Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.061% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 99% of UK towns
90% of residents describe themselves as White British across Wales’s towns, against 97% in Blaina. The town’s 2,055 households held 4,553 residents at the 2021 Census. Households in detached houses: just over a tenth of the total. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 96% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Blaina’s people
More with no religion than most
60% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 33% Christian, against 47% and 43% across Wales’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Blaina at 4,800 in 2011 and 4,600 in 2024, down 4%, against 4% for Wales: slower growth than in 96% 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.
−4% since 2011: slower than 96% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Blaina’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,800 people in 2011; 4,600 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+12%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−25%).
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 10% in Blaina, more than in 67% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
55–59 is the most common age band: nearly one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across Wales’s towns. Across Wales’s towns, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 20%. The median age in Blaina is 44.5, higher than in 50% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Blaina, 44.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Blaina: 5.8% of adults are full-time students, above 80% of UK towns
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%.
6.9% of residents had moved in within the year before the Census, fewer than the 9.1% across Wales’s towns. For full-time students, the comparison across Wales’s towns is 8%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 82% 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.
33% of households are one person living alone, against 32% across Wales’s towns. Census figures put households with dependent children at 26% in Blaina.
A lower share of households in flats than 70% of UK towns, at 7.3%
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
At 21%, households without a car or van sit close to the figure across Wales’s towns. Households in flats make up 14% across Wales’s towns.
2.1% of residents were born outside the UK, below 99% 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1%), then in the Middle East and Asia (0.5%). Against that, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. More residents whose main language is English than in 91% of UK towns: 99%.
Blaina’s Welsh speakers make up 7.2% of residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
At the 2021 Census, 317 residents aged 3 and over, 7.2%, said they can speak Welsh, against 16% across Welsh towns: fewer than in 95% of Welsh towns. The highest share in Gwent belongs to Abertridwr and Senghenydd (14%).
More residents with no religion than 99% of UK towns: 60%
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 Blaina · Gwent’s towns 91% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Against a figure of 43% across Wales’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian in Blaina comes in at 33%. As a yardstick, 47% of residents said they have no religion across Wales’s towns.
Unpaid carers: 11%, a higher share than 90% 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
37% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, against 38% across Wales’s towns. Elsewhere, one in ten residents give unpaid care across Wales’s towns. In Blaina, 42% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
Qualified to degree level: 19% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 19% of adults in Blaina (Wales’s towns: 31%), and no qualification by 28% (Wales’s towns: 20%).
234th youngest of 695 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 18.9 in Bailrigg to 64.7 in Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe. Nearest to Blaina in age: South Cerney (44.5), Halfway Houses (44.5), Oakworth (44.6) and Great Glen (44.6).
Blaina sits below 2 of its 7 closest neighbours on median age
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Blaina’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. Blaina’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,553 people in 2021, against 4,553 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 Blaina’s residents
What is the population of Blaina?
The 2021 Census counted 4,553 people in Blaina’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 4,600 people in mid-2024, 4% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Blaina?
The median age was 44.5 at the 2021 Census, older than 50% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Blaina?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 91% across Gwent’s towns. 2.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Blaina?
60% said they had no religion and 33% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Blaina good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Blaina’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Blaina?
317 residents aged 3 and over, 7.2%, 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.