Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
With 5,637 residents, it is a town in Gwent, Wales.
Crime is the sore point (D−): 58.2 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 23.5 home and vehicle crimes. Only 3% of UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people have more crime per resident. Its strongest is cost of living — a typical home costs £139,950 and rent runs £862 a month. Put together, the subjects come to a D− overall, ranking #29 of 38 in Gwent. Set against the rest, it does better than 3% of UK towns.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · 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 Blaenavon 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 Blaenavon is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 31 buildings inside Blaenavon’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade I, and 1 scheduled monument.
Part of the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site.
49% 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 Blaenavon.
A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 639 offences in Blaenavon and 206 cases of nuisance behaviour. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 31.7 reports per 1,000, above both Gwent’s towns (15) and Wales’s towns (10.4). Violence and sexual offences were 47% 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.
It is listed below. 472 pupils attend Blaenavon’s one primary school.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blaenavon Heritage Voluntary Controlled Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 472 | – |
Just over three quarters of Blaenavon’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, below both Gwent’s towns (77%) and Wales’s towns (78%). One GP practice serves the town. The nearest A&E to Blaenavon is The Grange University Hospital, 9.5 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Blaenavon | Gwent | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 77% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.2% | 7.7% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 22% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
The top grade, Grade I, goes to 3 of them. It is part of the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site. Nearly half of homes date from before 1919. Its listed buildings include Balance Tower, Grade I.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Social housing holds 27% of households, above both Gwent’s towns (20%) and Wales’s towns (18%). The median sale, £139,950, comes from 167 standard sales inside Blaenavon’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. 15% of households rent privately.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £307,500 | 20 |
| Semi-detached | £168,750 | 34 |
| Terraced | £130,000 | 109 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
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.
87% of commuters drove, above both Gwent’s towns (84%) and Wales’s towns (81%). Home was the main workplace for 16% of workers at the census. About 19% of its commuters stay in Blaenavon for work. Average household income comes to £40K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
19% are under 15, above Gwent’s towns (18%) and Wales’s towns (17%) alike. Residents of Blaenavon have a median age of 40.2. The 15-to-24 age group makes up just over one in ten residents.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Blaenavon | Gwent | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 26% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 19% | 20% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 24% | 23% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.8% | 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 Blaenavon. Best known first.
MuseumAbertillery & District Museum5 km outside town, to the southwestMuseumMuseumBlaenafon Community Museumin townAttractionAttractionRhymney Brewery & Visitors Centrein townMuseumMuseumBig Pit: National Coal Museum200 m outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
31 listed buildings in Blaenavon, 3 of them Grade I.
Balance Tower: Photo: Alan Stanton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Blaenafon Ironworks: Photo: Alan Stanton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Post Office: Photo: David P Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Bethlehem Congregational Church (also known as Bethlehem Independent Chapel): Photo: David P. Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0
12 notable people were born in Blaenavon.
E. E. Clive: DVD (20th Century Fox), Public domain · Ken Jones: Unknown (Crown Studios of Wellington), Public domain · Edmund W. Samuel: Collection of U.S. House of Representatives, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blaenavon | 5,637 | — | D− | B | D− | D |
| Abersychan | 7,495 | 3 | D− | B | D | D− |
| Govilon | 1,342 | 3.2 | — | D | A | B− |
| Blaina | 4,553 | 3.2 | D− | B− | D | D− |
| Abertillery | 10,248 | 3.6 | D− | B− | D− | D− |
| Llanfoist | 2,007 | 3.6 | — | C− | C− | C+ |
| Gilwern | 2,184 | 3.7 | — | C− | B | B− |
| Nantyglo | 4,548 | 3.8 | D− | C+ | D | D− |
Govilon, Llanfoist and Gilwern have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
31 on Cadw’s list, 3 of them Grade I and 2 Grade II*. That is 2.3 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Balance Tower. It also has 1 scheduled monument. Part of it is in the Blaenavon Industrial Landscape World Heritage Site.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £139,950, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £130,000, semi-detached houses £168,750 and detached houses £307,500.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on Natural Resources Wales’s flood risk service.
Town in Gwent, Wales
Blaenavon is a built-up area of 5,637 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.