Photo: Chris Whippet · CC BY-SA 2.0A larger share of one-person households than 97% of UK towns: 39%
By its share of households in flats (22%), Llangollen is above 86% of UK towns. The town is home to 3,048 residents in 1,489 households, by the 2021 Census. Census figures put residents aged 15 to 24 at 8.2% here. More residents who describe themselves as White British than in 72% of UK towns: 95%.
What the Census says about Llangollen’s people
A Welsh-speaking town
591 residents, 20% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 74% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Llangollen’s residents are under 50.1 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 27% are 65 or over, against 21% across Wales’s towns. Ages ↓
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.
Llangollen’s population moved ±0% on 2011, less than in 82% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Llangollen’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 2,800 people in 2011; 2,900 in 2024.
Mid-2021 to mid-2022 brought the biggest yearly rise, 80 people. By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+13%) and the 16 to 29 group least (−15%).
Half of Llangollen is over 50.1, older than 85% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 55–59: nearly one in ten residents, 1.3 times the share across Wales’s towns. Locally, 27% of residents are 65 or over.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Llangollen, 50.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
More students than 74% of UK towns: 5.5% of adults in Llangollen
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 or semi-routine work; Llangollen has 34% and 25%. Residents who moved in within the year are more common here than in 62% of UK towns. For comparison, 8% of adults are full-time students across Wales’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Households with dependent children: 21%, a lower share than 91% 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.
Households in Llangollen hold 2 people on average (Wales’s towns: 2.3). Locally, 2.4% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. Across Wales’s towns, the share of households with dependent children is 27%.
In Llangollen, 26% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 72% of UK towns
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
With households in detached houses at 27%, Llangollen is behind 57% of UK towns on that count. For Llangollen, the census puts households without a car or van at 22%. Across the comparison, 29% of households live in a terraced house across Wales’s towns.
5.6% of residents were born outside the UK, fewer than in 58% of UK towns
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.8%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1.2%). By way of comparison, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. Higher than in 56% of UK towns: 98% of residents have English as their main language. Where 23% of those born abroad across Wales’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 29%.
20% of residents speak Welsh in Llangollen
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Welsh speakers number 591, or 20% of residents aged 3 and over, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 74% of them. In Clwyd, Llanfairfechan has the highest share (44%).
Llangollen sits below 65% of UK towns for residents who describe themselves as Christian (48%)
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 Llangollen · Clwyd’s towns 92% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Where 47% of residents said they have no religion across Wales’s towns, Llangollen has 43%. Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (3.1%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Chinese (0.3%).
11% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 83% 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
Adults who have never married: 33% here and 38% across Wales’s towns. As a yardstick, one in ten residents give unpaid care across Wales’s towns. Census figures put married adults and civil partners at 44% in Llangollen.
Adults with a degree-level qualification: 37%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 37% of its adults qualified to degree level, Llangollen compares with 31% across Wales’s towns; another 16% hold no qualification (20%).
Ranked by age, 130th oldest of 514 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Keele (20.6) and the oldest West Chiltington (63.1). Nearest to Llangollen in age: Charlbury (50.1), Kingswood (50.1), Haltwhistle (50.2) and Pannal (50.2).
Every neighbour of Llangollen has a younger population
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Llangollen | 3,048 | — | 50.1 | 27% | 21% |
| Trevor | 1,397 | 2.9 mi | 47.1 | 22% | 27% |
| Acrefair and Cefn-mawr | 6,905 | 4.1 mi | 39.3 | 19% | 33% |
| Chirk | 3,930 | 5.1 mi | 45.3 | 22% | 28% |
| Rhosllannerchrugog | 12,789 | 5.4 mi | 41.5 | 20% | 29% |
| Ruabon | 3,414 | 5.5 mi | 42.1 | 19% | 30% |
| Weston Rhyn | 1,381 | 5.6 mi | 44 | 23% | 25% |
| Coedpoeth | 4,738 | 7.2 mi | 45.1 | 23% | 26% |
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 Llangollen’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. Llangollen’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 2,744 people in 2021, against 3,048 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 Llangollen’s residents
What is the population of Llangollen?
The 2021 Census counted 3,048 people in Llangollen’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 2,900 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Llangollen?
The median age was 50.1 at the 2021 Census, older than 85% of UK towns. 8.2% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Llangollen?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 92% across Clwyd’s towns. 5.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Llangollen?
43% said they had no religion and 48% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Llangollen good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Llangollen’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Llangollen?
591 residents aged 3 and over, 20%, 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.