Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 29,070 in Gwent, Wales.
Pontypool grades D− overall against UK towns: better than 4% of UK towns, and #28 of 38 in Gwent. Its weakest is safety (D): 47 violent and sexual offences and 18.7 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 16%.
This town's Health Grade uses ONS's small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy for 2019 to 2023, and two Census 2021 measures, bad health and disability, adjusted for age. English towns' grades also use OHID's small-area early deaths, hospital admissions and child obesity, which OHID publishes for England only.
The 3 things Pontypool does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Wales), ordered by how far Pontypool is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 89 buildings inside Pontypool’s built-up area, 3 of them Grade II*.
30% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 2 old photos and postcards going back to 1793.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Pontypool.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Burglary and damage came to 18.7 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Gwent’s towns (16.5) and Wales’s towns (10.7). Police recorded 2,708 crimes inside Pontypool’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 517 reports of anti-social behaviour. Among the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Pontypool has more crime per resident than 84% of them.
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL
Three of its 10 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. Wales publishes no school-level results, so its schools have no letters.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Inn Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 566 | – |
| West Monmouth Comprehensive SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,149 | – |
| Ysgol Gymraeg GwynllywLargest Welsh-medium schoolAll-through | All-through | 808 | – |
Women here live to 81.3 on average and men to 77.4 (2019–23). 3 GP practices serve the town. These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy.
| Census 2021 | Pontypool | Gwent | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 77% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.2% | 7.7% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 22% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Pontypool has 89 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Cadw’s list: 0 Grade I, 3 Grade II*. 30% of its homes were built before 1919.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 21% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
In the comparison, Pontypool comes below both Gwent’s towns (13%) and Wales’s towns (16%). 88% of commuters drove to work at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
For Pontypool, that is below both Gwent’s towns (14%) and Wales’s towns (17%).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £320,000 | 189 |
| Semi-detached | £205,000 | 307 |
| Terraced | £157,000 | 381 |
| Flat or maisonette | £97,500 | 30 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
10% of residents are 15 to 24 and 21% are 65 or over, against 11% and 20% across Gwent’s towns. 28% of residents 16 and over have a degree-level qualification (Gwent 28%, Wales 31%).
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Pontypool | Gwent | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 26% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 21% | 20% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 22% | 23% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.7% | 5.4% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 28% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · Gwent and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Pontypool. Best known first.
MuseumTorfaen Museumin town
Abbey or prioryLlantarnam Abbey4.8 km outside town, to the south
MuseumAbertillery & District Museum5 km outside town, to the northwestAttractionAttractionGreenmeadow Community Farm2 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumLlanyrafon Manor2.9 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
89 listed buildings in Pontypool.
Crane Street Baptist Church: Photo: No Swan So Fine · CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Valley Inheritance Museum: Photo: Steve Daniels · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Pontypool Park: Photo: M J Roscoe · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Geograph · Manchester House, including Mayberry Pharmacy and the Good Job Club: Photo: No Swan So Fine · CC BY-SA 4.0
77 notable people were born in Pontypool.
Luke Evans: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0 · Gwyneth Jones: Menerbes (Fabian Gastellier), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sean Moore: Markus Unger, CC BY 2.0 · Eben Upton: Jim Killock, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Thomas Barker: Thomas Barker, Public domain · Ian Gough: Chris Jobling from Swansea, UK, Wales, CC BY-SA 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontypool | 29,070 | — | D− | B− | D | D |
| Abersychan | 7,495 | 2.7 | D− | B | D | D− |
| Cwmbrân | 47,075 | 3.2 | D− | C+ | D | D |
| Penperlleni | 1,396 | 3.6 | — | C− | A− | B+ |
| Swffryd | 1,721 | 4.3 | — | B− | D | D− |
| Llanhilleth | 2,450 | 4.5 | — | B | D− | D− |
| Trinant | 1,504 | 5 | — | A | D | D |
| Abertillery | 10,248 | 5 | D− | B− | D− | D− |
Penperlleni, Swffryd, Llanhilleth and Trinant have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
89 on Cadw’s list, 3 of them Grade II*. That is 1.3 times the typical UK town for its size.
Police recorded 2,708 crimes inside Pontypool’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 47% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
By type: flats £97,500, terraced houses £157,000, semi-detached houses £205,000 and detached houses £320,000.
Large town in Gwent, Wales
Pontypool is a built-up area of 29,070 people, in the Torfaen council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Cadw listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered historic parks and gardens via DataMapWales, October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. 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.