Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.050% of residents said they have no religion, a share 93% of UK towns don’t reach
A third of households live in a terraced house (Wales’s towns: 29%). At 12%, the share of unpaid carers is higher than in 94% of UK towns. There were 12,733 households in Pontypool at the 2021 Census, home to 29,070 residents. On the census count, 19% of households live in a detached house.
Pontypool changed by ±0% from 2011 to 2024, behind 82% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Pontypool’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 29,400 people in 2011; 29,500 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+23%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−14%). The biggest one-year rise was mid-2022 to mid-2023, 150 people.
Younger than 62% of UK towns: half of Pontypool is under 43
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
55–59 is the most common age band: 7.2% of residents. Residents aged 15 to 24 are more common here than in 69% 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+
■ Pontypool, 43. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 87% of UK towns: 6.9%
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%.
5.1% of adults are full-time students (Wales’s towns: 8%). For comparison, 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.
Pontypool sits below 77% of UK towns for shared households of unrelated adults (1.9%)
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 average 2.3 people, against 2.3 across Wales’s towns. To put it in context, 3.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home across Wales’s towns. Here, 31% of households are one person living alone. Compared with other places, households with dependent children are common here: 28%, more than in 54% of UK towns.
18% of households have no car or van, more than in 65% 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
The figure for households in flats is 12% in Pontypool and 14% across Wales’s towns. The wider picture: just over a fifth of households have no car or van across Wales’s towns.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 94% of UK towns: 2.7%
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
Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 13% of those born abroad (Wales’s towns: 23%). For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across Wales’s towns is 7.4%. Across Pontypool, 99% of residents have English as their main language.
Welsh speakers: 7.9% of Pontypool’s residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
7.9% of residents aged 3 and over, 2,225 people, said in 2021 that they can speak Welsh, fewer than in 89% of Welsh towns (Welsh towns: 16%). In Gwent, Abertridwr and Senghenydd has the highest share (14%).
A higher White British share than 87% of UK towns: 96% of residents
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: 96% of Pontypool · Gwent’s towns 91% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (2%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Chinese (0.2%). At 43%, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is lower than in 86% of UK towns. As a yardstick, 90% of residents describe themselves as White British across Wales’s towns.
45% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, below 70% 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
38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Wales’s towns, against 36% in Pontypool. As a reference point, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across Wales’s towns. For 1,109 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week.
28% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 28% of adults in Pontypool, 31% across Wales’s towns; 22% have no qualification, against 20%.
From a median age of 32 in Pontnewydd & Upper Cwmbran to 51 in New Inn
The town’s 5 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
New Inn is the oldest area, with 29% aged 65 or over; Pontnewydd & Upper Cwmbran the youngest (median age 32). Families with children are most common in Pontnewydd & Upper Cwmbran (40% of households).
Of 240 UK towns its size (20,000 to 39,000 people), the 104th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 31.1 in Egham to 56.2 in Rustington. Nearest to Pontypool in age: Penarth (42.9), Denton (43), Ewell (43.1) and Barnstaple (43.1).
Pontypool is younger than 1 of its 7 nearest neighbours
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontypool | 29,070 | — | 43 | 21% | 28% |
| Abersychan | 7,495 | 2.7 mi | 41.4 | 19% | 30% |
| Cwmbrân | 47,075 | 3.2 mi | 42.1 | 21% | 28% |
| Penperlleni | 1,396 | 3.6 mi | 50.8 | 27% | 23% |
| Swffryd | 1,721 | 4.3 mi | 41.5 | 19% | 26% |
| Llanhilleth | 2,450 | 4.5 mi | 42.6 | 20% | 24% |
| Trinant | 1,504 | 5 mi | 39.6 | 19% | 31% |
| Abertillery | 10,248 | 5 mi | 42.9 | 20% | 26% |
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 Pontypool’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. Pontypool’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 29,589 people in 2021, against 29,070 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 Pontypool’s residents
What is the population of Pontypool?
The 2021 Census counted 29,070 people in Pontypool’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 29,500 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Pontypool?
The median age was 43 at the 2021 Census, younger than 62% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Pontypool?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 91% across Gwent’s towns. 2.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Pontypool?
50% said they had no religion and 43% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.
Is Pontypool good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Families are most common in Pontnewydd & Upper Cwmbran (40% of households). Schools are on Pontypool’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Pontypool?
2,225 residents aged 3 and over, 7.9%, 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.