Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.048% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 97% of UK towns
With households in detached houses at 8.3%, Rhymney is behind 96% of UK towns on that count. 35% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, a lower share than in 98% of UK towns. The town counted 4,998 residents and 2,300 households at the 2021 Census. In Rhymney, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24.
What the Census says about Rhymney’s people
More with no religion than most
61% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 32% Christian, against 47% and 43% across Wales’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Rhymney at 5,500 in 2011 and 5,300 in 2024, down 3%, against 4% for Wales: slower growth than in 94% 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.
A change of −3% since 2011 leaves Rhymney behind 94% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Rhymney’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,500 people in 2011; 5,300 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+24%) and the 0 to 15 group least (−12%).
A median age of 42.6: Rhymney is younger than 65% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with nearly one in ten residents. A fifth of residents are 65 or over, fewer than in 63% 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+
■ Rhymney, 42.6. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Rhymney sits below 97% of UK towns for residents who moved in within the year (6%)
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 work; in Rhymney, 16% and 38%. At 4.2%, the share of full-time students is lower than in just over three quarters of UK towns. As a yardstick, 9.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Wales’s towns.
More one-person households than 87% of UK towns: 35%
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 typical household size is 2.2 people, against 2.3 across Wales’s towns. Shared households of unrelated adults are rarer here than in 56% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 32% of households are one person living alone across Wales’s towns. In Rhymney, 27% of households have dependent children.
Rhymney sits above 96% of UK towns for households without a car or van (32%)
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 14% across Wales’s towns, 16% of households live in a flat or apartment in Rhymney. For comparison, just over a fifth of households have no car or van across Wales’s towns.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 99% of UK towns: 1.7%
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Against a figure of 96% across Wales’s towns, the share of residents whose main language is English in Rhymney comes in at 99%. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (0.8%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.5%). As a yardstick, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns.
In Rhymney, Welsh is a language for 9.9% of residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Against 16% across Welsh towns, 9.9% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Welsh here (479 people): fewer than in 70% of Welsh towns. The highest share in Gwent belongs to Abertridwr and Senghenydd (14%).
More residents with no religion than 99% of UK towns: 61%
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: 98% of Rhymney · Gwent’s towns 91% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White British: 98%, above 99% of UK towns. On average, 47% of residents said they have no religion across Wales’s towns. Nearly a third of residents describe themselves as Christian.
13% of residents give unpaid care, a share 99% of UK towns don’t reach
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 adults who have never married tops 95% of UK towns: 43%. At 50 hours or more a week, 251 people give unpaid care.
18% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 31% across Wales’s towns, 18% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 33% hold no qualification (20%).
810 UK towns of 3,000 to 7,000 people: this is the 187th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Rhymney in age: Datchet (42.6), Long Ashton (42.6), Rishton (42.7) and Thrybergh and Dalton (42.7).
A younger town than 4 of the 7 around it: Rhymney
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhymney | 4,998 | — | 42.6 | 20% | 27% |
| Pontlottyn | 1,832 | 1.1 mi | 45.2 | 20% | 24% |
| Fochriw | 1,148 | 1.5 mi | 43.2 | 19% | 29% |
| Abertysswg | 1,424 | 1.6 mi | 41.2 | 19% | 30% |
| Tredegar | 14,534 | 2.1 mi | 43.6 | 20% | 27% |
| New Tredegar | 3,280 | 3.4 mi | 40.8 | 19% | 28% |
| Ebbw Vale | 19,635 | 3.5 mi | 43.1 | 20% | 27% |
| Merthyr Tydfil | 39,542 | 4 mi | 40.3 | 18% | 29% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Rhymney’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. Rhymney’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,294 people in 2021, against 4,998 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 Rhymney’s residents
What is the population of Rhymney?
The 2021 Census counted 4,998 people in Rhymney’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,300 people in mid-2024, 3% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Rhymney?
The median age was 42.6 at the 2021 Census, younger than 65% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Rhymney?
98% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 91% across Gwent’s towns. 1.7% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Rhymney?
61% said they had no religion and 32% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Rhymney good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Rhymney’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Rhymney?
479 residents aged 3 and over, 9.9%, 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. 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.