Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a large town of 39,542 residents in Mid Glamorgan, Wales.
Health lags (D−): 9.4% in bad or very bad health, 23.7% disabled. Merthyr Tydfil’s overall grade is D−, better than 3% of UK towns. Crime is the sore point: 45.6 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 19.1 home and vehicle crimes. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 17%. Buying the median home, at £150,000, takes 3.6 years of household income in the Merthyr Tydfil council area. Jobs & income is weaker too: the mean household earns £41,071 a year.
Figures: health, Census 2021 (the grade adjusts for age) · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, 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 Merthyr Tydfil 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 Merthyr Tydfil is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 128 buildings inside Merthyr Tydfil’s built-up area, 8 of them Grade II*, and 7 scheduled monuments.
36% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 5 old photos and postcards going back to 1811.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Merthyr Tydfil.
5 GP practices serve the town. At the census, just over three quarters of people in Merthyr Tydfil called their health good or very good, close to Mid Glamorgan’s towns (77%) and below Wales’s towns (78%). A disability affects 24% of people in the town.
| Census 2021 | Merthyr Tydfil | Mid Glamorgan | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 77% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 9.4% | 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.
Merthyr Tydfil’s 12 primaries and three secondaries have 6,212 pupils between them. Three of them are below, each with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cyfarthfa Park Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 437 | – |
| Blessed Carlo Acutis Catholic SchoolLargest secondary schoolAll-through | All-through | 989 | – |
| Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Santes TudfulLargest Welsh-medium schoolPrimary | Primary | 411 | – |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Merthyr Tydfil logged 4,271 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 639 complaints of anti-social conduct. Among the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, Merthyr Tydfil has more crime per resident than 83% of them. Also worth knowing: there were 17.6 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above Mid Glamorgan’s towns (9.3) and Wales’s towns (10.4) alike. Violence and sexual offences made up just over two fifths of the total.
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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Of Merthyr Tydfil’s land, 5% lies in conservation areas, higher than both Mid Glamorgan’s towns (0%) and Wales’s towns (0%). 36% of homes were built before 1919. Grade II* covers 8 of them.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Owners make up 59% of households, lower than both Mid Glamorgan’s towns (68%) and Wales’s towns (65%). 1,041 standard sales inside Merthyr Tydfil’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 put the median at £150,000. Private rents average £754 a month across the Merthyr Tydfil council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £300,000 | 195 |
| Semi-detached | £188,500 | 274 |
| Terraced | £125,000 | 538 |
| Flat or maisonette | £68,750 | 34 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 17% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Merthyr Tydfil counts 1.1 jobs per working resident. Working mainly from home: 17% of workers, lower than both Mid Glamorgan’s towns (21%) and Wales’s towns (24%). About just over half of its commuters stay in Merthyr Tydfil for work. Among 16 to 64s, 3.4% claimed unemployment benefits in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Among adults, 25% have a degree. People 65 and over make up 18% of the town, lower than both Mid Glamorgan’s towns (20%) and Wales’s towns (21%). At 40.3, the median resident of Merthyr Tydfil sits in the middle of the age range. The 15-to-24 age group makes up 11% of residents.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Merthyr Tydfil | Mid Glamorgan | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 19% | 17% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 26% | 25% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 18% | 20% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 28% | 24% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.7% | 5.3% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 25% | 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 Merthyr Tydfil. Best known first.
CastleMorlais Castle1 km outside town, to the northHeritage railwayHeritage railwayBrecon Mountain Railway3.7 km outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumCyfarthfa Castle Museum & Art Gallery200 m outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumCynon Valley Museum & Gallery3.6 km outside town, to the southwestAttractionAttractionPontsarn Viaduct1 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
128 listed buildings in Merthyr Tydfil.
Pont-y-Cafnau: Photo: John Wilson · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Town Hall: Photo: Robin Drayton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dowlais Works Blast Engine House: Photo: Varitek · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Theatre Royal: Photo: I. Baron · CC BY-SA 4.0
136 notable people were born in Merthyr Tydfil.
Declan John: https://www.flickr.com/photos/joncandy/, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Johnny Owen: Darren Wyn Rees at Aberdare Blog, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Joseph Parry: Thomas, John,, Public domain · Howard Winstone: Darren Wyn Rees, CC BY 3.0 · Samuel Griffith: State Library of Queensland, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merthyr Tydfil | 39,542 | — | D− | B− | D | D− |
| Troedyrhiw and Pentrebach | 3,780 | 3.1 | D− | B− | D | D− |
| Fochriw | 1,148 | 3.7 | — | A | D | D− |
| Rhymney | 4,998 | 4 | D | A | D− | D− |
| Pontlottyn | 1,832 | 4.3 | — | A | D− | D− |
| Aberdare | 37,675 | 4.3 | D | B+ | D | D |
| Aberfan | 2,431 | 4.6 | — | B− | C− | D− |
| Bedlinog | 1,098 | 4.6 | — | B− | C− | D− |
Fochriw, Pontlottyn, Aberfan and Bedlinog have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
128 on Cadw’s list, 8 of them Grade II*. That is 1.3 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 7 scheduled monuments.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £150,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £68,750, terraced houses £125,000, semi-detached houses £188,500 and detached houses £300,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on Natural Resources Wales’s flood risk service.
Large town in Mid Glamorgan, Wales
Merthyr Tydfil is a built-up area of 39,542 people, in the Merthyr Tydfil 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.