Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Population 6,513: a town in West Glamorgan, Wales.
Pontarddulais’s lowest grade is for jobs & income — households earn a mean £47,489 a year, and 2.9% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. The town’s overall C puts it #8 of 19 in West Glamorgan. On that grade it does better than 27% of UK towns. It lags on health as well (C−): 7.1% of residents report bad or very bad health, and 22.5% are disabled. Buying a home costs less than in most towns: a typical home costs £190,000 and rent runs £852 a month.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · health, Census 2021 (the grade adjusts for age).
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.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Wales), ordered by how far Pontarddulais is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 2 things Pontarddulais does most differently from other towns.
Cadw lists 4 buildings inside Pontarddulais’s built-up area.
33% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →4 listed buildings in Pontarddulais.
The War Memorial: Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Y Bwthyn: Photo: Gerry Lewis · CC BY-SA 2.0
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Pontarddulais.
One GP practice serves the town. At the census, 79% of people in Pontarddulais called their health good or very good, about level with Wales’s towns (78%) and above West Glamorgan’s towns (78%). The nearest A&E to Pontarddulais is Morriston Hospital, 4.7 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Pontarddulais | West Glamorgan | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 78% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.1% | 7.9% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 23% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · No age adjustment applies to these census answers, which flatter younger towns; the Health Grade’s measures, life expectancy among them, do allow for age.
Some 1,437 pupils attend Pontarddulais’s two primaries and one secondary. All of them are below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pontarddulais Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 391 | – |
| Pontarddulais Comprehensive SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 848 | – |
| Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg BryniagoLargest Welsh-medium schoolPrimary | Primary | 198 | – |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 23% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The car took 88% of commuters, above West Glamorgan’s towns (83%) and Wales’s towns (81%) alike. 14% of commuters who live in Pontarddulais also work there. This West Glamorgan town counts 0.5 jobs per working resident.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
69% of households are owner-occupiers. Social housing holds 15% of households, below West Glamorgan’s towns (19%) and Wales’s towns (18%) alike. Half of the 292 standard sales inside Pontarddulais’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 went for more than £190,000.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £280,000 | 89 |
| Semi-detached | £188,000 | 109 |
| Terraced | £170,000 | 69 |
| Flat or maisonette | £96,500 | 25 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
A third of homes date from before 1919. Relative to its size, Pontarddulais keeps 6 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, lower than both West Glamorgan’s towns (10) and Wales’s towns (18).
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Violence and sexual offences were 47% of the crimes. Police recorded 279 crimes inside Pontarddulais’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 35 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violent crime ran at 25.6 per 1,000 residents a year, about level with West Glamorgan’s towns (25.7) and below Wales’s towns (33.8).
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.
Young adults of 15 to 24 are just over one in ten residents, lower than both West Glamorgan’s towns (13%) and Wales’s towns (12%). Half the people of Pontarddulais are older than 41.8. Over-65s are 19% of the population.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Pontarddulais | West Glamorgan | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 24% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 19% | 21% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 17% | 21% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.9% | 6.1% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 32% | 30% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Glamorgan and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Town in West Glamorgan, Wales
Pontarddulais is a built-up area of 6,513 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontarddulais | 6,513 | — | C | B+ | C+ | C− |
| Hendy and Fforest | 2,996 | 0.9 | C+ | B+ | B | C |
| Grovesend | 1,148 | 1.8 | — | B+ | A− | C− |
| Llangennech | 4,278 | 2.5 | B− | B+ | B+ | C+ |
| Penllergaer | 3,578 | 3.1 | C+ | C | B+ | C+ |
| Gorseinon | 14,114 | 3.2 | C | B+ | B− | C− |
| Bryn | 1,727 | 3.6 | — | B | B+ | C− |
| Loughor | 4,632 | 3.7 | B− | B+ | B− | C |
Grovesend and Bryn have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
4 on Cadw’s list.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £190,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £96,500, terraced houses £170,000, semi-detached houses £188,000 and detached houses £280,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on Natural Resources Wales’s flood risk service.
About the middle for its size: 56% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people report less crime per resident. Against all UK towns, it grades C+. Burglary was rare, with 6 reports in the year.
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.
