Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 12,621 in Gwent, Wales. Council tax at Band D comes to £2,083.
More weak spots than strong ones. Crime is the sore point: 55.5 violent and sexual offences and 24.5 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Set beside UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 94%. Cost of living is its strong suit: a typical home costs £195,000 and rent runs £747 a month. Overall, that makes a D, better than 11% of UK towns. The ranking puts it #22 of 38 in Gwent. Health is weaker too — nearly one in ten residents report bad or very bad health, and 24.9% are disabled.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · health, Census 2021 (the grade adjusts for age).
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 Blackwood 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 Blackwood is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 6 buildings inside Blackwood’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*.
25% 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 Blackwood.
Police figures for Blackwood’s built-up area: 1,549 crimes and 357 anti-social behaviour reports in the 12 months to August 2026. There were 31.2 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), higher than both Gwent’s towns (15) and Wales’s towns (10.4). Also worth knowing: of all the crimes, 44% were 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.
Some 1,955 pupils attend Blackwood’s three primaries and one secondary. Two of them are shown below, each with the reason.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackwood Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 372 | – |
| Blackwood Comprehensive SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 957 | – |
75% of people in Blackwood rate their own health good or very good. At the census, 8.9% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, above both Gwent’s towns (7.7%) and Wales’s towns (7.1%). A disability affects a quarter of people here. One GP practice serves the town.
| Census 2021 | Blackwood | Gwent | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 75% | 77% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.9% | 7.7% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 25% | 22% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy.
Owners make up 69% of households, higher than both Gwent’s towns (65%) and Wales’s towns (65%). Half of the 453 standard sales inside Blackwood’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £195,000. Social renters account for 20% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £326,000 | 104 |
| Semi-detached | £200,000 | 209 |
| Terraced | £157,500 | 131 |
| Flat or maisonette | £149,000 | 9 |
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.
25% of its homes were built before 1919, lower than both Gwent’s towns (26%) and Wales’s towns (27%). Per 10,000 residents, Blackwood counts 5 listed buildings, below Gwent’s towns (11) and Wales’s towns (18) alike.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 25% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
For every resident in work, Blackwood has 0.6 jobs. The car took 87% of commuters, higher than both Gwent’s towns (84%) and Wales’s towns (81%). What’s more, 47% of commuters travelled under 5 km to work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
People 65 and over make up 23% of the town, above Gwent’s towns (20%) and Wales’s towns (21%) alike. Blackwood has a median age of 45.5. Those aged 15 to 24 account for just over one in ten residents.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Blackwood | Gwent | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 26% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 23% | 20% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 25% | 23% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.6% | 5.4% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 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 Blackwood. Best known first.
CastleLlancaiach-fawr4.7 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumWinding House4.7 km outside town, to the northZooZooColliers Adventure Farm4 km outside town, to the southwestPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
6 listed buildings in Blackwood.
Former Tramroad Bridge (partly in Pontllanfraith Community): Photo: FruitMonkey · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Blackwood War Memorial: Photo: Reginald Brown · 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackwood | 12,621 | — | D | B+ | D− | D |
| Fleur-de-lis and Pengam | 3,102 | 0.8 | C− | A− | C | D |
| Pontllanfraith | 9,363 | 1.1 | C− | B+ | C | D |
| Tir-y-berth and Glan-y-nant | 1,411 | 1.1 | — | A− | C− | D |
| Oakdale | 6,126 | 1.4 | C | B | B− | C− |
| Pen-pedair-heol | 3,787 | 1.7 | C+ | B+ | B+ | D |
| Ystrad Mynach | 11,856 | 1.8 | C− | A− | D | D |
| Bargod | 8,034 | 1.8 | C− | A | D | D− |
Tir-y-berth and Glan-y-nant has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
6 on Cadw’s list, 1 of them Grade II*.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £195,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £149,000, terraced houses £157,500, semi-detached houses £200,000 and detached houses £326,000.
Town in Gwent, Wales
Blackwood is a built-up area of 12,621 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.