These five villages, which all lie to the north of the M4, whilst remaining distinctly separate areas have expanded to form one contiguous urban area of several thousand, which is primarily a dormitory suburb of Bridgend, although many people also work in Cardiff and Swansea due to the motorway's proximity.

Compared to other villages around Bridgend county, and relative to its size, Aberkenfig has a large range of commercial activity.

The village is also home to the New Garden, a highly regarded Chinese restaurant which has been featured in the Egon Ronay Guide.

At the centre of the village is a small green patch of grass and a bench at the junction of Bridgend Road, Pandy Road and Dunraven Street, and is accompanied by a CCTV camera, placed as a response by the council to growing concerns about the activities of young people in the village.

[2] In spite of this area of South Wales following the rest of the United Kingdom in increasing secularisation throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, there are a number of religious houses of worship in the village.

The village's central and accessible location at the confluence of the two rivers (and the Garw river flows into the Ogmore near Brynmenyn) and three valleys (Llynfi, Ogmore and Garw) have historically dictated the development of religious houses of worship (and also benefits commercial development here, rather than any other of the five villages).

There is a Roman Catholic church, testament to both Irish immigration and the presence of Welsh Italians, and this is also reflected in people's surnames around the area.

The former Catholic Church recreational hall in Dunraven Street was sold off, bought and turned into a mosque run by the Glamorgan Muslim Community Association.

Whilst this did affect commercial activity, the road infrastructure in the village would now not be able to cope with the amount of traffic that the bypass now takes.