Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town in West Glamorgan, Wales, home to 7,831 people.
Several subjects drag its grade down. Ystalyfera ranks #14 of 19 in West Glamorgan, with a D overall. Nationally, it does better than 15% of UK towns. The weak point is jobs & income: mean household income £39,285; 3.5% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Homes are affordable: a typical home costs £155,975 and rent runs £662 a month. Residents’ health trails most towns: 9.2% in bad or very bad health, 26.2% disabled.
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 Ystalyfera is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The 3 things Ystalyfera does most differently from other towns.
Cadw lists 9 buildings inside Ystalyfera’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade II*, and 2 scheduled monuments.
43% 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 Ystalyfera.
75% of Ystalyfera’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. Life expectancy here is 80.8 for women and 77.8 for men (2019–23). The nearest A&E to Ystalyfera is Morriston Hospital, 8.3 miles away. One GP practice serves the town.
| Census 2021 | Ystalyfera | West Glamorgan | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 75% | 78% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 9.2% | 7.9% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 26% | 23% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy among them.
Between them, three primaries and two secondaries teach 2,726 pupils in Ystalyfera. Below are two of them, each with why it was picked. Two of them are below, each with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ysgol Gymraeg Dyffryn Y GlowyrLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 348 | – |
| Ysgol Gymraeg Ystalyfera Bro DurLargest secondary schoolAll-through | All-through | 1,557 | – |
14% rent privately, lower than both West Glamorgan’s towns (17%) and Wales’s towns (17%). The median sale, £155,975, comes from 272 standard sales inside Ystalyfera’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. The owner-occupied share of households is 66%.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £270,000 | 88 |
| Semi-detached | £149,000 | 90 |
| Terraced | £125,000 | 91 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 21% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
There are 0.6 jobs in Ystalyfera for each resident in work. 10% of commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, below both West Glamorgan’s towns (14%) and Wales’s towns (16%). The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 3.5%. Of the commuters living here, 19% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Over the year to August 2026, 485 offences were reported in Ystalyfera, along with 50 incidents of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 55% of the crimes. Per 1,000 residents, 8.6 burglaries and acts of damage are recorded 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.
Ystalyfera counts 9 listed buildings on the national list (Cadw): 2 Grade II*. Relative to its size, Ystalyfera keeps 11 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, between West Glamorgan’s towns (10) and Wales’s towns (18).
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Degrees are held by 27% of adults. Children under 15 make up 18%, higher than both West Glamorgan’s towns (16%) and Wales’s towns (17%). The age that splits Ystalyfera in two is 43.3.
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Ystalyfera | West Glamorgan | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 13% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 24% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 22% | 21% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 21% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 7.4% | 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
8 notable people were born in Ystalyfera.
Clive Rowlands: Trehywel, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Chris Davies: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0
Town in West Glamorgan, Wales
Ystalyfera is a built-up area of 7,831 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
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ystalyfera | 7,831 | — | D | A− | C | D |
| Ystradgynlais | 4,032 | 1.9 | D− | B+ | D | D |
| Creunant | 1,664 | 2.8 | — | B | B− | D |
| Cwmllynfell and Ystradowen | 1,354 | 2.9 | — | B+ | B+ | D |
| Seven Sisters | 1,343 | 3.2 | — | B+ | D | D |
| Pontardawe | 5,539 | 3.7 | D | B | C− | D |
| Rhos | 2,560 | 3.8 | C | C | A− | C− |
| Alltwen | 2,721 | 4.1 | C+ | C+ | A− | C− |
Creunant, Cwmllynfell and Ystradowen and Seven Sisters have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
9 on Cadw’s list, 2 of them Grade II*. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £155,975, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £125,000, semi-detached houses £149,000 and detached houses £270,000.
Burglary was rare, with 8 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.