Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0Colwyn Bay: 27% of households live in a flat or apartment, above 93% of UK towns
One-person households make up 36%, against 32% across Wales’s towns. Here, just over a quarter of residents are 65 or over. Few places have so few households with dependent children: 25% here, fewer than in 73% of UK towns. The 2021 Census put Colwyn Bay’s population at 29,273, in 13,119 households.
What the Census says about Colwyn Bay’s people
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Colwyn Bay at 29,900 in 2011 and 29,600 in 2024, down 1%, against 4% for Wales: slower growth than in 90% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
A town of flats
27% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 93% of UK towns. 22% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
A Welsh-speaking town
5,425 residents, 19% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 73% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
A change of −1% since 2011 leaves Colwyn Bay behind 90% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Colwyn Bay’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 29,900 people in 2011; 29,600 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+9%) and the 16 to 29 least (−13%).
Colwyn Bay is older than 71% of UK towns: a median age of 47.3
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 7.3% of residents. In Penrhyn Bay, the oldest of Clwyd’s towns by this measure, it is 34%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Colwyn Bay, 47.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Colwyn Bay: 5.5% of adults are full-time students, above 75% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Across Wales’s towns, 29% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine work; in Colwyn Bay, 32% and 25%. For comparison, 8% of adults are full-time students across Wales’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year: nearly a tenth of the total.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Smaller households than 81% of UK towns: 2.2 people on average
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Clwyd’s towns and Wales’s towns
People per household
Wales’s towns.
The census found that 2.3% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Colwyn Bay.
Below 74% of UK towns: 14% of households live in a terraced house
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
In Colwyn Bay, just over a fifth of households have no car or van, beside 21% across Wales’s towns. The benchmark for households in terraced houses across Wales’s towns: 29%. Across Colwyn Bay, 26% of households live in a detached house.
Colwyn Bay ranks above 55% of UK towns on residents whose main language is English: 98%
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 10%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.8%). Elsewhere, 96% of residents have English as their main language across Wales’s towns. Arrivals from 2017 on account for 14% of residents born abroad, beside 23% across Wales’s towns.
Colwyn Bay: 19% of residents speak Welsh
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Some 5,425 people here aged 3 and over said in 2021 that they can speak Welsh, 19% of the total, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 73% of them. Llanfairfechan leads Clwyd with 44%.
Colwyn Bay ranks above 66% of UK towns on residents with no religion: 43%
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 93% of Colwyn Bay · Clwyd’s towns 92% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
In Colwyn Bay, 93% of residents describe themselves as White British, beside 90% across Wales’s towns. Residents with no religion: 47% across Wales’s towns, for comparison. The census found that 48% of residents describe themselves as Christian locally.
A larger share of adults who have never married than 61% of UK towns: 34%
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
995 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. To put it in context, 38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Wales’s towns. Few places have so few married adults and civil partners: 43% here, fewer than in 79% of UK towns. There is little gap on unpaid carers: 10%, about the same as across Wales’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 34% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 34% of adults in Colwyn Bay, 31% across Wales’s towns; 17% have no qualification, against 20%.
From a median age of 40 in Llandudno Junction South & Llasanffraid Glan Conwy to 56 in Penrhyn Bay
The town’s 6 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Penrhyn Bay is the oldest area, with 35% aged 65 or over; Llandudno Junction South & Llasanffraid Glan Conwy the youngest (median age 40). Families with children are most common in Old Colwyn & Llanddulas (31% of households).
Ranked by age, 28th oldest of 248 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 31.1 in Egham to 56.2 in Rustington. Nearest to Colwyn Bay in age: Stratford-upon-Avon (46.9), Buxton (47.1), Ryde (47.4) and Hazlemere (47.5).
Around Colwyn Bay, 6 of 7 towns have a higher median age
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colwyn Bay | 29,273 | — | 47.3 | 26% | 25% |
| Penrhyn Bay | 4,201 | 2.4 mi | 54.6 | 34% | 21% |
| Mynydd Marian | 1,351 | 3.1 mi | 39.8 | 15% | 34% |
| Llansanffraid Glan Conwy | 1,663 | 3.5 mi | 51.9 | 29% | 20% |
| Llanddulas | 1,097 | 3.5 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 20% |
| Conwy | 15,706 | 3.8 mi | 48.7 | 27% | 24% |
| Llandudno | 14,699 | 4.4 mi | 50.4 | 28% | 20% |
| Abergele | 8,531 | 5.9 mi | 52.2 | 33% | 21% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “Clwyd’s towns” and “Wales’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Clwyd (or Wales), summed the same way as Colwyn Bay’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Colwyn Bay’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 29,863 people in 2021, against 29,273 in the built-up area.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Colwyn Bay’s residents
What is the population of Colwyn Bay?
The 2021 Census counted 29,273 people in Colwyn Bay’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 29,600 people in mid-2024, 1% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Colwyn Bay?
The median age was 47.3 at the 2021 Census, older than 71% of UK towns. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Colwyn Bay?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 92% across Clwyd’s towns. 5.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Colwyn Bay?
43% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.2% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Colwyn Bay good for families?
25% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Families are most common in Old Colwyn & Llanddulas (31% of households). Schools are on Colwyn Bay’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Colwyn Bay?
5,425 residents aged 3 and over, 19%, said they can speak Welsh at the 2021 Census, against 16% across Welsh towns.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067, TS032) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.