Provided is a rubber composition for tire treads which, when used to form treads, enables the tires to exhibit excellent wear resistance. The rubber composition for tire treads comprises a rubber component and a carbon black, and is characterized in that the rubber component includes a modified butadiene rubber in a proportion of 5 mass% or higher and an unmodified butadiene rubber in a proportion of 10 mass% or higher and the carbon black has a specific surface area determined by cetyltrimethylammonium bromide adsorption, CTAB, of 130 m2/g or larger, a ratio of the CTAB (m2/g) to iodine adsorption (IA) (mg/g), CTAB/IA, of 0.92-1.06, and a hydrogen release amount of 3,500-4,800 mass ppm.