Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 6,376: a town in Mid Glamorgan, Wales.
Abercynon’s weakest is health — 8.4% of residents report bad or very bad health, and 24.5% are disabled. With a D overall, Abercynon is better than 15% of UK towns and ranks #15 of 32 in Mid Glamorgan. Where it does best is cost of living: the median home sold for £130,000, 3 years of area income. The rest of its grades are middling: B− for walkability and B− for hazard risk. It lags on jobs & income as well: the mean household earns £41,639 a year.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · health, Census 2021 (the grade adjusts for age) · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Natural Resources Wales · income, ONS · claimants, DWP.
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 Abercynon 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 Abercynon is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 1 building inside Abercynon’s built-up area.
69% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Abercynon.
Nearly a quarter of residents have a disability, above Mid Glamorgan’s towns (23%) and Wales’s towns (22%) alike. One GP practice serves the town. The nearest A&E to Abercynon is The Royal Glamorgan Hospital, 7.7 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Abercynon | Mid Glamorgan | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 77% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.4% | 8.2% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 24% | 23% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy.
Two of them are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Some 725 pupils attend Abercynon’s three primaries.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abercynon Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 334 | – |
| Ysgol Gymraeg AbercynonLargest Welsh-medium schoolPrimary | Primary | 266 | – |
The 12 months to August 2026 brought 431 recorded crimes inside Abercynon’s built-up area, and 35 reports of anti-social behaviour. Burglary and damage came to 13.5 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Mid Glamorgan’s towns (10.3) and Wales’s towns (10.7). Of all the crimes, 55% were violence and sexual offences. Per 1,000 residents, 39.9 violent crimes are recorded each year.
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 · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
Private rents average £754 a month across the Rhondda Cynon Taf council area. 19% rent privately, above Mid Glamorgan’s towns (17%) and Wales’s towns (17%) alike. Social renters account for 14% of households.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £280,000 | 22 |
| Semi-detached | £145,000 | 32 |
| Terraced | £122,250 | 136 |
| Flat or maisonette | £95,000 | 5 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Every one of Abercynon’s 1 listed building sits at Grade II, the most common listing. For its size, Abercynon has 2 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, below both Mid Glamorgan’s towns (9) and Wales’s towns (18).
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 18% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
About a tenth of its commuters stay in Abercynon for work. Jobs per working resident: 1. Walking ranked second among ways to work, at 6%.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Retirement age and beyond: 17% of residents are 65 or older. Children under 15 make up 19%, above both Mid Glamorgan’s towns (17%) and Wales’s towns (17%). At 39.2, the median resident of Abercynon sits in the middle of the age range.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Abercynon | Mid Glamorgan | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 25% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 17% | 20% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 29% | 24% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.4% | 5.3% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 22% | 28% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · Mid Glamorgan and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Abercynon. Best known first.
CastleLlancaiach-fawr2.5 km outside town, to the east
MuseumRhondda Heritage Park4.7 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumPontypridd Museum3.3 km outside town, to the southZooZooColliers Adventure Farm3.3 km outside town, to the eastAttractionAttractionOld Bridge3.3 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
10 notable people were born in Abercynon.
Dai Dower: Geoff Charles, CC BY-SA 4.0 · George Ewart Evans: Martinevans123, CC BY-SA 4.0 · T. Rhys Thomas: Stefano Delfrate, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abercynon | 6,376 | — | D | B+ | C− | D− |
| Treharris | 5,042 | 1.4 | D | B− | C+ | D |
| Ynysybwl | 4,580 | 1.6 | C− | B+ | C+ | D |
| Trelewis | 2,022 | 2 | — | B− | C | D |
| Nelson | 4,235 | 2.1 | C | B+ | C | D |
| Mountain Ash | 13,002 | 2.5 | D | B+ | D | D− |
| Aberfan | 2,431 | 2.8 | — | B− | C− | D− |
| Gelligaer | 1,436 | 3.5 | — | A | D− | D− |
Trelewis, Aberfan and Gelligaer have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
By type: flats £95,000, terraced houses £122,250, semi-detached houses £145,000 and detached houses £280,000.
1 on Cadw’s list.
Town in Mid Glamorgan, Wales
Abercynon is a built-up area of 6,376 people, in the Rhondda Cynon Taf 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.