Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0Only 2.7% of households live in a flat or apartment in Nelson
The figure for residents who describe themselves as Christian is 40% in Nelson and 43% across Wales’s towns. The median age locally is 48.6, higher than in 77% of UK towns. In 2021, the Census found 4,235 residents locally, living in 1,877 households. On the census count, 18% of households live in a detached house.
What the Census says about Nelson’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Nelson at 4,600 in 2011 and 4,400 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.
Slower than most: −6% since 2011, behind 98% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Nelson’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 4,600 people in 2011; 4,400 in 2024.
Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+26%) and the 0 to 15 least (−22%).
Nelson: 26% of residents are 65 or over, above 77% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 8.5% of residents. Across Wales’s towns, 21% of residents are 65 or over. Higher than in 78% of UK towns: 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24. In Abergavenny, the oldest of Gwent’s towns by this measure, it is 27%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Nelson, 48.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Nelson sits below 99% of UK towns for residents who moved in within the year (4.3%)
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%.
Across Wales’s towns, 29% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine or semi-routine work; Nelson has 27% and 27%. The wider picture: nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Wales’s towns. Here, 5.4% 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.
A smaller share of shared households of unrelated adults than 87% of UK towns: 1.7%
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 with dependent children make up 25%, against 27% across Wales’s towns. At the same time, on one-person households, Nelson sits higher than 57% of UK towns: 31%. The wider picture: 3.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Wales’s towns.
A higher share of households in terraced houses than 80% of UK towns, at 28%
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
Set against 21% across Wales’s towns, 17% of households have no car or van in Nelson. The benchmark for households in terraced houses across Wales’s towns: 29%.
Only 2.2% of Nelson’s 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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
By its share of residents whose main language is English (99%), Nelson is above 91% of UK towns. For comparison, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%) and in EU countries (0.8%).
Welsh is spoken by 11% of Nelson’s residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
At the 2021 Census, 470 residents aged 3 and over, 11%, said they can speak Welsh, against 16% across Welsh towns: fewer than in 54% of Welsh towns. In Gwent, Abertridwr and Senghenydd has the highest share (14%).
A larger share of residents with no religion than 97% of UK towns: 53%
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 Nelson · Gwent’s towns 91% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Across Wales’s towns, 90% of residents describe themselves as White British; in Nelson, 97%. The largest groups after White British are Other White (1%), Pakistani (0.4%) and Mixed or multiple (0.4%). The usual figure: 47% of residents said they have no religion across Wales’s towns.
Nelson ranks above 96% of UK towns on unpaid carers: 12%
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
The share of married adults and civil partners trails 58% of UK towns: 47%. As a reference point, 10% of residents give unpaid care across Wales’s towns. Unpaid care takes 50 hours a week or more for 191 people. Higher than in 55% of UK towns: 33% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 26% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Nelson, 26% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 31% across Wales’s towns, while 26% have no qualification at all (20%).
237th highest median age among 695 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe the oldest (64.7). Nearest to Nelson in age: Goff's Oak (48.6), Ashburton (48.6), Newbiggin-by-the-Sea (48.7) and Bramhope (48.7).
The towns around Nelson are all younger
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson | 4,235 | — | 48.6 | 26% | 25% |
| Trelewis | 2,022 | 1.2 mi | 37.1 | 16% | 37% |
| Treharris | 5,042 | 1.3 mi | 44.4 | 21% | 26% |
| Gelligaer | 1,436 | 1.6 mi | 36.5 | 16% | 32% |
| Abercynon | 6,376 | 2.1 mi | 39.2 | 17% | 30% |
| Pen-pedair-heol | 3,787 | 2.2 mi | 46.9 | 23% | 25% |
| Ystrad Mynach | 11,856 | 2.3 mi | 39.5 | 16% | 32% |
| Tir-y-berth and Glan-y-nant | 1,411 | 2.7 mi | 39.9 | 17% | 32% |
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 Nelson’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. Nelson’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 4,468 people in 2021, against 4,235 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 Nelson’s residents
What is the population of Nelson?
The 2021 Census counted 4,235 people in Nelson’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 4,400 people in mid-2024, 6% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Nelson?
The median age was 48.6 at the 2021 Census, older than 77% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Nelson?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 91% across Gwent’s towns. 2.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Nelson?
53% said they had no religion and 40% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Nelson good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Nelson’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Nelson?
470 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) · 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.