Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 2,002 in Clwyd, Wales.
Meliden has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A−): median sale £173,000, 3.9 years of area income; rent £718 a month. Its weakest is jobs & income (C−): mean household income £49,816; 2.9% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
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 thing Meliden 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 Meliden is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists them inside Meliden’s built-up area, along with 2 scheduled monuments.
15% 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 Meliden. Best known first.
Castle · CadwRhuddlan Castle3.8 km outside town, to the southwest
Castle · CadwTwthill Castle3.8 km outside town, to the southwest
CastlePrestatyn Castle2.3 km outside town, to the northeast
Historic houseBodrhyddan Hall1.6 km outside town, to the southwestMuseumMuseumRhyl Museum4.7 km outside town, to the westPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Meliden.
Social housing holds 13% of households, below both Clwyd’s towns (16%) and Wales’s towns (18%). The £173,000 median rests on 84 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £221,500 | 32 |
| Semi-detached | £171,000 | 22 |
| Terraced | £165,000 | 27 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
It appears below. Its one primary school teaches 140 pupils.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ysgol MelydLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 140 | – |
The 12 months to August 2026 brought 122 recorded crimes inside Meliden’s built-up area, and 27 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violent crime ran at 38.5 per 1,000 residents a year, above both Clwyd’s towns (34.3) and Wales’s towns (33.8). Violence and sexual offences made up 59% of the total.
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.
Meliden has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 1.2 miles away. At the census, 23% of people here had a disability, higher than Clwyd’s towns (22%) and near Wales’s towns (22%). Also worth knowing: life expectancy here is 82.1 for women and 80 for men (2019–23).
| Census 2021 | Meliden | Clwyd | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 77% | 79% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 7% | 6.5% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 22% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Self-reported health favours young towns, since these answers ignore age; the Health Grade leans on age-adjusted measures such as life expectancy.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 19% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Short trips to work, under 5 km: 35%, below Clwyd’s towns (39%) and Wales’s towns (41%) alike. Of the commuters living in Meliden, 3% work in the town itself. For every resident in work, Meliden has 0.2 jobs.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Of Meliden’s land, 6% lies in conservation areas, above both Clwyd’s towns (2%) and Wales’s towns (0%). Before 1919: that is when 15% of homes were built. This Clwyd town has 40 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Meliden has a median age of 46.3 years. 24% of residents have reached 65. Children under 15 make up 18%, above both Clwyd’s towns (17%) and Wales’s towns (17%).
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Meliden | Clwyd | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 17% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 9.4% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 21% | 23% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 27% | 26% |
| 65+ | 24% | 23% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 19% | 20% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 7% | 6.5% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 17% | 17% |
| Degree level | 28% | 29% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · Clwyd and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meliden | 2,002 | — | — | A− | C | C |
| Prestatyn | 16,678 | 1.2 | C− | A− | C− | C− |
| Dyserth | 2,038 | 1.3 | — | B+ | B− | C |
| Rhyl | 26,982 | 2.6 | D | A− | D− | D− |
| Rhuddlan | 3,791 | 2.6 | C+ | B+ | C | C+ |
| St Asaph | 3,483 | 4.3 | C− | B− | C− | C− |
| Kinmel Bay | 9,016 | 4.7 | D− | B− | D− | D− |
| Bodelwyddan | 1,785 | 5.1 | — | B | D− | C |
Dyserth and Bodelwyddan 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.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £173,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £165,000, semi-detached houses £171,000 and detached houses £221,500.
Band D council tax in Meliden is £2,339 for 2026–27, less than in 68% of UK towns (the Denbighshire council average, with police and community councils). Your own bill depends on your home’s band; check it on GOV.UK.
Village in Clwyd, Wales
Meliden is a built-up area of 2,002 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.