Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,666 in Clwyd, Wales.
Llay grades D overall against UK towns: better than 8% of UK towns, and #36 of 39 in Clwyd. The median home sold for £260,000 in the last three years, 5.9 times what households in the Wrexham council area earn in a year.
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.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Wales), ordered by how far Llay is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 2 buildings inside Llay’s built-up area.
3% 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 Llay. Best known first.
CathedralWrexham Cathedral4.4 km outside town, to the south
Castle · CadwCaergwrle Castle1.4 km outside town, to the northwest
Historic housePlas Teg4.4 km outside town, to the northwestArt galleryArt galleryTŷ Pawb4.5 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumXplore! Science Discovery Centre4.6 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumWrexham Archives4.5 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Llay.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
The pre-1919 share of homes is 3%. Scaled to its population, Llay has 4 listed buildings per 10,000 people, about level with both Clwyd’s towns (35) and Wales’s towns (18).
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
It is listed below. The town’s primary school has 337 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Park Community Primary SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 337 | – |
One GP practice serves the town. The nearest A&E to Llay is Wrexham Maelor Hospital, 3.3 miles away. At the census, 20% of people here had a disability, lower than both Clwyd’s towns (22%) and Wales’s towns (22%).
| Census 2021 | Llay | Clwyd | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 79% | 79% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.1% | 6.5% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 20% | 22% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · The census answers take no account of age, so a young town looks healthier; the Health Grade relies on age-adjusted measures, life expectancy among them.
For its size, Llay records more crime per resident than 77% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 313 offences in Llay and 60 cases of nuisance behaviour. Violence and sexual offences accounted for 55% of recorded crime.
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.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 14% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
The census counted 14% of workers working mainly from home. One in ten commuters walked, cycled or took the bus or train at the census, lower than both Clwyd’s towns (15%) and Wales’s towns (16%). Jobs per working resident: 1.2. Of the commuters living in Llay, 12% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Just over a quarter of adults hold a degree. People aged 15 to 24 make up a tenth of the town, about level with Clwyd’s towns (10%) and below Wales’s towns (12%). Llay has a median age of 43.
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Llay | Clwyd | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 24% | 23% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 25% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 22% | 23% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 20% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.7% | 6.5% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 26% | 29% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · Clwyd and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
22% live in social housing, higher than both Clwyd’s towns (16%) and Wales’s towns (18%). Home ownership stands at 69% of households. Private rents average £770 a month across the Wrexham council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £315,000 | 101 |
| Semi-detached | £168,000 | 63 |
| Terraced | £160,000 | 19 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Llay | 4,666 | — | D | C+ | C | C− |
| Bradley | 1,316 | 1.1 | — | B | A− | C− |
| Gresford | 4,948 | 1.5 | A− | C− | A | B+ |
| Gwersyllt | 7,112 | 1.7 | C− | B+ | C− | D |
| Hope | 4,422 | 2 | C+ | B+ | C+ | C+ |
| Brynteg | 9,229 | 2.6 | C− | B+ | C− | D |
| Rossett | 1,977 | 2.7 | — | D | C+ | B+ |
| Wrexham | 44,781 | 3 | D | B | D− | D |
Bradley and Rossett have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Band D council tax in Llay is £2,309 for 2026–27, less than in 74% of UK towns (the Wrexham council average, with police and community councils). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Town in Clwyd, Wales
Llay is a built-up area of 4,666 people, in the Wrexham 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.