Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.051% said they have no religion, more than in 95% of UK towns
Households in flats make up 4.4%, against 14% across Wales’s towns. For Machen, the census puts residents aged 15 to 24 at 8.9%. Lower than in 78% of UK towns: 28% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Census day 2021: 1,985 residents and 875 households locally.
Half of Machen is over 47, older than 69% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 50–54 than any other five-year age: 8.6% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Wales’s towns. 22% of residents are 65 or over.
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.
Only 6.3% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Machen
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%.
5.4% of adults are full-time students, against 8% across Wales’s towns. Elsewhere, 9.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Wales’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A smaller share of shared households of unrelated adults than 97% of UK towns: 1.3%
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.
Across Wales’s towns, households average 2.3 people; in Machen, 2.3. On average, 3.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Wales’s towns. Census figures put households with dependent children at 28% here. Compared with other places, one-person households are common here: 31%, more than in 57% of UK towns.
A village of terraces: 25% of households live in one
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
In Machen, 36% of households live in a detached house, beside 24% across Wales’s towns. For Machen, the census puts households without a car or van at 12%. Measured more widely, 29% of households live in a terraced house across Wales’s towns.
Residents whose main language is English: 99%, a higher share than 96% 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
Where 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns, Machen has 3.7%. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.6%).
Can speak Welsh: 11% of Machen’s residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Welsh speakers number 218, or 11% of residents aged 3 and over, against 16% across Welsh towns: fewer than in 56% of them. Abertridwr and Senghenydd leads Gwent with 14%.
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 94% in Machen, more than in 66% 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: 94% of Machen · Gwent’s towns 91% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 43%, near enough the figure across Wales’s towns. As a yardstick, nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British across Wales’s towns. After White British, the most common groups are Other White (2.3%), Mixed or multiple (1.9%) and Indian (0.5%).
Machen: 52% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, above 76% 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
Unpaid carers make up 11% of residents, against 10% across Wales’s towns. The share of married adults and civil partners across Wales’s towns is 43%. 63 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 40% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
40% of Machen’s adults have a degree-level qualification, against 31% across Wales’s towns; 16% have none (20%).
No nearby town is as old as Machen
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Machen | 1,985 | — | 47 | 22% | 28% |
| Trethomas | 1,713 | 1.3 mi | 33.8 | 14% | 38% |
| Risca | 15,194 | 1.8 mi | 44.1 | 21% | 26% |
| Cwmfelinfach | 1,353 | 2.3 mi | 40.4 | 17% | 27% |
| Bedwas | 6,463 | 2.6 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 28% |
| Rogerstone | 7,546 | 3.2 mi | 45 | 21% | 31% |
| Abercarn | 5,123 | 3.6 mi | 40.8 | 18% | 27% |
| Llanbradach | 3,766 | 4 mi | 44.1 | 22% | 25% |
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 Machen’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Machen’s residents
What is the population of Machen?
The 2021 Census counted 1,985 people in Machen’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Machen?
The median age was 47 at the 2021 Census. 8.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 22% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Machen?
94% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 91% across Gwent’s towns. 3.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Machen?
51% said they had no religion and 43% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.5% didn’t answer.
Is Machen good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Machen’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Machen?
218 residents aged 3 and over, 11%, 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). 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.