Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 5,123 in Gwent, Wales.
Abercarn grades C overall against UK towns: better than 29% of UK towns, and #6 of 38 in Gwent. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A−): median sale £158,000, 3.7 years of area income; rent £747 a month. Its weakest is health (D): 7.4% in bad or very bad health, 22% disabled (adjusted for age in the grade).
This town's Health Grade uses ONS's small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy for 2019 to 2023, and two Census 2021 measures, bad health and disability, adjusted for age. English towns' grades also use OHID's small-area early deaths, hospital admissions and child obesity, which OHID publishes for England only.
The 3 things Abercarn does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Wales), ordered by how far Abercarn is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 8 buildings inside Abercarn’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*, and 1 scheduled monument.
54% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Abercarn.
Women here live to 81.8 on average and men to 77.9 (2019–23). The nearest A&E to Abercarn is The Grange University Hospital, 5.8 miles away. One GP practice serves the town.
| Census 2021 | Abercarn | Gwent | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 77% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.4% | 7.7% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 22% | 22% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
One of its 3 schools is below, with why it’s listed. Wales publishes no school-level results, so its schools have no letters.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Y.G. Cwm GwyddonLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 275 | – |
The median sale price was £158K, below both Gwent’s towns (£191K) and Wales’s towns (£195K).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £270,000 | 21 |
| Semi-detached | £180,000 | 67 |
| Terraced | £150,000 | 108 |
| Flat or maisonette | £110,000 | 13 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Homes saw 16.7 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, close to Gwent’s towns (16.5) and above Wales’s towns (10.7). Police recorded 336 crimes inside Abercarn’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 116 reports of anti-social behaviour. For its size, Abercarn records more crime per resident than 84% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 26% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
That puts Abercarn below both Gwent’s towns (39%) and Wales’s towns (41%). 86% of commuters drove to work at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
On this, Abercarn is above both Gwent’s towns (26%) and Wales’s towns (27%). Abercarn has 8 listed buildings on Cadw’s list: 0 Grade I, 1 Grade II*.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
In the comparison, Abercarn comes below both Gwent’s towns (20%) and Wales’s towns (21%). Those aged 15 to 24 account for 10% of residents. Half the people of Abercarn are older than 40.8.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Abercarn | Gwent | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 26% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 18% | 20% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 23% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.4% | 5.4% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 26% | 28% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · Gwent and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
8 listed buildings in Abercarn.
Abercarn War Memorial: Photo: Roger Cornfoot · CC BY-SA 2.0 · English Baptist Church and walled forecourt: Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0
11 notable people were born in Abercarn.
John Dawes: Stefano Delfrate, CC BY-SA 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abercarn | 5,123 | — | C | A− | C− | D |
| Newbridge | 7,582 | 1.6 | C− | A− | C− | C− |
| Swffryd | 1,721 | 2.4 | — | B− | D | D− |
| Pontllanfraith | 9,363 | 2.6 | C− | B+ | C | D |
| Oakdale | 6,126 | 2.8 | C | B | B− | C− |
| Risca | 15,194 | 2.8 | C− | A− | D | D |
| Cwmfelinfach | 1,353 | 2.9 | — | A | C | D |
| Blackwood | 12,621 | 3.4 | D | B+ | D− | D |
Swffryd and Cwmfelinfach have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
8 on Cadw’s list, 1 of them Grade II*. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Police recorded 336 crimes inside Abercarn’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 45% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £158,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £110,000, terraced houses £150,000, semi-detached houses £180,000 and detached houses £270,000.
Town in Gwent, Wales
Abercarn is a built-up area of 5,123 people, in the Caerphilly council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Cadw listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered historic parks and gardens via DataMapWales, October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
