Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town, home to 18,342 people, lies in Mid Glamorgan, Wales.
Incomes are on the low side (D−): mean household income £37,491; 3.8% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Maesteg grades D overall, better than 9% of UK towns. The ranking puts it #26 of 32 in Mid Glamorgan. Residents’ health trails most towns: nearly one in ten residents report bad or very bad health, and 25.1% are disabled. Its best grade is for cost of living: a typical home costs £130,000 and rent runs £763 a month.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · health, Census 2021 (the grade adjusts for age).
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 Maesteg 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 Maesteg is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 22 buildings inside Maesteg’s built-up area, 6 of them Grade II*, and 1 scheduled monument.
58% 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 Maesteg.
At the census, a quarter of people here had a disability, higher than both Mid Glamorgan’s towns (23%) and Wales’s towns (22%). Asked at the census, nearly three quarters of residents of Maesteg said they were in good or very good health. Also worth knowing: 3 GP practices serve the town. Poor health, by residents’ own account, affects 9.5% of the town.
| Census 2021 | Maesteg | Mid Glamorgan | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 74% | 77% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 9.5% | 8.2% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 25% | 23% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Census health answers are raw, so younger towns score better on them; for the Health Grade we use age-adjusted figures like life expectancy.
Three of them are below, each with the reason it’s listed. Some 2,713 pupils attend Maesteg’s seven primaries and one secondary.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caerau Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 404 | – |
| Maesteg SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,058 | – |
| YGG Cynwyd SantLargest Welsh-medium schoolPrimary | Primary | 271 | – |
Violence and sexual offences made up 46% of the total. 1,574 crimes and 246 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Maesteg’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 15.1 reports per 1,000, higher than both Mid Glamorgan’s towns (9.3) and Wales’s towns (10.4).
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.
13% live in social housing, lower than both Mid Glamorgan’s towns (15%) and Wales’s towns (18%). From September 2023 to August 2026, 571 homes sold inside Maesteg’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £130,000. The owner-occupied share of households is 69%.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £245,000 | 69 |
| Semi-detached | £155,000 | 165 |
| Terraced | £115,000 | 335 |
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.
Cadw’s list names 22 listed buildings in Maesteg: 6 Grade II*. Of the town’s land, 2% lies in conservation areas, above Mid Glamorgan’s towns (0%) and Wales’s towns (0%) alike. One scheduled monument lies in the town.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 15% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
15% of workers worked mainly from home, below both Mid Glamorgan’s towns (21%) and Wales’s towns (24%). There are 0.4 jobs in Maesteg for each resident in work.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
At 43.8, the median resident of Maesteg sits in the middle of the age range. The 65-and-over age group makes up 21% of residents. Young adults of 15 to 24 are just over a tenth of the population.
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Maesteg | Mid Glamorgan | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 23% | 25% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 28% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 21% | 20% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 30% | 24% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.6% | 5.3% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 23% | 28% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · Mid Glamorgan and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
22 listed buildings in Maesteg.
Maesteg Council Offices, with flanking walls and piers.: Photo: FruitMonkey · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Salem Welsh Baptist Chapel: Photo: FruitMonkey · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Church of St Michael and All Angels, Llangynwyd with Maesteg, including enclosing graveyard wall.: Photo: John Lord · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Star Public House: Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0
3 notable people were born in Maesteg.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maesteg | 18,342 | — | D | A− | C− | D− |
| Pont Rhyd-y-cyff | 1,481 | 1.9 | — | B+ | B | D |
| Croeserw | 1,294 | 2.5 | — | B+ | D− | D− |
| Blaengarw | 1,779 | 3.2 | — | A− | C+ | D |
| Pontycymer | 2,421 | 3.2 | — | A− | C+ | D |
| Bettws | 2,237 | 4 | — | B+ | C− | D |
| Cwmavon | 4,524 | 4.4 | C− | B+ | C+ | D |
| Llangeinor | 1,016 | 4.6 | — | B+ | B− | D |
Pont Rhyd-y-cyff, Croeserw, Blaengarw, Pontycymer, Bettws and Llangeinor have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £130,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £115,000, semi-detached houses £155,000 and detached houses £245,000.
22 on Cadw’s list, 6 of them Grade II*. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on Natural Resources Wales’s flood risk service.
About the middle for its size: 66% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C−.
Town in Mid Glamorgan, Wales
Maesteg is a built-up area of 18,342 people, in the Bridgend 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.