Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The town has 10,516 residents and lies in West Glamorgan, Wales.
The data are hard on it. Its weakest subject is health — 8.8% in bad or very bad health, 24.7% disabled. At C− overall, Baglan ranks #12 of 19 in West Glamorgan. It comes out better than 15% of UK towns. Jobs & income is weaker too — households earn a mean £43,249 a year, and 2.9% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Natural hazards weigh more here: 15.7% of homes face a high or medium risk of river or sea flooding. Buying a home costs less than in most towns: a typical home costs £152,750 and rent runs £690 a month.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · health, Census 2021 (the grade adjusts for age) · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · flood risk, Natural Resources Wales.
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 Baglan 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 Baglan is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 17 buildings inside Baglan’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade I, and 2 scheduled monuments.
27% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1905.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Baglan.
Just over three quarters of Baglan’s residents described their health as good or very good at the census, below West Glamorgan’s towns (78%) and Wales’s towns (78%) alike. The town has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 0.5 miles away. A disability affects 25% of people in the town. The nearest A&E to Baglan is Morriston Hospital, 6.5 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Baglan | West Glamorgan | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 76% | 78% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.8% | 7.9% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 25% | 23% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These shares come straight from the census, without allowing for age, and young towns benefit; the Health Grade instead weighs age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy.
One of them is below, with the reason it’s listed. Between them, three primaries teach 829 pupils in Baglan.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| YGG Tyle'r YnnLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 292 | – |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 20% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
At the census, 10% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, below West Glamorgan’s towns (14%) and Wales’s towns (16%) alike. Baglan counts 0.4 jobs per working resident. Of the commuters living in the town, 6% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Only one of the 19 towns in West Glamorgan costs less to buy into than Baglan, whose median sale is £152,750. Owners make up 68% of households. Renting privately is how 15% of households live.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £270,000 | 75 |
| Semi-detached | £160,000 | 187 |
| Terraced | £126,750 | 132 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
Police recorded 598 crimes inside Baglan’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 129 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 50% of the crimes. The violent crime rate is 29.8 per 1,000 residents a year.
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.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Baglan’s listed buildings include the Church of St Catharine, Grade I. It has 2 scheduled monuments. 27% of its homes were built before 1919.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
22% of residents are 65 or over, higher than both West Glamorgan’s towns (21%) and Wales’s towns (21%). At 43.1, the median resident of Baglan sits in the middle of the age range. Graduates make up 27% of adults.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Baglan | West Glamorgan | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 24% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 22% | 21% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 23% | 21% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.4% | 6.1% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 27% | 30% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Glamorgan and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Baglan. Best known first.
CastleNeath Castle2.6 km outside town, to the north
Abbey or priory · CadwNeath Abbey1.8 km outside town, to the northGardenGardenGnoll Estate Country Park2.9 km outside town, to the northeastAttractionAttraction · National TrustAberdulais Tin Works and Waterfall4.9 km outside town, to the northeastWater parkWater parkAquasplash Play Pool2 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseum1940s Swansea Bay3.8 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
17 listed buildings in Baglan, 1 of them Grade I.
Church of St Catharine: Photo: John Salmon · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ruins of St Baglan's Church: Photo: RobinLeicester · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Briton Ferry Library including attached Library House: Photo: John Lord · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Church of St Clement: Photo: Hugh Llewelyn · CC BY-SA 2.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baglan | 10,516 | — | C− | B+ | C | D |
| Port Talbot | 31,557 | 2.4 | D | B+ | D | D− |
| Cwmavon | 4,524 | 2.5 | C− | B+ | C+ | D |
| Neath | 40,738 | 2.6 | D | B | C− | D |
| Tonna | 2,665 | 3.7 | C | B− | B | C− |
| Cilfrew | 2,178 | 4.3 | — | B | C+ | D− |
| Swansea | 170,090 | 5.9 | C− | B+ | D | D |
| Rhos | 2,560 | 6.1 | C | C | A− | C− |
Cilfrew has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on Natural Resources Wales’s flood risk service.
17 on Cadw’s list, 1 of them Grade I. Its Grade I building is Church of St Catharine. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £152,750, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £126,750, semi-detached houses £160,000 and detached houses £270,000.
About the middle for its size: 41% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, most of them smaller, it grades C.
Town in West Glamorgan, Wales
Baglan is a built-up area of 10,516 people, in the Neath Port Talbot 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.