Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Some 7,495 people live in this town, in Gwent, Wales.
A tough set of grades. Health is its weak spot (D−) — 8.7% of residents report bad or very bad health, and 25.5% are disabled. The local economy is weaker than most (D): the mean household earns £39,506 a year. Where it does best is cost of living (B) — a typical home costs £160,000 and rent runs £862 a month. Put together, the subjects come to a D− overall, ranking #34 of 38 in Gwent. Set against the rest, it does behind almost every UK town. Safety is weaker too (D) — police record 45 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 19.5 home and vehicle crimes. Only 8% of UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people have more crime per resident.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · health, Census 2021 (the grade adjusts for age) · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
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 Abersychan 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 Abersychan is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 7 buildings inside Abersychan’s built-up area.
41% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1913.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Abersychan.
Disability touches 25% of Abersychan’s population. At the census, 75% of people in Abersychan called their health good or very good, below both Gwent’s towns (77%) and Wales’s towns (78%). The nearest A&E to Abersychan is The Grange University Hospital, 6.5 miles away. One GP practice serves the town.
| Census 2021 | Abersychan | Gwent | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 75% | 77% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.7% | 7.7% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 25% | 22% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy among them, do allow for age.
Some 1,297 pupils attend Abersychan’s two primaries and one secondary. Every one of them is shown below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Garnteg Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 384 | – |
| Abersychan Comprehensive SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 739 | – |
| Ysgol Bryn OnnenLargest Welsh-medium schoolPrimary | Primary | 174 | – |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 16% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
A quarter of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. The car took just over nine in ten commuters, above both Gwent’s towns (84%) and Wales’s towns (81%). In 2026, 3.4% of 16 to 64s were claiming unemployment benefits. Of the commuters living in Abersychan, 7% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 589 offences in Abersychan and 138 cases of nuisance behaviour. Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Abersychan has more crime per resident than 92% of them. There were 17.2 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both Gwent’s towns (15) and Wales’s towns (10.4). 48% of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences.
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 police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
Private renters make up nearly one in ten households. The median sale, £160,000, comes from 195 standard sales inside Abersychan’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Households that own their home make up 63%.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £310,000 | 37 |
| Semi-detached | £168,000 | 57 |
| Terraced | £140,000 | 94 |
| Flat or maisonette | £80,000 | 7 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II covers all 7 listed buildings that Cadw records here. Abersychan has 9 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents, below Gwent’s towns (11) and Wales’s towns (18) alike.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Half of Abersychan is older than 41.4, half younger. Children under 15 make up 19%, above Gwent’s towns (18%) and Wales’s towns (17%) alike. The 65-and-over age group makes up nearly a fifth of residents.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Abersychan | Gwent | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 26% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 19% | 20% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 24% | 23% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.2% | 5.4% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 23% | 28% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · Gwent and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Abersychan. Best known first.
MuseumTorfaen Museum2 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumAbertillery & District Museum3.7 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseum · CadwBlaenavon Iron Works3.9 km outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumBlaenafon Community Museum3.4 km outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumBig Pit: National Coal Museum4 km outside town, to the northwestAttractionAttractionRhymney Brewery & Visitors Centre4.2 km outside town, to the northwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
7 listed buildings in Abersychan.
High Street Baptist Church: Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Rising Sun Bridge: Photo: Simon Gwyn Jenkins · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Thomas: Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Garndiffaith Railway Viaduct: Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0
9 notable people were born in Abersychan.
Roy Jenkins: Jean-Louis Debaize, CC BY 4.0 · Don Touhig: ©House of Lords / photography by Roger Harris, CC BY 3.0 · Pamela Shepherd: unknown (she died in 1930), Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abersychan | 7,495 | — | D− | B | D | D− |
| Pontypool | 29,070 | 2.7 | D− | B− | D | D |
| Blaenavon | 5,637 | 3 | D− | B | D− | D |
| Abertillery | 10,248 | 3 | D− | B− | D− | D− |
| Penperlleni | 1,396 | 3.6 | — | C− | A− | B+ |
| Llanhilleth | 2,450 | 3.7 | — | B | D− | D− |
| Trinant | 1,504 | 4.3 | — | A | D | D |
| Swffryd | 1,721 | 4.4 | — | B− | D | D− |
Penperlleni, Llanhilleth, Trinant and Swffryd have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
7 on Cadw’s list.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on Natural Resources Wales’s flood risk service.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £160,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £80,000, terraced houses £140,000, semi-detached houses £168,000 and detached houses £310,000.
Town in Gwent, Wales
Abersychan is a built-up area of 7,495 people, in the Torfaen 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.