Photo: Mark Anderson · CC BY-SA 2.0A smaller share of households in terraced houses than 95% of UK towns: 6.9%
23% of households have dependent children, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Census figures put households in detached houses at 46% in Prestatyn. More unpaid carers than in 97% of UK towns: 12%. This Clwyd town is home to 16,678 residents in 7,610 households, by the 2021 Census.
What the Census says about Prestatyn’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Prestatyn’s residents are under 50.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 29% are 65 or over, against 21% across Wales’s towns. Ages ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Prestatyn at 16,300 in 2011 and 16,200 in 2024, down 0%, against 4% for Wales: slower growth than in 86% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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, Prestatyn has changed by ±0%, slower than 86% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Prestatyn’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 16,300 people in 2011; 16,200 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+20%); the 0 to 15 group moved least (−15%).
Half of Prestatyn is over 50.3, older than 86% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Set against 12% across Wales’s towns, 9.4% of residents are aged 15 to 24 in Prestatyn. By contrast, 29% of residents are 65 or over, more than in 88% of UK towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Prestatyn, 50.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
In Prestatyn, 5.1% of adults are full-time students, more than in 61% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 28% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 29% (Wales’s towns: 29% and 27%). To put it in context, 8% of adults are full-time students across Wales’s towns. Here, nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Households here average 2.2 people, below 80% 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.
Here 2.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, where the figure across Wales’s towns is 3.1%. For Prestatyn, the census puts one-person households at 34%.
A higher share of households without a car or van than 71% of UK towns, at 20%
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
Against a figure of 14% across Wales’s towns, the share of households in flats in Prestatyn comes in at 9.9%. Every 5th household or so has no car or van.
A higher share of residents whose main language is English than 85% of UK towns, at 99%
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
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (1.7%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%). Prestatyn has fewer residents born outside the UK than 77% of UK towns, at 4%. Residents whose main language is English: 96% across Wales’s towns, for comparison. Just over a tenth of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 23% across Wales’s towns.
In Prestatyn, 14% of residents can speak Welsh
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Welsh speakers number 2,327, or 14% of residents aged 3 and over, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 63% of them. Top of Clwyd: Llanfairfechan, at 44%.
95% of residents describe themselves as White British, a share 81% of UK towns don’t reach
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 Prestatyn · Clwyd’s towns 92% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Half of residents describe themselves as Christian, against 43% across Wales’s towns. Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (1.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Chinese (0.3%). On residents with no religion, Prestatyn sits lower than 51% of UK towns: 41%. The wider picture: 90% of residents describe themselves as White British across Wales’s towns.
A lower share of married adults and civil partners than 65% of UK towns, at 46%
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: 32%, below 55% of UK towns. Some 807 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. As a reference point, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across Wales’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 27% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Prestatyn, 27% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 31% across Wales’s towns, while 21% have no qualification at all (20%).
From a median age of 48 in Prestatyn Central & East to 52 in Prestatyn South
The town’s 3 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Prestatyn South is the oldest area, with 31% aged 65 or over; Prestatyn Central & East the youngest (median age 48). Families with children are most common in Prestatyn Central & East (25% of households).
336 UK towns of 12,000 to 23,000 people: this is the 26th oldest
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 Aberystwyth (25), the youngest, and Sidmouth (60.4), the oldest. Nearest to Prestatyn in age: North Walsham (50.2), Stourport-on-Severn (50.2), West Kirby (50.4) and Llandudno (50.4).
Prestatyn sits below 1 of its 7 closest neighbours on 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prestatyn | 16,678 | — | 50.3 | 29% | 23% |
| Meliden | 2,002 | 1.2 mi | 46.3 | 24% | 27% |
| Dyserth | 2,038 | 2.5 mi | 48.9 | 24% | 25% |
| Rhyl | 26,982 | 2.6 mi | 41.8 | 21% | 28% |
| Rhuddlan | 3,791 | 3.4 mi | 50.8 | 29% | 21% |
| Kinmel Bay | 9,016 | 4.9 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 25% |
| St Asaph | 3,483 | 5.4 mi | 48.7 | 26% | 24% |
| Bodelwyddan | 1,785 | 5.7 mi | 42.2 | 20% | 30% |
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 Prestatyn’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. Prestatyn’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 16,407 people in 2021, against 16,678 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 Prestatyn’s residents
What is the population of Prestatyn?
The 2021 Census counted 16,678 people in Prestatyn’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 16,200 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Prestatyn?
The median age was 50.3 at the 2021 Census, older than 86% of UK towns. 9.4% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Prestatyn?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 92% across Clwyd’s towns. 4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Prestatyn?
41% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 7.2% didn’t answer.
Is Prestatyn good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Families are most common in Prestatyn Central & East (25% of households). Schools are on Prestatyn’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Prestatyn?
2,327 residents aged 3 and over, 14%, 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.