Photo: Betty Longbottom · CC BY-SA 2.0A larger share of households in terraced houses than 96% of UK towns: 45%
The share of residents with no religion tops 94% of UK towns: 50%. The census found that nearly a quarter of households have no car or van in Aberdare. With a median age of 42.3, Aberdare is younger than 67% of UK towns. The town had 37,675 residents in 16,674 households at the 2021 Census.
+7% since 2011, a pace below 54% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Aberdare’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 37,300 people in 2011; 39,800 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2022 to mid-2023: 340. The 65 and over age group moved most (+23%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (−4%).
A young town: 11% of residents are 15 to 24
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 50–54: 7.2% of residents. To put it in context, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Wales’s towns. In Porthcawl, the oldest of Mid Glamorgan’s towns by this measure, it is 33%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Aberdare, 42.3. 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.
5.8% of adults are full-time students, more than in 81% of UK towns
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%.
By its share of residents who moved in within the year (7.1%), Aberdare is below 83% of UK towns. Across Wales’s towns, the share of full-time students is 8%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 64% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Mid Glamorgan’s towns and Wales’s towns
People per household
Wales’s towns.
At 32%, one-person households sit close to the figure across Wales’s towns. In Aberdare, 1.9% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Below 76% of UK towns: 19% of households live in a detached house
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
Against a figure of 14% across Wales’s towns, the share of households in flats in Aberdare comes in at 9.3%. The benchmark for households in detached houses across Wales’s towns: 24%.
A lower share of residents born outside the UK than 90% of UK towns, at 3.1%
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 born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1.5%), then in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). At 99%, the share of residents whose main language is English is higher than in 83% of UK towns. Typically, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. Of residents born abroad, 14% arrived in 2017 or later, against 23% across Wales’s towns.
Welsh, spoken by 11% of Aberdare’s residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
The 2021 Census found 3,954 Welsh speakers aged 3 and over, 11% of that age group, against 16% across Welsh towns: fewer than in 59% of them. Top of Mid Glamorgan: Pontyclun, at 20%.
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 89% of UK towns don’t reach
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 Aberdare · Mid Glamorgan’s towns 95% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Nothing unusual on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 43%, close to the figure across Wales’s towns. Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (1.6%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Chinese (0.3%). For comparison, 90% of residents describe themselves as White British across Wales’s towns.
More unpaid carers than 96% of UK towns: 12% of residents
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
Nothing unusual on married adults and civil partners: 43%, close to the figure across Wales’s towns. Compared with other places, adults who have never married are common here: 38%, more than in 83% of UK towns. As a yardstick, one in ten residents give unpaid care across Wales’s towns. Some 1,623 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week.
26% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Aberdare counts 26% of its adults, against 31% across Wales’s towns; at the other end, 25% have no qualification (20%).
From a median age of 39 in Aberaman to 44 in Aberdare North & Llwydcoed
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.
Aberdare North & Llwydcoed is the oldest area, with 21% aged 65 or over; Aberaman the youngest (median age 39). Families with children are most common in Hirwaun & Rhigos (30% of households).
196 UK towns of 26,000 to 51,000 people: this is the 85th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Hatfield (30.3) and the oldest Rustington (56.2). Nearest to Aberdare in age: Rushden (42.3), Burgess Hill (42.3), Letchworth (42.4) and Abingdon-on-Thames (42.4).
Aberdare is younger than 4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdare | 37,675 | — | 42.3 | 21% | 28% |
| Maerdy | 2,843 | 3.1 mi | 41.7 | 21% | 27% |
| Ferndale | 4,301 | 3.6 mi | 45.4 | 24% | 26% |
| Mountain Ash | 13,002 | 4.1 mi | 41.2 | 19% | 29% |
| Merthyr Tydfil | 39,542 | 4.3 mi | 40.3 | 18% | 29% |
| Treorchy | 7,645 | 4.4 mi | 44.2 | 22% | 26% |
| Troedyrhiw and Pentrebach | 3,780 | 4.5 mi | 45.7 | 23% | 25% |
| Treherbert | 5,427 | 4.6 mi | 43 | 22% | 25% |
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.
- “Mid Glamorgan’s towns” and “Wales’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Mid Glamorgan (or Wales), summed the same way as Aberdare’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. Aberdare’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 39,003 people in 2021, against 37,675 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 Aberdare’s residents
What is the population of Aberdare?
The 2021 Census counted 37,675 people in Aberdare’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 39,800 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Aberdare?
The median age was 42.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 67% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Aberdare?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 95% across Mid Glamorgan’s towns. 3.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Aberdare?
50% said they had no religion and 43% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 5.1% didn’t answer.
Is Aberdare good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Families are most common in Hirwaun & Rhigos (30% of households). Schools are on Aberdare’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Aberdare?
3,954 residents aged 3 and over, 11%, 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.