Wales
Rhondda Cynon Taff: house prices, jobs and local statistics
Rhondda Cynon Taff is a principal council area in Wales, home to 237,651 people at the 2021 census. 3.2% of residents aged 16 to 64 were claiming unemployment-related benefits in August 2026, against 3.9% across the UK. Median full-time pay for people living here was £34,837 a year in 2025 (UK: £39,039). The biggest employing sector is health & social care, with 18.6% of the 80,540 employee jobs counted in 2024.
- The health and education indicators shown for English councils are published for England only.
- House prices are not available for this area at the moment.
Jobs, pay and unemployment in Rhondda Cynon Taff
Claimant rate, August 2026
3.2%
4,900 people aged 16 to 64. UK: 3.9%
Employment rate, Apr 2025-Mar 2026
65.3%
UK: 75.4% · Annual Population Survey
Unemployment rate, Apr 2025-Mar 2026
6.4%
UK: 4.5%
Economically inactive
30.3%
UK: 21.0%
Median full-time pay, 2025
£34,837 a year
UK: £39,039
Median weekly pay, 2025
£666
UK: £767
The claimant count is people claiming unemployment-related benefits as a share of residents aged 16 to 64; the unemployment rate is the survey measure of people out of work and looking. Pay is for full-time employees who live in the area.
Claimant count, Annual Population Survey and Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (resident analysis), via Nomis. Source: Office for National Statistics, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Two years of claimant counts and ten of pay in the jobs explorerWhat Rhondda Cynon Taff does for a living
Employee jobs, 2024
80,540
75,300 in 2019
Businesses, 2026
5,620
| Sector | Share of jobs | Great Britain |
|---|---|---|
| Health & social care | 18.6% | 14.1% |
| Manufacturing | 13.7% | 7.2% |
| Retail, wholesale & motor trade | 13.7% | 13.6% |
| Education | 11.2% | 8.6% |
| Admin & support services | 7.4% | 8.5% |
| Construction | 6.2% | 5.0% |
Business Register and Employment Survey 2024 (Great Britain only). UK Business Counts 2026. Both via Nomis. Source: Office for National Statistics, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Every sector and business size in the industries explorerHow Rhondda Cynon Taff has changed
Residents
234,917 in 1991 → 242,844 in 2024 (+3.4%)
Wales over the same years: +10.9%
Average house price
£81,775 in 2005 → £164,192 in 2026 (+100.8%)
Wales over the same years: +75.1%
Median weekly pay
£350 in 2008 → £575 in 2025 (+64.4%)
Wales over the same years: +73.1%
Employment rate
66.8% in 2004 → 69.1% in 2023 (+3.4%)
Wales over the same years: +6.9%
Claimant count
2.7% in 2001 → 3.1% in 2025 (+14.8%)
Wales over the same years: +13.8%
Disposable income per head
£7,398 in 1997 → £19,935 in 2024 (+169.5%)
Wales over the same years: +131.7%
ONS Explore local statistics, each series from its official producer; Office for National Statistics content licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Money figures are in cash terms, not adjusted for inflation.
Every series, charted, in the trends explorerWho lives in Rhondda Cynon Taff
Residents, 2021
237,651
People per km², 2021
560
England and Wales: 395
Aged 65 and over
19.7%
England and Wales: 18.4%
Aged under 15
17.3%
England and Wales: 17.3%
Homes owned
68.3%
England and Wales: 61.5%
Homes rented privately
17.6%
England and Wales: 20.3%
Homes socially rented
13.7%
England and Wales: 17.1%
Degree or higher (16+)
26.7%
England and Wales: 33.8%
No qualifications (16+)
24.2%
England and Wales: 18.2%
Good or very good health
76.2%
England and Wales: 82.0%
Born in the UK
96.3%
England and Wales: 83.2%
Census 2021 topic summaries (TS001, TS006, TS007A, TS054, TS067, TS037, TS004), via Nomis. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0.
Any neighbourhood's census profile in the census explorerHow Rhondda Cynon Taff ranks among UK councils
33 official indicators are published for Rhondda Cynon Taff; 26 of them have a better and a worse direction and are ranked here. A rank of 1st is the best (lowest unemployment, highest pay, and so on).
Where it ranks best
- Housing affordability · Housing4.6× earnings (April 2025) · 11th lowest of 316
- Greenhouse gas emissions · Environment4.1 t per person (2024) · 152nd lowest of 361
- New homes · Housing3.0 per 1,000 (2024/25) · 10th highest of 22
- Claimant count · Economy & work3.1% (2025) · 189th lowest of 361
Where it ranks worst
- Three-year business survival · Economy & work32.0% (2021) · 367th highest of 374
- Disposable income per head · Economy & work£19,935 (2024) · 331st highest of 361
- Job density · Economy & work0.59 jobs per resident (2024) · 316th highest of 350
- Qualified to A level or above · Education & skills55.9% (2023) · 310th highest of 348
ONS Explore local statistics, latest figure for each indicator, ranked among council areas with a published figure; Office for National Statistics content licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, each indicator’s producer named on its linked ONS page.
All 33 indicators in the area scorecardNearby council areas
About these figures
Rhondda Cynon Taff (W06000016) is a principal council area in Wales, one of 361 council areas this site covers. Every figure on this page is read from the official source named beneath it and carries its own date; the page is rebuilt at most once a day. Survey figures carry sampling error, so small differences between neighbouring councils are often noise. For a single street or neighbourhood rather than the whole council area, search a postcode on the dashboard.
Sources
- HM Land Registry UK House Price Index (landregistry.data.gov.uk). Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right, OGL v3.0.
- Office for National Statistics via Nomis (nomisweb.co.uk): claimant count, Annual Population Survey, ASHE, BRES, UK Business Counts and Census 2021. Source: Office for National Statistics, OGL v3.0.
- ONS Explore local statistics (ons.gov.uk/explore-local-statistics), OGL v3.0.
- Council area names and codes: mySociety, UK local authority names and codes (CC BY 4.0), from the ONS Register of Geographic Codes.