Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0In Cwmbrân, 44% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 96% of UK towns
The figure for residents with no religion is 51% in Cwmbrân and 47% across Wales’s towns. There were 20,511 households locally at the 2021 Census, home to 47,075 residents. For Cwmbrân, the census puts households in detached houses at 20%. Half of the town’s residents are under 42.1, younger than in 68% of UK towns.
Since 2011, Cwmbrân has changed by +6%, slower than 58% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Cwmbrân’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 47,100 people in 2011; 49,800 in 2024.
The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2024: 560 more people. The 65 and over age group changed most (+22%) and the 16 to 29 least (−9%).
A larger share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 68% of UK towns: 10%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with 7.3% of residents. For comparison, 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+
■ Cwmbrân, 42.1. 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.
Cwmbrân sits below 85% of UK towns for residents who moved in within the year (7%)
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%.
28% of Cwmbrân’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 31% in routine and semi-routine work, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. By way of comparison, 9.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Wales’s towns. Across Cwmbrân, 5.2% of adults are full-time students.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
One-person homes: 31% of households in Cwmbrân
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.
The census found that 28% of households have dependent children in Cwmbrân. Households in Cwmbrân hold 2.3 people on average (Wales’s towns: 2.3).
Households in flats make up 12% in Cwmbrân, more than in 58% 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
There is little gap on households without a car or van: 21%, about the same as across Wales’s towns. The usual figure: 14% of households live in a flat or apartment across Wales’s towns.
Only 4.5% of residents were born outside the UK in Cwmbrân
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
Across Wales’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English is 96%; Cwmbrân has 98%. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.8%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1.7%). As a reference point, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns.
Cwmbrân: 8% of residents speak Welsh
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Against 16% across Welsh towns, 8% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Welsh here (3,649 people): fewer than in 88% of Welsh towns. Within Gwent, Abertridwr and Senghenydd has the largest share, 14%.
Cwmbrân sits below 91% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (41%)
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: 94% of Cwmbrân · Gwent’s towns 91% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
The groups that follow White British are Other White (1.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and Indian (0.4%). 94% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 68% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 43% of residents describe themselves as Christian across Wales’s towns.
Cwmbrân: 35% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, above 69% 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
Across Wales’s towns, the share of married adults and civil partners is 43%; Cwmbrân has 44%. In Cwmbrân, 11% of residents give unpaid care. The usual figure: 38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Wales’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications reach 26% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
22% of Cwmbrân’s adults have no qualification (20% across Wales’s towns), and 26% have one at degree level (31%).
From a median age of 37 in West Pontnewydd & Thornhill to 47 in Croesyceiliog
The town’s 7 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Croesyceiliog is the oldest area, with 26% aged 65 or over; West Pontnewydd & Thornhill the youngest (median age 37). Families with children are most common in West Pontnewydd & Thornhill (34% of households).
156 UK towns of 33,000 to 64,000 people: this is the 64th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 27.5 in Canterbury to 56.2 in Rustington. Nearest to Cwmbrân in age: Llanelli (41.9), Ramsgate (42), Caerphilly (42.1) and Chorley (42.2).
5 of the 7 nearest towns are older than Cwmbrân
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 Cwmbrân’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. Cwmbrân’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 48,234 people in 2021, against 47,075 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 Cwmbrân’s residents
What is the population of Cwmbrân?
The 2021 Census counted 47,075 people in Cwmbrân’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 49,800 people in mid-2024, 6% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Cwmbrân?
The median age was 42.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 68% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Cwmbrân?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 91% across Gwent’s towns. 4.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Cwmbrân?
51% said they had no religion and 41% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Cwmbrân good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Families are most common in West Pontnewydd & Thornhill (34% of households). Schools are on Cwmbrân’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Cwmbrân?
3,649 residents aged 3 and over, 8%, 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.