Nation
Area reports for Wales
Reports for Welsh postcodes, towns, cities and principal areas.
In short
A Welsh area report scores any postcode, town, city or principal area from 0 to 100 across twelve categories, using police.uk, StatsWales and UK open data. Our index currently holds 37 scored areas in Wales, with a median overall score of 70 out of 100. Of the largest Welsh cities in the index, Bangor scores highest at 73 out of 100.
- Score range observed across Wales: 63 to 75 out of 100.
- Search a full postcode for point-level weather, crime, amenities and air quality.
- Search a council for the area-wide statistics on cost, housing, employment and schools.
- Best scoring major city in Wales: Bangor on 73 out of 100.
| Detail | Answer |
|---|---|
| Covers | Every Welsh postcode, outcode, town, city and council area |
| Categories scored | Twelve, weighted and combined into one overall score out of 100 |
| Crime source | police.uk recorded crime within about a mile of the point, latest published month, per 10,000 residents where the catchment population is known |
| Education measure | Welsh Government Capped 9 average points score, by local authority |
| Weather source | Met Office HadUK-Grid, multi-year averages for each 1 km square |
| Cost | Free, no sign-up |
| Areas indexed in Wales | 37 |
| Median overall score | 70 / 100 |
Highest scoring areas in Wales
| # | Area | Where | Overall | Cost of living | Safety | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bridgend | Bridgend, Wales | 75 | 85 | 49 | 62 |
| 2 | Bangor | Gwynedd, Wales | 73 | 87 | 53 | 75 |
| =3 | Maesteg | Bridgend, Wales | 72 | 85 | 61 | 62 |
| =3 | Old Cwmbran | Torfaen, Wales | 72 | 79 | 47 | 62 |
| =3 | Prestatyn | Denbighshire, Wales | 72 | 88 | 62 | — |
Live from the index and rebuilt daily. A dash means that dataset has not loaded for the area yet, in which case it is excluded from the overall score rather than estimated.
Major cities in Wales, ranked
Of the major cities we score in Wales, Bangor comes top on 73 out of 100. Lifestyle and broadband are where cities reliably beat the countryside; housing and cost of living are where they lose it, which is why a city rarely tops the national table above.
| # | City | Where | Overall | Band | Cost of living | Housing | Amenities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bangor | Gwynedd, Wales | 73 | Very good | 87 | 76 | — |
| =2 | Newport | Newport, Wales | 71 | Very good | 73 | 82 | — |
| =2 | Swansea | Swansea, Wales | 71 | Very good | 80 | 75 | — |
| =4 | Cardiff | Cardiff, Wales | 70 | Very good | 61 | 92 | 93 |
| =4 | Wrexham | Wrexham, Wales | 70 | Very good | 85 | 96 | — |
The 5 major Welsh cities in the index, ranked against each other rather than against the whole country. Cities on the same score are shown as equal (=). A dash means that dataset has not loaded for the city yet, so it is excluded from the overall score rather than estimated. Open any city for the full report.
How Wales is scored, and where it differs
Wales sits between the other two nations in the data: it shares the police.uk crime feed with England, but publishes its own education statistics through the Welsh Government.
Crime uses the same feed as England
The four Welsh forces publish to police.uk, so Welsh safety scores are built exactly as English ones are: recorded crime within about a mile of the point, for the latest published month, per resident where the catchment population is known. Welsh and English areas scored on the same basis can therefore be ranked together on safety, while Scottish areas cannot.
Welsh education uses Capped 9
Education comes from the Welsh Government Capped 9 average points score, published by local authority. It is a different measure from the English Attainment 8, built from a different qualification mix, so a Welsh education score is meaningful against other Welsh areas and not against English ones.
Twenty-two principal areas
Wales has 22 principal areas and no county tier, so a council search resolves directly to the authority publishing the statistics. Several of them, Powys and Gwynedd in particular, are large and sparsely populated, which stretches council-level averages across very different communities. A postcode search gives a much truer picture in those places.
Rainfall is the honest headline
Welsh weather scores come from the Met Office 1 km climate grid, and the upland west records some of the highest annual rainfall totals in Britain while the south coast and the Marches are markedly drier. Reading the exact square kilometre matters more in Wales than almost anywhere else, given how quickly the terrain changes.
Datasets specific to Wales
| Source | What it provides |
|---|---|
| StatsWales, Welsh Government | Capped 9 average points score, by local authority. |
| police.uk street-level crime | Recorded crime within about a mile of the point, latest published month. |
| ONS Price Index of Private Rents | Average private rents, used for the cost of living score. |
Everything else comes from the UK-wide sources listed on our data sources page. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Towns and cities in Wales
Full area reports, scored from open government data. All 37 indexed Welsh areas, listed A to Z. Any other place, postcode or council in Wales can be searched above.
Council areas in Wales
A council report covers the whole local authority rather than a point inside it, which is the right read for the statistics published at that level: house prices, earnings, employment and broadband. A town report answers what it is like to live at one spot; a council report answers what the area as a whole looks like on paper.
22 Welsh council and unitary areas have a report; the 15 listed here A to Z, and the other 7 in the towns and cities list above. Point-level categories such as weather, amenities and air quality, and crime, are measured from the council's main population centre, and each report says so.
Questions about Wales area reports
Is Welsh crime data comparable with England?
Yes. Welsh forces publish to police.uk on the same basis as English forces, and Welsh and English safety scores are built by the same method, so two areas scored on the same basis can be compared directly. Scottish scores use a different measure and are kept separate.
Which education measure does Wales use?
The Welsh Government Capped 9 average points score, published by local authority. It is built from a different qualification mix than the English Attainment 8, so Welsh education scores compare within Wales rather than across the border.
Does the site support Welsh language place names?
Reports resolve Welsh place names where Ordnance Survey Open Names indexes them, including bilingual forms such as Caerdydd and Abertawe. Report copy is published in English.
Why is the weather score for my Welsh village different from the next valley?
Because each report reads its own square kilometre of the Met Office climate grid, and Welsh terrain changes rainfall and sunshine over very short distances. The next valley genuinely has different weather.
What is the best city to live in Wales?
Of the largest Welsh cities we score, Bangor ranks highest with an overall liveability score of 73 out of 100. The full order is Bangor 73, Newport 71, Swansea 71, Cardiff 70, Wrexham 70, each out of 100. Scores combine cost of living, affordability, housing, safety, weather, amenities and more from open government data, so the ranking reflects those categories rather than reputation or size.
Which major cities in Wales does TrackPostcode.UK score?
The largest Welsh cities ranked on this page are Bangor, Newport, Swansea, Cardiff and Wrexham. Every other town, city, council area and postcode in Wales can be searched directly, and the full list of indexed places is above.
Does TrackPostcode.UK cover my council in Wales?
We publish a report for 22 Welsh council and unitary areas, every one linked on this page. A council report reads the statistics published at local-authority level - house prices, earnings, employment - across the whole authority, while point-level categories such as weather, crime and nearby amenities are measured from its main population centre. Any council not listed can still be searched by name, and every postcode inside it has its own report.