Photo: John Lord · CC BY-SA 2.063% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 99% of UK towns
Across Wales’s towns, the share of households without a car or van is 21%; Porth has 26%. Census figures put residents who describe themselves as White British at 96% here. The town has fewer married adults and civil partners than 91% of UK towns, at 40%. There were 6,099 households here at the 2021 Census, home to 13,352 residents.
What the Census says about Porth’s people
More with no religion than most
60% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 33% Christian, against 47% and 43% across Wales’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Porth at 13,200 in 2011 and 12,900 in 2024, down 2%, against 4% for Wales: slower growth than in 92% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Porth’s population moved −2% on 2011, less than in 92% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Porth’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 13,200 people in 2011; 12,900 in 2024.
By age, the 30 to 44 group changed most (+11%) and the 16 to 29 group least (−17%).
A median age of 42.7: Porth is younger than 64% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Residents aged 15 to 24 make up 11%, against 12% across Wales’s towns. More residents are 30–34 than any other five-year age: 7.3% of residents. On residents aged 65 and over, Porth sits lower than 60% of UK towns: 20%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Porth, 42.7. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
In Porth, 6.4% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 93% 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%.
In Porth, just over a fifth of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 33% in routine and semi-routine work, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. The wider picture: nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Wales’s towns. Full-time students: 5.7% of the total.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
A larger share of one-person households than 88% of UK towns: 35%
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.
Households in Porth hold 2.2 people on average (Wales’s towns: 2.3). Lower than in two thirds of UK towns: 25% of households have dependent children. Across Wales’s towns, the share of one-person households is 32%.
Fewer households in detached houses than 96% of UK towns: 8.8%
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
Compared with 14% across Wales’s towns, 8.5% of households live in a flat or apartment here. Across the comparison, 24% of households live in a detached house across Wales’s towns.
Only 2.6% of Porth’s residents were born outside the UK
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.2%) or in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%). As a reference point, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are common here: 99%, more than in 84% of UK towns. 21% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 23% across Wales’s towns.
A Welsh-speaking share of 12% in Porth
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Against 16% across Welsh towns, 12% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Welsh here (1,551 people): more than in 52% of Welsh towns. No town in Mid Glamorgan beats Pontyclun (20%).
Residents with no religion: 60%, a higher share than 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: 96% of Porth · Mid Glamorgan’s towns 95% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (1.2%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Bangladeshi (0.3%). 33% of residents describe themselves as Christian, a lower share than in 98% of UK towns. Set beside that, 47% of residents said they have no religion across Wales’s towns.
Porth sits above 96% of UK towns for unpaid carers (12%)
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
Some 519 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. The share of unpaid carers across Wales’s towns is 10%. Porth has more adults who have never married than 88% of UK towns, at 40%.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 22%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Porth’s adults: 22% with a degree-level qualification and 28% with none, against 31% and 20% across Wales’s towns.
Of 406 UK towns its size (9,000 to 18,000 people), the 138th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Aberystwyth is the youngest (25); Sidmouth the oldest (60.4). Nearest to Porth in age: Rushall and Shelfield (42.7), Halstead (42.7), Houghton-le-Spring (42.8) and Liversedge (42.8).
Every neighbour of Porth has a younger population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porth | 13,352 | — | 42.7 | 20% | 25% |
| Wattstown | 1,105 | 1.7 mi | 38.9 | 17% | 31% |
| Tonypandy | 17,209 | 1.9 mi | 40.3 | 19% | 30% |
| Tylorstown and Pontygwaith | 3,551 | 2.4 mi | 39.6 | 17% | 27% |
| Tonyrefail | 11,443 | 2.4 mi | 41.8 | 19% | 30% |
| Ynysybwl | 4,580 | 2.6 mi | 42 | 19% | 29% |
| Gilfach Goch | 1,531 | 3.2 mi | 38.9 | 18% | 32% |
| Hendreforgan | 2,445 | 3.2 mi | 41.1 | 19% | 31% |
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 Porth’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. Porth’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 12,812 people in 2021, against 13,352 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 Porth’s residents
What is the population of Porth?
The 2021 Census counted 13,352 people in Porth’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 12,900 people in mid-2024, 2% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Porth?
The median age was 42.7 at the 2021 Census, younger than 64% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Porth?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 95% across Mid Glamorgan’s towns. 2.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Porth?
60% said they had no religion and 33% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Porth good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Porth’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Porth?
1,551 residents aged 3 and over, 12%, 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. 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.