Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 424 people, this village lies in South Glamorgan, Wales.
St Donat's has fewer than 1,000 residents, too few for fair grades; the figures on this page are still real. It skews young: one resident in 2 is 15 to 24. Walking, cycling and public transport carry 53% of commuters. 23 buildings are listed here, 4 at Grade I.
The 3 things St Donat's does most differently from other towns.
Cadw lists them inside St Donat's’ built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
25% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in St Donat's.
Ages in St Donat's split evenly at 18.6: half are older, half younger. 6.6% are under 15, below South Glamorgan’s towns (17%) and Wales’s towns (17%) alike. Graduates make up nearly a quarter of adults.
59% women, 41% men
About 70 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women. St Donat's is a campus town: students living in halls or boarding houses count as residents.
| St Donat's | South Glamorgan | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 6.6% | 17% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 63% | 16% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 10% | 27% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 15% | 23% | 26% |
| 65+ | 5.2% | 16% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 14% | 16% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 2.8% | 4.3% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 18% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 23% | 39% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · South Glamorgan and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 42% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
1.9% of people aged 16 to 64 were on unemployment benefits in 2026. Working mainly from home: just over two in five workers, higher than both South Glamorgan’s towns (35%) and Wales’s towns (24%). Average household income is £47K a year before tax. Also worth knowing: of the commuters living in St Donat's, 43% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Social housing holds nearly one in ten households, below both South Glamorgan’s towns (16%) and Wales’s towns (18%). The owner-occupied share of households is 47%. Private rents average £982 a month across the Vale of Glamorgan council area.
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 3.1 reports per 1,000, below both South Glamorgan’s towns (7.3) and Wales’s towns (10.4). Homes see 2.4 burglaries and acts of damage per 1,000 residents a year. In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 15 crimes inside St Donat's’s built-up area. Of all the crimes, 7% were violence and sexual offences.
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.
There is no GP practice in St Donat's: the nearest is 2.2 miles off. Self-reported good health: 92% of St Donat's’ residents. At the census, 14% of people here had a disability, below South Glamorgan’s towns (19%) and Wales’s towns (22%) alike. The nearest A&E to St Donat's is Princess of Wales Hospital, 8.2 miles away.
| Census 2021 | St Donat's | South Glamorgan | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 92% | 81% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 1.6% | 6% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 14% | 19% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OGL · Because the census answers ignore age, a younger population lifts them; that is why the Health Grade is built on age-adjusted measures like life expectancy.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
St Donat's’s listed buildings include the Church of St Donat, Grade I. 25% of homes were built before 1919. The top grade, Grade I, goes to 4 of them.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near St Donat's. Best known first.
CastleSt Donats Castlein town
CastleBoverton Castle4.1 km outside town, to the eastAttractionAttractionNash Point1.1 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Village in South Glamorgan, Wales
St Donat's is a built-up area of 424 people, in the Vale of Glamorgan 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Donat's | 424 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Llantwit Major | 5,348 | 2.3 | B− | C+ | B | B− |
| Boverton | 2,740 | 2.8 | B− | C+ | B | B− |
| Eglwys-Brewis | 3,300 | 4.5 | B− | B+ | B− | C+ |
| St Athan | 1,594 | 5 | — | C | C+ | C+ |
| Cowbridge | 3,649 | 5.4 | A− | D | A− | A |
| Ogmore-by-Sea | 1,356 | 5.9 | — | D | A | A |
| Bridgend | 51,751 | 7.7 | C− | B− | C− | C− |
St Athan and Ogmore-by-Sea have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
23 on Cadw’s list, 4 of them Grade I. That is 22.3 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include St Donats Castle (United World College of the (Atlantic), including entrance Bridge. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Band D council tax in St Donat's is £2,232 for 2026–27, less than in 81% of UK towns (the Vale of Glamorgan council average, with police and community councils). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
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.