Photo: andy dolman · CC BY-SA 2.0A higher share of households in terraced houses than 99% of UK towns, at 79%
54% of residents said they have no religion, against 47% across Wales’s towns. The 2021 Census put Cwm’s population at 2,507, in 1,169 households. On the census count, 5.1% of households live in a detached house. Few places have as many one-person households: 36% here, more than in 89% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Cwm’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Cwm at 2,700 in 2011 and 2,600 in 2024, down 6%, against 4% for Wales: slower growth than in 98% 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.
Since 2011, Cwm has changed by −6%, slower than 98% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Cwm’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 2,700 people in 2011; 2,600 in 2024.
Change by age ran from +5% for the 30 to 44 to −29% for the 16 to 29.
Cwm: 9.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24, above 55% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
22% of residents are 65 or over. The median age in Cwm is 44.8, higher than in 52% of UK towns. In Abergavenny, the oldest of Gwent’s towns by this measure, it is 27%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Cwm, 44.8. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
49% women, 51% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
A lower share of residents who moved in within the year than 99% of UK towns, at 5.3%
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%.
In Cwm, 4.4% of adults are full-time students, beside 8% across Wales’s towns. The usual figure: 9.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Wales’s towns.
2.1 people per household, fewer than in 89% 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.
By its share of households with dependent children (25%), Cwm is below 69% of UK towns. Shared households of unrelated adults: 1.6% of the total.
A higher share of households without a car or van than 87% of UK towns, at 25%
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
Households in flats make up 4.8%, against 14% across Wales’s towns. On average, 21% of households have no car or van across Wales’s towns.
A smaller share of residents born outside the UK than 99% of UK towns: 2%
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
100% of residents have English as their main language, against 96% across Wales’s towns. Across Wales’s towns, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK. The largest groups were born in EU countries (1.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.4%).
5.7% of residents speak Welsh in Cwm
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Against 16% across Welsh towns, 5.7% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Welsh here (139 people): fewer than in 99% of Welsh towns. Abertridwr and Senghenydd leads Gwent with 14%.
97% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 94% 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: 97% of Cwm · Gwent’s towns 91% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are Other White (1.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Indian (0.2%). For comparison, nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British across Wales’s towns. Cwm has fewer residents who describe themselves as Christian than 95% of UK towns, at 38%.
Cwm ranks below 94% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 39%
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
Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 108 people. Typically, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across Wales’s towns. On adults who have never married, Cwm sits higher than 92% of UK towns: 41%. The share of unpaid carers is 11%, against 10% across Wales’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 19% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Cwm’s adults: 19% with a degree-level qualification and 28% with none, against 31% and 20% across Wales’s towns.
74th youngest of 219 UK towns of 2,500 to 3,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 20.6 in Keele to 60.8 in St Mary's Bay. Nearest to Cwm in age: Steeple Claydon (44.6), Halton (44.8), Thornley (45.1) and Weedon Bec (45.1).
Every neighbour of Cwm has a younger population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cwm | 2,507 | — | 44.8 | 22% | 25% |
| Blaina | 4,553 | 2.1 mi | 44.5 | 20% | 26% |
| Abertillery | 10,248 | 2.2 mi | 42.9 | 20% | 26% |
| Markham | 1,443 | 2.6 mi | 37.2 | 18% | 35% |
| New Tredegar | 3,280 | 2.8 mi | 40.8 | 19% | 28% |
| Nantyglo | 4,548 | 3.1 mi | 42.3 | 19% | 29% |
| Ebbw Vale | 19,635 | 3.2 mi | 43.1 | 20% | 27% |
| Llanhilleth | 2,450 | 3.3 mi | 42.6 | 20% | 24% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Cwm’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. Cwm’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 2,507 people in 2021, against 2,507 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 Cwm’s residents
What is the population of Cwm?
The 2021 Census counted 2,507 people in Cwm’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 2,600 people in mid-2024, 6% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Cwm?
The median age was 44.8 at the 2021 Census, older than 52% of UK towns. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cwm?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 91% across Gwent’s towns. 2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cwm?
54% said they had no religion and 38% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 7% didn’t answer.
Is Cwm good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Cwm’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Cwm?
139 residents aged 3 and over, 5.7%, 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.