Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,034 in Gwent, Wales.
Bargod grades C− overall against UK towns: better than 15% of UK towns, and #17 of 38 in Gwent. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): median sale £146,997, 3.5 years of area income; rent £747 a month. Its weakest is health (D−): 11% in bad or very bad health, 27% 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 Bargod 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 Bargod is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 3 buildings inside Bargod’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
58% 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 Bargod.
72% of Bargod’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, below Gwent’s towns (77%) and Wales’s towns (78%) alike. A disability affects 27% of people locally. The nearest A&E to Bargod is Prince Charles Hospital, 8.4 miles away. 2 GP practices serve the town.
| Census 2021 | Bargod | Gwent | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 72% | 77% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 11% | 7.7% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 27% | 22% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy.
Below are three of them, each with why it was picked. Bargod’s four primaries and one secondary have 1,577 pupils between them. Three of them are below, each with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Gwladys Bargoed SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 438 | – |
| Heolddu Comprehensive SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 724 | – |
| Ysgol Gymraeg Gilfach FargoedLargest Welsh-medium schoolPrimary | Primary | 109 | – |
Homes saw 18.8 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year, above both Gwent’s towns (16.5) and Wales’s towns (10.7). 791 crimes and 158 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Bargod’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. For its size, Bargod records more crime per resident than 95% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Violence and sexual offences were 51% of the crimes.
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.
The £146,997 median rests on 232 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026). 62% of households own their home, below Gwent’s towns (65%) and Wales’s towns (65%) alike. It is the 30th most expensive of 38 towns of 2,500+ in Gwent.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £290,000 | 15 |
| Semi-detached | £177,500 | 51 |
| Terraced | £135,000 | 164 |
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.
Cadw’s list names 3 listed buildings in Bargod: 1 Grade II*. Scaled to its population, Bargod has 4 listed buildings per 10,000 people, about level with both Gwent’s towns (11) and Wales’s towns (18).
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Jobs per working resident: 0.5. About 13% of its commuters stay in Bargod for work. Households had £37K a year before tax, below both Gwent’s towns (£44K) and Wales’s towns (£44K).
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
At 41.4, the median resident of Bargod sits in the middle of the age range. Children under 15 make up 18%, near Gwent’s towns (18%) and higher than Wales’s towns (17%). People aged 15 to 24 make up 11% of the town.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Bargod | Gwent | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 18% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 26% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 21% | 20% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 28% | 23% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.7% | 5.4% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 21% | 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 Bargod. Best known first.
CastleLlancaiach-fawr3.7 km outside town, to the southwestMuseumMuseumWinding House2.3 km outside town, to the northZooZooColliers Adventure Farm3.7 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
10 notable people were born in Bargod.
Tegan Nox: Goddess of Cats on Flickr, CC BY-SA 4.0 · David Probert: Daisticks, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bargod | 8,034 | — | C− | A | D | D− |
| Aberbargoed | 4,412 | 0.7 | D | A− | D | D− |
| Tir-y-berth and Glan-y-nant | 1,411 | 1.4 | — | A− | C− | D |
| Pen-pedair-heol | 3,787 | 1.4 | C+ | B+ | B+ | D |
| Fleur-de-lis and Pengam | 3,102 | 1.6 | C− | A− | C | D |
| Markham | 1,443 | 1.7 | — | A | D | D |
| Blackwood | 12,621 | 1.8 | D | B+ | D− | D |
| Gelligaer | 1,436 | 1.9 | — | A | D− | D− |
Tir-y-berth and Glan-y-nant, Markham and Gelligaer have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
3 on Cadw’s list, 1 of them Grade II*.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £146,997, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £135,000, semi-detached houses £177,500 and detached houses £290,000.
Town in Gwent, Wales
Bargod is a built-up area of 8,034 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.