Church of St Mary Magdalen, Pyle with Kenfig. · Photo: FruitMonkey · CC BY-SA 3.0Pyle ranks above 99% of UK towns on residents with no religion: 59%
With a median age of 40.2, Pyle is younger than 79% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 14,075 people lived in the town, in 6,039 households. Households with dependent children account for 31%. 17% of households live in a detached house (Wales’s towns: 24%).
What the Census says about Pyle’s people
More with no religion than most
59% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 34% Christian, against 47% and 43% across Wales’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
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.
A change of +3% since 2011 leaves Pyle behind 73% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Pyle’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 14,500 people in 2011; 14,800 in 2024.
No year added more people than mid-2011 to mid-2012: 170. The 65 and over age group changed most (+21%) and the 16 to 29 least (−15%).
Residents aged 65 and over make up 18% in Pyle, less than in 76% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 30–34 than any other five-year age: 7.5% of residents. Just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 83% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 21% of residents are 65 or over 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+
■ Pyle, 40.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 6.7% in Pyle, less than in 90% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 22% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 35% (Wales’s towns: 29% and 27%). 5.6% of adults are full-time students, a higher share than in 76% of UK towns. The comparison figure for residents who moved in within the year is 9.1% across Wales’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Bigger households than 64% of UK towns: 2.3 people each on average
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.
The share of shared households of unrelated adults is 2.1%, against 3.1% across Wales’s towns. In Pyle, 30% of households are one person living alone.
More terraced houses than 56% of UK towns: 22% of households
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
There is little gap on households in flats: 14%, about the same as across Wales’s towns. The wider picture: 29% of households live in a terraced house across Wales’s towns. Households without a car or van: just over a fifth of the total.
2.9% of residents were born outside the UK, below 92% 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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1.4%), then in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%). 99% of residents have English as their main language, more than in 85% of UK towns. For comparison, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 13% of those born abroad (Wales’s towns: 23%).
8.8% of people in Pyle speak Welsh
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
8.8% of residents aged 3 and over, 1,192 people, said in 2021 that they can speak Welsh, fewer than in 81% of Welsh towns (Welsh towns: 16%). The highest share in Mid Glamorgan belongs to Pontyclun (20%).
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 34% in Pyle, less than in 98% 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 Pyle · Mid Glamorgan’s towns 95% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Where nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British across Wales’s towns, Pyle has 96%. Across the comparison, 43% of residents describe themselves as Christian across Wales’s towns. Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (1.4%), Mixed or multiple (0.9%) and Chinese (0.3%).
Unpaid carers: 12%, a higher share than 95% of UK towns
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
The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 626. On adults who have never married, Pyle sits higher than 84% of UK towns: 38%. Across Wales’s towns, 10% of residents give unpaid care. Compared with 43% across Wales’s towns, 42% of adults are married or in a civil partnership here.
Degree-level qualifications reach 23% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 23% of Pyle’s adults, against 31% across Wales’s towns; 25% have no qualification (20%).
Ranked by age, 50th youngest of 360 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Pyle in age: Wath upon Dearne (39.9), Newmarket (40.2), Padiham (40.3) and Bacup (40.3).
The towns around Pyle are all older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pyle | 14,075 | — | 40.2 | 18% | 31% |
| Coedhirwaun | 1,270 | 1.5 mi | 43.4 | 13% | 40% |
| Cefn Cribwr | 1,379 | 2 mi | 46.9 | 23% | 27% |
| Porthcawl | 15,797 | 2.9 mi | 54.1 | 33% | 20% |
| Pen-y-fai | 2,301 | 4.5 mi | 48.6 | 24% | 28% |
| Pont Rhyd-y-cyff | 1,481 | 4.9 mi | 47.7 | 26% | 24% |
| Sarn | 11,867 | 4.9 mi | 41.4 | 18% | 29% |
| Ogmore-by-Sea | 1,356 | 5.2 mi | 50.4 | 26% | 24% |
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 Pyle’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. Pyle’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 14,750 people in 2021, against 14,075 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 Pyle’s residents
What is the population of Pyle?
The 2021 Census counted 14,075 people in Pyle’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 14,800 people in mid-2024, 3% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Pyle?
The median age was 40.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 79% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 18% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Pyle?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 95% across Mid Glamorgan’s towns. 2.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Pyle?
59% said they had no religion and 34% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 5.7% didn’t answer.
Is Pyle good for families?
31% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Pyle’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Pyle?
1,192 residents aged 3 and over, 8.8%, 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.