Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0Fewer households in detached houses than 95% of UK towns: 9.2%
54% of residents said they have no religion; across Wales’s towns the figure is 47%. Census day 2021: 15,194 residents and 6,899 households in Risca. For Risca, the census puts households in terraced houses at 41%. On one-person households, Risca sits higher than just over four fifths of UK towns: 34%.
What the Census says about Risca’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Risca at 14,900 in 2011 and 14,400 in 2024, down 4%, against 4% for Wales: slower growth than in 95% 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 −4% since 2011 leaves Risca behind 95% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Risca’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 14,900 people in 2011; 14,400 in 2024.
Split by age, the 65 and over changed most (+13%) and the 16 to 29 least (−18%).
10% of residents are 15 to 24, more than in 56% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with 7.8% of residents. The wider picture: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Wales’s towns. With a median age of 44.1, Risca is younger than 53% 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+
■ Risca, 44.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Fewer residents who moved in within the year than 91% of UK towns: 6.6%
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 or semi-routine work; Risca has 25% and 34%. Elsewhere, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Wales’s towns. 4.8% of adults are full-time students.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 75% of UK towns
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, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is 3.1%; Risca has 2%. Households with dependent children account for 26%.
Above 55% of UK towns: 12% of households live in a flat or apartment
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
Nothing unusual on households without a car or van: 21%, close to the figure across Wales’s towns. Households in flats: 14% across Wales’s towns, for comparison.
Only 4% of residents were born outside the UK in Risca
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
Residents whose main language is English make up 98%, against 96% across Wales’s towns. Across Wales’s towns, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK.
Welsh, spoken by 7.6% of Risca’s residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Across Welsh towns, 16% of residents can speak Welsh; here 1,127 people, 7.6% of those aged 3 and over, said they can: fewer than in 92% of Welsh towns. No town in Gwent beats Abertridwr and Senghenydd (14%).
Only 38% of residents describe themselves as Christian in Risca
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: 95% of Risca · Gwent’s towns 91% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Residents who describe themselves as White British make up 95%, against 90% across Wales’s towns. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (2.2%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Indian (0.2%). Elsewhere, 43% of residents describe themselves as Christian across Wales’s towns.
In Risca, 12% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 95% 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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 603 residents. The benchmark for unpaid carers across Wales’s towns: 10%. Higher than in nearly three quarters of UK towns: 36% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. Married adults and civil partners: 43%, near enough the figure across Wales’s towns.
25% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Against 31% across Wales’s towns, 25% of adults here have a degree-level qualification, while 22% hold no qualification (20%).
From a median age of 41 in Crosskeys North & Abercarn to 46 in Risca West
The town’s 4 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Risca West is the oldest area, with 22% aged 65 or over; Crosskeys North & Abercarn the youngest (median age 41). Families with children are most common in Risca East (26% of households).
Among 354 UK towns of 11,000 to 21,000 people, the 171st oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Risca in age: Yeadon (44.1), Kesgrave (44.1), Guiseley (44.2) and Hessle (44.4).
Older than Risca: 3 of the 7 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Risca | 15,194 | — | 44.1 | 21% | 26% |
| Machen | 1,985 | 1.8 mi | 47 | 22% | 28% |
| Rogerstone | 7,546 | 2 mi | 45 | 21% | 31% |
| Abercarn | 5,123 | 2.8 mi | 40.8 | 18% | 27% |
| Trethomas | 1,713 | 3 mi | 33.8 | 14% | 38% |
| Cwmfelinfach | 1,353 | 3.3 mi | 40.4 | 17% | 27% |
| Cwmbrân | 47,075 | 4.1 mi | 42.1 | 21% | 28% |
| Bedwas | 6,463 | 4.2 mi | 44.4 | 22% | 28% |
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 Risca’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. Risca’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 14,424 people in 2021, against 15,194 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 Risca’s residents
What is the population of Risca?
The 2021 Census counted 15,194 people in Risca’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 14,400 people in mid-2024, 4% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Risca?
The median age was 44.1 at the 2021 Census, younger than 53% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Risca?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 91% across Gwent’s towns. 4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Risca?
54% said they had no religion and 38% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6.4% didn’t answer.
Is Risca good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Families are most common in Risca East (26% of households). Schools are on Risca’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Risca?
1,127 residents aged 3 and over, 7.6%, 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.