Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town in West Glamorgan, Wales, home to 3,578 people.
Penllergaer’s weakest subject is walkability — on the way to work, 6% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. A median £292,995 buys a home here, 6.4 times what households in the Swansea council area earn in a year. Police record less crime here than in most towns: 19.6 violent and sexual offences and 5.9 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year. Overall, that makes a C+, better than nearly two fifths of UK towns. That places it #3 of 19 in West Glamorgan. Its other grades sit near the middle: C+ for health, B− for jobs & income and B for hazard risk.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · commuting, Census 2021 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS · health, Census 2021 (the grade adjusts for age) · 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 2 things Penllergaer 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 Penllergaer is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 1 building inside Penllergaer’s built-up area, 1 of them Grade II*, and 1 scheduled monument.
7% 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 Penllergaer.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 30% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
36% of commuters travelled under 5 km, below West Glamorgan’s towns (43%) and Wales’s towns (41%) alike. Among 16 to 64s, 2% claimed unemployment benefits in 2026. At the census, just over nine in ten commuters went by car.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
One of them is below, with the reason it’s listed. Some 572 pupils attend Penllergaer’s two primaries.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penllergaer Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 348 | – |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
For its size, Penllergaer has the second fewest listed buildings of the towns in West Glamorgan. 7% of its homes were built before 1919, below West Glamorgan’s towns (27%) and Wales’s towns (27%) alike. One scheduled monument lies locally.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The 15-to-24 age group: 8.9%, below West Glamorgan’s towns (13%) and Wales’s towns (12%) alike. Retirement age and beyond: 18% of residents are 65 or older. Line up the people of Penllergaer by age and the one in the middle is 40.1.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Penllergaer | West Glamorgan | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 20% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 8.9% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 28% | 24% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 18% | 21% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 21% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 4.4% | 6.1% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 40% | 30% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Glamorgan and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
75% of households own their home. Social housing holds 14% of households, lower than both West Glamorgan’s towns (19%) and Wales’s towns (18%). Penllergaer is the second most expensive of the 19 towns in West Glamorgan, at £292,995.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £329,997 | 140 |
| Semi-detached | £262,500 | 123 |
| Terraced | £193,000 | 21 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
In the 12 months to August 2026, police logged 120 crimes and 8 reports of anti-social behaviour inside Penllergaer’s built-up area. Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Penllergaer has less crime per resident than 75% of them. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 3.5 reports per 1,000, below both West Glamorgan’s towns (8.5) and Wales’s towns (10.4). Of all the crimes, 55% 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.
At the census, nearly a fifth of people here had a disability, lower than both West Glamorgan’s towns (23%) and Wales’s towns (22%). 6% of residents report bad or very bad health. Seeing a GP means leaving Penllergaer: the nearest practice is 1.5 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Penllergaer | West Glamorgan | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 83% | 78% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6% | 7.9% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 23% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Read these answers with age in mind: they aren’t adjusted, so younger places do better. The Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, life expectancy among them.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Penllergaer. Best known first.
CathedralSt Joseph's Cathedral5 km outside town, to the southeast
Castle · CadwLoughor Castle3.6 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumSwansea Museum Collections Centre4.6 km outside town, to the southeastHistoric siteHistoric siteGorseinon Gorsedd Circle1.2 km outside town, to the westCastleCastleMorris Castle3.6 km outside town, to the southeastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penllergaer | 3,578 | — | C+ | C | B+ | C+ |
| Grovesend | 1,148 | 1.8 | — | B+ | A− | C− |
| Gorseinon | 14,114 | 1.8 | C | B+ | B− | C− |
| Gowerton | 7,447 | 2.4 | C− | B | C | C− |
| Loughor | 4,632 | 2.8 | B− | B+ | B− | C |
| Pontarddulais | 6,513 | 3.1 | C | B+ | C+ | C− |
| Hendy and Fforest | 2,996 | 3.6 | C+ | B+ | B | C |
| Swansea | 170,090 | 3.6 | C− | B+ | D | D |
Grovesend has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Band D council tax in Penllergaer is £2,238 for 2026–27, less than in 81% of UK towns (the Swansea council average, with police and community councils). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Town in West Glamorgan, Wales
Penllergaer is a built-up area of 3,578 people, in the Swansea 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.