Photo: Colin Pyle · CC BY-SA 2.0Above 99% of UK towns: 73% of households live in a terraced house
In Blaengarw, 97% of residents describe themselves as White British, beside 90% across Wales’s towns. The village has fewer households in detached houses than 98% of UK towns, at 6.3%. At the 2021 Census, 1,779 people lived locally, in 796 households. For Blaengarw, the census puts married adults and civil partners at 40%.
What the Census says about Blaengarw’s people
More with no religion than most
61% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 31% Christian, against 47% and 43% across Wales’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Many carers
231 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 14% of those 5 and over: more than in 99% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Below 76% of UK towns: 18% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Half of Blaengarw’s residents are under 41.7, younger than in 71% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 21% of residents are 65 or over across Wales’s towns. Locally, 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24. The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with 8.9% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Wales’s towns.
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.
A higher share of full-time students than 81% of UK towns, at 5.8%
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%.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 7%, against 9.1% across Wales’s towns. The benchmark for full-time students across Wales’s towns: 8%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Blaengarw ranks below 69% of UK towns on shared households of unrelated adults: 2%
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.
Compared with 27% across Wales’s towns, 28% of households have dependent children here. One-person households: nearly a third of the total. Shared households of unrelated adults make up 3.1% across Wales’s towns.
24% of households have no car or van, more than in 85% 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
In Blaengarw, just over one in ten households live in a flat or apartment. Every 4th household or so has no car or van.
Residents born outside the UK: 2.4%, a lower share than 97% of UK towns
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
By its share of residents whose main language is English (99%), Blaengarw is above 99% of UK towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.6%). Measured more widely, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns.
Blaengarw: 9.2% of residents speak Welsh
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 158 people, 9.2% of those aged 3 and over, said they can: fewer than in 78% of Welsh towns. The highest share in Mid Glamorgan belongs to Pontyclun (20%).
Residents with no religion make up 61% in Blaengarw, more than in 99% of UK towns
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: 97% of Blaengarw · Mid Glamorgan’s towns 95% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
43% of residents describe themselves as Christian across Wales’s towns, against 31% in Blaengarw. For comparison, 47% of residents said they have no religion across Wales’s towns.
Blaengarw sits above 99% of UK towns for unpaid carers (14%)
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 90 residents. On adults who have never married, Blaengarw sits higher than just over four fifths of UK towns: 38%. Across Wales’s towns, the share of unpaid carers is 10%.
23% of adults are qualified to degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 23% of Blaengarw’s adults, against 31% across Wales’s towns; 27% have no qualification (20%).
A younger town than 3 of the 7 around it: Blaengarw
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blaengarw | 1,779 | — | 41.7 | 18% | 28% |
| Pontycymer | 2,421 | 1 mi | 41.7 | 17% | 27% |
| Nant-y-moel | 2,378 | 2.1 mi | 41.3 | 18% | 28% |
| Ogmore Vale | 3,098 | 2.4 mi | 42.8 | 20% | 28% |
| Croeserw | 1,294 | 2.5 mi | 38.3 | 19% | 32% |
| Maesteg | 18,342 | 3.2 mi | 43.8 | 21% | 27% |
| Pont Rhyd-y-cyff | 1,481 | 3.3 mi | 47.7 | 26% | 24% |
| Llangeinor | 1,016 | 3.5 mi | 40.2 | 18% | 29% |
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 Blaengarw’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Blaengarw’s residents
What is the population of Blaengarw?
The 2021 Census counted 1,779 people in Blaengarw’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Blaengarw?
The median age was 41.7 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Blaengarw?
97% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 95% across Mid Glamorgan’s towns. 2.4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Blaengarw?
61% said they had no religion and 31% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Blaengarw good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Blaengarw’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Blaengarw?
158 residents aged 3 and over, 9.2%, 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). 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.