In the title compound, [Cd(C(8)H(7)O(2))(2)(C(3)H(4)N(2))(2)(H(2)O)], the Cd(II) atom is coordinated by four carboxyl-ate O atoms from two bidentate chelating 4-methyl-benzoate ligands, two N atoms from two imidazole ligands and one water mol-ecule in a distorted penta-gonal bipyramidal geometry. Inter-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the coordinated water mol-ecule and the carboxyl-ate O atoms of 4-methyl-benzoate lead to an infinite chain. These chains are further self-assembled into a two-dimensional layer through N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the imidazole ligands and carboxyl-ate groups. One of the imidazole ligands is disordered over two positions with site-occupancy factors of 0.737 (4) and 0.263 (4).