Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,257 in Powys, Wales.
Brecon grades C overall against UK towns: better than 31% of UK towns, and #2 of 7 in Powys. Its strongest subject is walkability (A+): 29% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is safety (D): 47.9 violent and sexual offences and 14.9 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 8%. The median home sold for £246,500 in the last three years, 5.8 times what households in the Powys council area earn in a year.
Dyfed Powys Police published 32 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published. 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 Brecon 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 Brecon is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 522 buildings inside Brecon’s built-up area, 6 of them Grade I, and 4 scheduled monuments.
29% 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 1786 and a map from c. 1610.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Brecon.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Brecon has 522 listed buildings on Cadw’s list: 6 Grade I, 27 Grade II*. For its size, Brecon has 632 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, above both Powys’ towns (224) and Wales’s towns (18). Brecon’s listed buildings include Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist, Grade I.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Three of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. Wales publishes no school-level results, so its schools have no letters.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ysgol Golwg Pen y FanLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 300 | – |
| Brecon High SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 557 | – |
| Ysgol y BannauLargest Welsh-medium schoolPrimary | Primary | 94 | – |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 25% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
In the comparison, Brecon comes above both Powys’ towns (44%) and Wales’s towns (41%). 68% of commuters drove to work at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Violent crime ran at 47.9 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Powys’ towns (36.1) and Wales’s towns (33.8). Police recorded 732 crimes inside Brecon’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 88 reports of anti-social behaviour. Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Brecon has more crime per resident than 92% of them.
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
For Brecon, that is below both Powys’ towns (6.5%) and Wales’s towns (7.1%). The nearest A&E to Brecon is Prince Charles Hospital, 12.8 miles away. These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy.
| Census 2021 | Brecon | Powys | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 78% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.1% | 6.5% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 22% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Brecon sits below both Powys’ towns (61%) and Wales’s towns (65%) on this measure. Social housing holds 23% of households. No town in Powys costs more to buy into than Brecon, at £246,500, the highest of 7.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £343,750 | 82 |
| Semi-detached | £263,000 | 87 |
| Terraced | £185,000 | 134 |
| Flat or maisonette | £105,000 | 23 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
That puts Brecon above both Powys’ towns (30%) and Wales’s towns (31%). Those 65 and older account for 25% of residents. Brecon has a median age of 44.4.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Brecon | Powys | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 15% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 9.7% | 9.5% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 21% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 25% | 27% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 20% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.1% | 6.2% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 30% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · Powys and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Brecon. Best known first.
CathedralBrecon Cathedralin town
CastleBrecon Castlein town
MuseumRoyal Welsh Regiment Museumin town
MuseumY Gaer (cultural hub)in town
Fort · CadwY Gaer Roman Fort2.8 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumBrecon Museumin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
522 listed buildings in Brecon, 6 of them Grade I.
Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist: Photo: David Merrett from Daventry, England · CC BY 2.0 · Chapter House and Diocesan Centre (with Canonry Flat and Clergy House): Photo: Philip Pankhurst · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Brecon Castle: Photo: Philip Pankhurst · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Canal Bridge at S end of Gasworks Lane: Photo: WelshDave · CC BY-SA 4.0
35 notable people were born in Brecon.
Sarah Siddons: Thomas Gainsborough, Public domain · Roger Glover: Carlos Delgado, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham: Unidentified painter, Public domain · Thomas Coke: Contemporary portrait, Public domain · Ernest Howard Griffiths: Gabriel Thompson, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Nia Roberts: Andriy Makukha (Amakuha), CC BY-SA 4.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brecon | 8,257 | — | C | B− | D | C+ |
| Talgarth | 1,252 | 7.4 | — | B | C+ | B− |
| Llangynidr | 1,038 | 8.7 | — | C− | A− | A− |
Talgarth and Llangynidr have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
522 on Cadw’s list, 6 of them Grade I and 27 Grade II*. That is 25.9 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Cathedral Church of St John the Evangelist. It also has 4 scheduled monuments.
Police recorded 732 crimes inside Brecon’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 50% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Band D council tax in Brecon is £2,352 for 2026–27, less than in 66% of UK towns (the Powys council average, with police and community councils). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Town in Powys, Wales
Brecon is a built-up area of 8,257 people, in the Powys 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.