Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.059% said they have no religion, more than in 99% of UK towns
With a median age of 41.8, Tonyrefail is younger than 70% of UK towns. At the 2021 Census, 11,443 people lived locally, in 4,799 households. Here, 30% of households have dependent children. The figure for households in flats is 7.2% in Tonyrefail and 14% across Wales’s towns.
What the Census says about Tonyrefail’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.
Faster growth than 62% of UK towns: Tonyrefail changed by +10% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Tonyrefail’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 10,900 people in 2011; 12,000 in 2024.
Between mid-2022 and mid-2023 the population rose by 240, its biggest one-year gain. The 65 and over age group changed most (+33%) and the 0 to 15 least (−3%).
A lower share of residents aged 65 and over than 72% of UK towns, at 19%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 50–54: 8% of residents. Set beside that, 21% of residents are 65 or over across Wales’s towns. At 12%, the share of residents aged 15 to 24 is higher than in 90% of UK towns. In Porthcawl, the oldest of Mid Glamorgan’s towns by this measure, it is 33%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Tonyrefail, 41.8. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Only 6.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier in Tonyrefail
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 account for 27% of Tonyrefail’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 29%, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. Full-time students are more common here than in 75% of UK towns. The wider picture: nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Wales’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
One-person households: 27%, a lower share than 73% of UK towns
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 average household has 2.4 people, against 2.3 across Wales’s towns. For one-person households, the comparison across Wales’s towns is 32%. 2% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
27% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 76% 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
Where nearly a quarter of households live in a detached house across Wales’s towns, Tonyrefail has 25%. The usual figure: 29% of households live in a terraced house across Wales’s towns. Locally, 18% of households have no car or van.
3.1% of residents were born outside the UK, below 89% 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
Recent arrivals (2017 or later) make up 30% of those born abroad (Wales’s towns: 23%). The share of residents born outside the UK across Wales’s towns is 7.4%. 99% of residents have English as their main language.
Welsh in Tonyrefail: 11% of residents speak it
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Some 1,254 people here aged 3 and over said in 2021 that they can speak Welsh, 11% of the total, against 16% across Welsh towns: fewer than in 56% of them. No town in Mid Glamorgan beats Pontyclun (20%).
Below 98% of UK towns: 34% of residents describe themselves as Christian
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 Tonyrefail · Mid Glamorgan’s towns 95% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, against 95% across Mid Glamorgan’s towns and 90% across Wales’s towns. By way of comparison, 43% of residents describe themselves as Christian across Wales’s towns. The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (0.9%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and Indian (0.6%).
45% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 69% 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
Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 433. As a reference point, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across Wales’s towns. Higher than in 80% of UK towns: 11% of residents give unpaid care. Adults who have never married make up 37%, against 38% across Wales’s towns.
25% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Tonyrefail counts 25% of its adults, against 31% across Wales’s towns; at the other end, 24% have no qualification (20%).
Among 397 UK towns of 8,000 to 15,000 people, the 107th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 25 in Aberystwyth to 60.4 in Sidmouth. Nearest to Tonyrefail in age: Wantage (41.8), Helston (41.8), Uttoxeter (41.9) and Shifnal (41.9).
Tonyrefail and its 7 nearest towns: 2 of them are 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonyrefail | 11,443 | — | 41.8 | 19% | 30% |
| Hendreforgan | 2,445 | 1.6 mi | 41.1 | 19% | 31% |
| Gilfach Goch | 1,531 | 2.1 mi | 38.9 | 18% | 32% |
| Porth | 13,352 | 2.4 mi | 42.7 | 20% | 25% |
| Tonypandy | 17,209 | 2.6 mi | 40.3 | 19% | 30% |
| Llanharan and Brynna | 8,106 | 3.3 mi | 38 | 15% | 36% |
| Talbot Green | 3,291 | 3.7 mi | 45.9 | 24% | 27% |
| Wattstown | 1,105 | 3.8 mi | 38.9 | 17% | 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 Tonyrefail’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. Tonyrefail’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 11,443 people in 2021, against 11,443 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 Tonyrefail’s residents
What is the population of Tonyrefail?
The 2021 Census counted 11,443 people in Tonyrefail’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 12,000 people in mid-2024, 10% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Tonyrefail?
The median age was 41.8 at the 2021 Census, younger than 70% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Tonyrefail?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 95% across Mid Glamorgan’s towns. 3.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Tonyrefail?
59% said they had no religion and 34% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 5.9% didn’t answer.
Is Tonyrefail good for families?
30% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Tonyrefail’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Tonyrefail?
1,254 residents aged 3 and over, 11%, 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.