Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Roughly one resident in 6 is aged 15 to 24. With 170,090 residents, it is a city in West Glamorgan, Wales.
A town with more to fix than most. Health is a weak point: 7.6% of residents report bad or very bad health, and 22.7% are disabled. Crime runs high: police record 42.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 15.6 home and vehicle crimes. Set beside UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, its crime per resident is higher than in 46%. On cost of living it is strong — the median home sold for £186,000, 4.1 years of area income. It is easy to get around without a car: 18% of commuters get to work on foot, by bike or by public transport. The overall grade lands at C−, #11 of 19 in West Glamorgan. That leaves it better than 19% of UK towns.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · health, Census 2021 (the grade adjusts for age) · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026.
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 Swansea 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 Swansea is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 310 buildings inside Swansea’s built-up area, 4 of them Grade I, and 9 scheduled monuments.
27% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 8 old photos and postcards going back to 1845.
Swansea, Massachusetts, is named after Swansea.
USUS editionSwansea, Massachusetts, settled in 1662, takes its name from this city.
Named after: each U.S. town’s Wikipedia article. Grades compare each town with towns in its own country, so they aren’t a head-to-head.
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Swansea. Best known first.
CathedralSt Joseph's Cathedralin town
Castle · CadwSwansea Castlein town
CastleOystermouth Castlein town
MuseumNational Waterfront Museumin town
MuseumGlynn Vivian Art Galleryin town
GardenClyne Gardensin townPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Swansea.
23 GP practices serve the town. The nearest A&E to Swansea is Morriston Hospital, 3.8 miles away. 78% of the town’s residents described their health as good or very good in 2021, against 78% across West Glamorgan’s towns.
| Census 2021 | Swansea | West Glamorgan | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 78% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7.6% | 7.9% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 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.
Some 24,226 pupils attend Swansea’s 49 primaries and nine secondaries. Three of them are below, each with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parkland Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 620 | – |
| Olchfa SchoolLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,907 | – |
| Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bryn TaweLargest Welsh-medium schoolSecondary | Secondary | 873 | – |
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Swansea logged 16,291 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 1,980 complaints of anti-social conduct. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 14.1 reports per 1,000, above West Glamorgan’s towns (7.8) and Wales’s towns (10.4) alike. Violence and sexual offences made up 43% of the total.
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.
16% are under 15, close to West Glamorgan’s towns (16%) and below Wales’s towns (17%). Swansea has a median age of 38.9 years. The 65-and-over age group makes up 19% of residents.
50% women, 50% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Swansea | West Glamorgan | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 17% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 24% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 24% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 19% | 21% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 20% | 21% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.7% | 6.1% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 31% | 30% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · West Glamorgan and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Swansea’s listed buildings include Capel Tabernacle, Grade I. Grade II* covers 18 of them, Grade I 4. The register of parks and gardens lists 9 in the town.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 24% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
In 2026, 3.9% of 16 to 64s were claiming unemployment benefits. The car took nearly four in five commuters, below West Glamorgan’s towns (83%) and Wales’s towns (81%) alike. There are 1.3 jobs in Swansea for each resident in work. Work in town: 65% of resident commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Social housing holds just over a fifth of households, above West Glamorgan’s towns (19%) and Wales’s towns (18%) alike. The private rented sector houses a fifth of households. Private rents average £850 a month across the Swansea council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £335,000 | 1,112 |
| Semi-detached | £202,000 | 1,735 |
| Terraced | £150,000 | 2,053 |
| Flat or maisonette | £135,000 | 519 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
310 listed buildings in Swansea, 4 of them Grade I.
Swansea Castle: Photo: Tiia Monto · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Swansea New Guildhall: Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domain · Capel Tabernacle: Photo: John Lord · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Lime Kiln adjacent to Castle Road: Photo: No Swan So Fine · CC BY-SA 4.0
572 notable people were born in Swansea.
Catherine Zeta-Jones: David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0 · Dylan Thomas: Nora Summers, Public domain · Clive Granger: redfalo (Olaf), CC BY-SA 2.0 · John Charles: Geoff Charles, CC BY 2.0 · Princess Lilian, Duchess of Halland: Scanpix, Public domain · Chris Coleman: Steindy 16:08, 10 November 2016 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swansea | 170,090 | — | C− | B+ | D | D |
| Gowerton | 7,447 | 3.4 | C− | B | C | C− |
| Penllergaer | 3,578 | 3.6 | C+ | C | B+ | C+ |
| Dunvant | 1,732 | 3.6 | — | B− | A+ | B |
| Gorseinon | 14,114 | 4.6 | C | B+ | B− | C− |
| Three Crosses | 1,476 | 4.9 | — | D | A− | B+ |
| Bishopston | 3,533 | 5.1 | A | C− | A+ | A+ |
| Grovesend | 1,148 | 5.3 | — | B+ | A− | C− |
Dunvant, Three Crosses and Grovesend have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
310 on Cadw’s list, 4 of them Grade I and 18 Grade II*. Its Grade I buildings include Oystermouth Castle.
Against all UK towns, most of them far smaller, it grades D.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £186,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £135,000, terraced houses £150,000, semi-detached houses £202,000 and detached houses £335,000.
City in West Glamorgan, Wales
Swansea is a built-up area of 170,090 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.