Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
The village has 1,785 residents and lies in Clwyd, Wales.
Bodelwyddan’s strongest subject is walkability — on the way to work, 22% walk, cycle or take a bus or train. Crime runs high: police record 99.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 15.9 home and vehicle crimes. Set beside UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, its crime per resident is higher than in 100%. The median home sold for £232,500, 5.3 times what households in the Denbighshire council area earn in a year.
Figures: commuting, Census 2021 · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · incomes, ONS. Bodelwyddan has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
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 2 things Bodelwyddan 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 Bodelwyddan is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists them inside Bodelwyddan’s built-up area.
13% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Bodelwyddan. Best known first.
Historic houseBodelwyddan Castlein town
Castle · CadwRhuddlan Castle2.6 km outside town, to the northeast
CathedralSt Asaph Cathedral3.6 km outside town, to the east
Castle · CadwTwthill Castle2.6 km outside town, to the northeast
Historic houseBodrhyddan Hall4.8 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumRhyl Miniature Railway4.3 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Bodelwyddan.
304 crimes and 32 reports of anti-social behaviour: that is what police recorded inside Bodelwyddan’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026. There were 18.1 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), above both Clwyd’s towns (15) and Wales’s towns (10.4). Of all the crimes, 59% were violence and sexual offences.
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.
It appears below. The town’s primary school has 138 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ysgol Y FaenolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 138 | – |
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 17% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
77% of commuters drove, below Clwyd’s towns (83%) and Wales’s towns (81%) alike. Working from home was the norm for 17% of workers at the census. The average household earns £47K a year before tax.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
At the census, 5.8% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, below Clwyd’s towns (6.5%) and Wales’s towns (7.1%) alike. Seeing a GP means leaving Bodelwyddan: the nearest practice is 2.5 miles away. Asked at the census, four in five residents of Bodelwyddan said they were in good or very good health.
| Census 2021 | Bodelwyddan | Clwyd | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 79% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 5.8% | 6.5% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 22% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Grade II* covers 3 of them. Relative to its size, Bodelwyddan keeps 134 listed buildings per 10,000 residents, above both Clwyd’s towns (30) and Wales’s towns (18). Homes from before 1919 make up 13% of the total.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
12% live in social housing, below Clwyd’s towns (16%) and Wales’s towns (18%) alike. From September 2023 to August 2026, 60 homes sold inside Bodelwyddan’s built-up area at standard prices; the middle one went for £232,500. Private rents average £718 a month across the Denbighshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £266,000 | 42 |
| Semi-detached | £161,500 | 14 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
People aged 15 to 24 make up 10% of the town, near Clwyd’s towns (10%) and lower than Wales’s towns (12%). Those 65 and older account for 20% of residents. At 42.2, the median resident of Bodelwyddan sits in the middle of the age range.
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Bodelwyddan | Clwyd | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 27% | 23% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 20% | 23% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 20% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.4% | 6.5% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 29% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · Clwyd and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
7 notable people were born in Bodelwyddan.
Jade Jones: Mohammad Hassanzadeh, CC BY 4.0 · Dylan Levitt: Kane Brooker, CC BY 2.0 · Philip Salt: Dave Morton, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bodelwyddan | 1,785 | — | — | B | D− | C |
| Kinmel Bay | 9,016 | 2.3 | D− | B− | D− | D− |
| Rhuddlan | 3,791 | 2.4 | C+ | B+ | C | C+ |
| St Asaph | 3,483 | 2.6 | C− | B− | C− | C− |
| Pensarn | 1,329 | 3.3 | — | B | D− | D |
| Abergele | 8,531 | 3.4 | D | C+ | C− | C− |
| Rhyl | 26,982 | 3.5 | D | A− | D− | D− |
| Dyserth | 2,038 | 4.3 | — | B+ | B− | C |
Pensarn and Dyserth have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Burglary was rare, with 1 report in the year.
24 on Cadw’s list, 3 of them Grade II*. That is 5.5 times the typical UK town for its size.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on Natural Resources Wales’s flood risk service.
Village in Clwyd, Wales
Bodelwyddan is a built-up area of 1,785 people, in the Denbighshire 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.