Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0No religion: 56% of residents, a higher share than 98% of UK towns
Just over one in ten residents give unpaid care, against 10% across Wales’s towns. The census found that 6.8% of households live in a flat or apartment in Blackwood. At 21%, the share of households in detached houses is lower than in 70% of UK towns. The town had 12,621 residents and 5,504 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 45.5 (older than 58% of UK towns).
What the Census says about Blackwood’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Blackwood at 13,700 in 2011 and 13,300 in 2024, down 3%, against 4% for Wales: slower growth than in 93% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
−3% since 2011, a pace below 93% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Blackwood’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 13,700 people in 2011; 13,300 in 2024.
Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+31%) and 0 to 15 least (−17%).
Blackwood: 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24, above 79% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
With a median age of 45.5, Blackwood is older than 58% of UK towns. 50–54 is the most common age band: 7.4% of residents. As a reference point, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Wales’s towns. In Abergavenny, the oldest of Gwent’s towns by this measure, it is 27%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Blackwood, 45.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 95% of UK towns: 6.2%
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Where 8% of adults are full-time students across Wales’s towns, Blackwood has 5.6%. Across Wales’s towns, 9.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
In Blackwood, 1.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, fewer than in 81% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Gwent’s towns and Wales’s towns
People per household
Wales’s towns.
Against a figure of 32% across Wales’s towns, the share of one-person households in Blackwood comes in at 29%. The wider picture: 3.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Wales’s towns. The average household has 2.3 people.
More terraced houses than 67% of UK towns: 24% of households
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
Set against 21% across Wales’s towns, nearly a fifth of households have no car or van in Blackwood. The usual figure: 29% of households live in a terraced house across Wales’s towns.
Residents born outside the UK: 3%, a lower share than 91% of UK towns
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 10%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Where 23% of those born abroad across Wales’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 5.5%. On residents whose main language is English, Blackwood sits higher than 75% of UK towns: 99%. Typically, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.7%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%).
8.1% of Blackwood’s residents say they can speak Welsh
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
988 residents, 8.1% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh at the 2021 Census, against 16% across Welsh towns: fewer than in 87% of Welsh towns. The highest share in Gwent belongs to Abertridwr and Senghenydd (14%).
38% of residents describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 95% of UK towns
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 96% of Blackwood · Gwent’s towns 91% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Where nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British across Wales’s towns, Blackwood has 96%. Across Wales’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 43%. After White British, the largest groups are Other White (1.6%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Chinese (0.4%).
Above 65% of UK towns: 35% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
556 residents care, unpaid, for at least 50 hours a week. Lower than in 63% of UK towns: 46% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. Elsewhere, 38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Wales’s towns.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 25%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Blackwood counts 25% of its adults, against 31% across Wales’s towns; at the other end, 25% have no qualification (20%).
From a median age of 43 in Blackwood to 52 in North Blackwood, Argoed & Markham
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
North Blackwood, Argoed & Markham is the oldest area, with 28% aged 65 or over; Blackwood the youngest (median age 43). Families with children are most common in Blackwood (30% of households).
141st oldest of 382 UK towns of 9,000 to 17,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Blackwood in age: Chepstow (45.4), Catshill (45.5), Pencoed (45.5) and Killamarsh (45.6).
1 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Blackwood
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackwood | 12,621 | — | 45.5 | 23% | 27% |
| Fleur-de-lis and Pengam | 3,102 | 0.8 mi | 44.4 | 21% | 28% |
| Pontllanfraith | 9,363 | 1.1 mi | 43.5 | 22% | 27% |
| Tir-y-berth and Glan-y-nant | 1,411 | 1.1 mi | 39.9 | 17% | 32% |
| Oakdale | 6,126 | 1.4 mi | 41.9 | 19% | 33% |
| Pen-pedair-heol | 3,787 | 1.7 mi | 46.9 | 23% | 25% |
| Ystrad Mynach | 11,856 | 1.8 mi | 39.5 | 16% | 32% |
| Bargod | 8,034 | 1.8 mi | 41.4 | 21% | 28% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “Gwent’s towns” and “Wales’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Gwent (or Wales), summed the same way as Blackwood’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Blackwood’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 13,317 people in 2021, against 12,621 in the built-up area.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Blackwood’s residents
What is the population of Blackwood?
The 2021 Census counted 12,621 people in Blackwood’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 13,300 people in mid-2024, 3% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Blackwood?
The median age was 45.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 58% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Blackwood?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 91% across Gwent’s towns. 3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Blackwood?
56% said they had no religion and 38% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5% didn’t answer.
Is Blackwood good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Families are most common in Blackwood (30% of households). Schools are on Blackwood’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Blackwood?
988 residents aged 3 and over, 8.1%, said they can speak Welsh at the 2021 Census, against 16% across Welsh towns.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067, TS032) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.