Photo: Jeff Buck · CC BY-SA 2.0A Welsh-speaking town: 32% of Denbigh’s residents speak Welsh
The share of married adults and civil partners is 40%, against 43% across Wales’s towns. At the 2021 Census Denbigh was home to 8,072 people in 3,563 households. Residents who describe themselves as White British account for 95%. On one-person households, Denbigh sits higher than 83% of UK towns: 34%.
What the Census says about Denbigh’s people
A Welsh-speaking town
2,505 residents, 32% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 83% 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.
Since 2011, Denbigh has changed by +1%, slower than 82% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Denbigh’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 8,200 people in 2011; 8,200 in 2024.
Between mid-2021 and mid-2022 the population rose by 170, its biggest one-year gain. The 65 and over age group changed most (+29%) and the 16 to 29 least (−13%).
11% of residents are 15 to 24, more than in 79% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 55–59 than any other five-year age: 7.6% of residents. Typically, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Wales’s towns. The median age in Denbigh is 43.5, lower than in 58% of UK towns. In Penrhyn Bay, the oldest of Clwyd’s towns by this measure, it is 34%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Denbigh, 43.5. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
6.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, fewer than in 91% 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%.
5.9% of adults are full-time students, against 8% across Wales’s towns. For residents who moved in within the year, the comparison across Wales’s towns is 9.1%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Denbigh households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 70% of UK towns
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.
Shared households of unrelated adults are about as common here as across Wales’s towns, at 2.5%. For Denbigh, the census puts households with dependent children at 27%.
A lower share of households in flats than 66% of UK towns, at 8.1%
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
24% of households live in a detached house across Wales’s towns, against 33% in Denbigh. On average, 14% of households live in a flat or apartment across Wales’s towns. Households without a car or van account for 22%. Few places have as many households in terraced houses: 23% here, more than in 62% of UK towns.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 76% of UK towns: 4.1%
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
Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (1.7%) or in the Middle East and Asia (1.5%). Typically, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. On residents whose main language is English, Denbigh sits higher than 63% of UK towns: 98%. 19% of those born abroad arrived in 2017 or later, against 23% across Wales’s towns.
Can speak Welsh: 32% of Denbigh’s residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Across Welsh towns, 16% of residents can speak Welsh; here 2,505 people, 32% of those aged 3 and over, said they can: more than in 83% of Welsh towns. The highest share in Clwyd belongs to Llanfairfechan (44%).
Denbigh: 43% of residents said they have no religion, above 61% of UK towns
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: 95% of Denbigh · Clwyd’s towns 92% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (1.8%), Mixed or multiple (1.4%) and Chinese (0.4%). Few places have as many residents who describe themselves as Christian: 50% here, more than in half of UK towns. Elsewhere, 47% of residents said they have no religion across Wales’s towns.
39% of adults have never married, more than in 87% of UK towns
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
The figure for unpaid carers is 11% in Denbigh and 10% across Wales’s towns. To put it in context, 38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Wales’s towns. The number giving 50 or more hours of unpaid care a week is 264.
Among adults, 32% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Denbigh, 32% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 31% across Wales’s towns, while 18% have no qualification at all (20%).
Ranked by age, 159th youngest of 424 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Tidworth (28.4), the youngest, and Barton on Sea (65.3), the oldest. Nearest to Denbigh in age: Baldock (43.5), Yapton (43.5), Pontllanfraith (43.5) and Boldon Colliery (43.6).
Around Denbigh, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denbigh | 8,072 | — | 43.5 | 21% | 27% |
| St Asaph | 3,483 | 5.2 mi | 48.7 | 26% | 24% |
| Ruthin | 5,700 | 6.5 mi | 46 | 25% | 24% |
| Bodelwyddan | 1,785 | 7 mi | 42.2 | 20% | 30% |
| Rhuddlan | 3,791 | 7.7 mi | 50.8 | 29% | 21% |
| Dyserth | 2,038 | 7.8 mi | 48.9 | 24% | 25% |
| Meliden | 2,002 | 9.1 mi | 46.3 | 24% | 27% |
| Kinmel Bay | 9,016 | 9.2 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 25% |
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 Denbigh’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. Denbigh’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 7,821 people in 2021, against 8,072 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 Denbigh’s residents
What is the population of Denbigh?
The 2021 Census counted 8,072 people in Denbigh’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 8,200 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Denbigh?
The median age was 43.5 at the 2021 Census, younger than 58% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Denbigh?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 92% across Clwyd’s towns. 4.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Denbigh?
43% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Denbigh good for families?
27% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Denbigh’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Denbigh?
2,505 residents aged 3 and over, 32%, 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. 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.