Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0Blaenavon ranks above 98% of UK towns on households in terraced houses: 54%
Where nearly a third of households are one person living alone across Wales’s towns, Blaenavon has 35%. Its 2,520 households held 5,637 residents at the 2021 Census. Locally, 97% of residents describe themselves as White British. Households in detached houses are rarer here than in 92% of UK towns.
Slower growth than 79% of UK towns: Blaenavon changed by +1% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Blaenavon’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 6,100 people in 2011; 6,200 in 2024.
The 30 to 44 age group moved most (+9%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−8%). In one year, mid-2017 to mid-2018, the population rose by 80, the most of any year.
Half of Blaenavon is under 40.2, younger than 79% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Just over a fifth of residents are 65 or over across Wales’s towns, against 19% in Blaenavon. Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 11% in the town.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Blaenavon, 40.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Blaenavon sits above 67% of UK towns for full-time students (5.2%)
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%.
23% of Blaenavon’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 33% in routine and semi-routine work, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. By way of comparison, 8% of adults are full-time students across Wales’s towns. Here, 7.8% 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.
Blaenavon ranks above 70% of UK towns on households with dependent children: 29%
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.
Households in Blaenavon hold 2.2 people on average (Wales’s towns: 2.3). The comparison figure for households with dependent children is 27% across Wales’s towns. For Blaenavon, the census puts shared households of unrelated adults at 1.8%.
22% of households have no car or van, more than in 81% of UK towns
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
By its share of households in flats (15%), Blaenavon is above 69% of UK towns. About one household in 4 lives without a car or van.
Below 98% of UK towns: 2.3% of residents were born outside the UK
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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (1.2%) and in Africa (0.4%). 99% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 88% of UK towns. As a yardstick, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 5.3% of those born abroad (Wales’s towns: 23%).
Welsh is spoken by 9.2% of Blaenavon’s residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
9.2% of residents aged 3 and over, 500 people, said in 2021 that they can speak Welsh, fewer than in 78% of Welsh towns (Welsh towns: 16%). Within Gwent, Abertridwr and Senghenydd has the largest share, 14%.
Blaenavon ranks above 98% of UK towns on residents with no religion: 55%
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: 97% of Blaenavon · Gwent’s towns 91% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
In Blaenavon, 38% of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 43% across Wales’s towns. The comparison figure for residents with no religion is 47% across Wales’s towns.
40% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 92% of UK towns
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
On unpaid carers, 10% here is much the same as across Wales’s towns. Adults who have never married are more common here than in 91% of UK towns. Across Wales’s towns, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 190.
23% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
23% of Blaenavon’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 31% across Wales’s towns; 24% have none (20%).
624 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people: this is the 103rd youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Bailrigg (18.9), the youngest, and Barton on Sea (65.3), the oldest. Nearest to Blaenavon in age: Cotgrave (40.2), Woodford Halse (40.2), Wingate (40.3) and Rawdon (40.3).
No nearby town is as young as Blaenavon
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blaenavon | 5,637 | — | 40.2 | 19% | 29% |
| Abersychan | 7,495 | 3 mi | 41.4 | 19% | 30% |
| Govilon | 1,342 | 3.2 mi | 55.2 | 33% | 19% |
| Blaina | 4,553 | 3.2 mi | 44.5 | 20% | 26% |
| Abertillery | 10,248 | 3.6 mi | 42.9 | 20% | 26% |
| Llanfoist | 2,007 | 3.6 mi | 42.9 | 21% | 33% |
| Gilwern | 2,184 | 3.7 mi | 51.3 | 30% | 23% |
| Nantyglo | 4,548 | 3.8 mi | 42.3 | 19% | 29% |
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 Blaenavon’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. Blaenavon’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 6,014 people in 2021, against 5,637 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 Blaenavon’s residents
What is the population of Blaenavon?
The 2021 Census counted 5,637 people in Blaenavon’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 6,200 people in mid-2024, 1% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Blaenavon?
The median age was 40.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 79% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Blaenavon?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 91% across Gwent’s towns. 2.3% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Blaenavon?
55% said they had no religion and 38% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Blaenavon good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Blaenavon’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Blaenavon?
500 residents aged 3 and over, 9.2%, 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. 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.