-range
Around UK average
Rent
£1,157/mo
Expensive
Worse than 61% of UK LAs
Council tax
£2,013/yr
Cheapest
Better than 97% of UK LAs
Crime
96.8/1k
Highest
Worse than 82% of UK LAs
Deprivation
—
no data
Schools
—
no data
Colour shows quintile position against 361 UK Local Authorities. Green is the best position for someone moving here; red is the worst. Direction is set per indicator — higher pay, lower rent, less crime, less deprivation are all green.
Schools data
School quality is published by the Estyn regulator, which uses a methodology distinct from England's Ofsted. We don't synthesise a Wales schools list here — for current ratings of schools in Cardiff, see the official Estyn site.
Places with similar signatures
Nearest by quintile position across pay · housing · tax · crime · IMD · schools
Cardiff head-to-heads
What we don't know yet
Commute times · GP appointment availability · broadband speeds · air quality at LA level · green-space proximity · public transport coverage. These matter for a relocation decision. We'll add them when the source data is reliable nationally and consistent across LA boundaries.