Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0Households without a car or van make up 29% in Rhyl, more than in 93% of UK towns
The share of married adults and civil partners trails 95% of UK towns: 38%. Rhyl is home to 26,982 residents in 11,711 households, by the 2021 Census. Households in flats account for 20%. The median age here is 41.8, lower than in 70% of UK towns.
Growth of +11% since 2011 puts Rhyl ahead of 64% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Rhyl’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 24,700 people in 2011; 27,400 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group moved most (+19%); the 16 to 29 group moved least (±0%). Mid-2023 to mid-2024 brought the biggest yearly rise, 430 people.
More residents aged 15 to 24 than 88% of UK towns: 11%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 50–54: 6.7% of residents. Elsewhere, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Wales’s towns. In Penrhyn Bay, the oldest of Clwyd’s towns by this measure, it is 34%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Rhyl, 41.8. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students make up 6% in Rhyl, more than in 84% 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%.
Across Wales’s towns, 29% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine or semi-routine work; Rhyl has 21% and 33%. Full-time students: 8% across Wales’s towns, for comparison. The census found that nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier locally.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
36% of households are one person living alone, a share 91% of UK towns don’t reach
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 average 2.3 people, against 2.3 across Wales’s towns. 2.7% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, a higher share than in 66% of UK towns. As a yardstick, 32% of households are one person living alone across Wales’s towns. The census found that 28% of households have dependent children in Rhyl.
Households in terraced houses: 12%, a lower share than 85% 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
A third of households live in a detached house; across Wales’s towns the figure is 24%. Households in terraced houses: 29% across Wales’s towns, for comparison.
Rhyl ranks below 56% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 5.8%
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
By birthplace, the largest groups from abroad were born in EU countries (2.5%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.2%). For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across Wales’s towns is 7.4%. 97% of residents have English as their main language, a lower share than in 56% of UK towns. Arrivals from 2017 on account for 14% of residents born abroad, beside 23% across Wales’s towns.
A Welsh-speaking share of 13% in Rhyl
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
The 2021 Census found 3,415 Welsh speakers aged 3 and over, 13% of that age group, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 60% of them. No town in Clwyd beats Llanfairfechan (44%).
Rhyl ranks above 85% of UK towns on residents with no religion: 47%
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: 93% of Rhyl · Clwyd’s towns 92% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Across Wales’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 43%; Rhyl has 44%. Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (2.6%), Mixed or multiple (1.3%) and Pakistani (0.3%). Higher than in 54% of UK towns: 93% of residents describe themselves as White British.
In Rhyl, 12% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 96% 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
In Rhyl, 39% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, beside 38% across Wales’s towns. Typically, 10% of residents give unpaid care across Wales’s towns. 1,242 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 23% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Rhyl’s adults: 23% with a degree-level qualification and 25% with none, against 31% and 20% across Wales’s towns.
From a median age of 35 in Rhyl South West to 45 in Rhyl East
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.
Rhyl East is the oldest area, with 23% aged 65 or over; Rhyl South West the youngest (median age 35). Families with children are most common in Rhyl South West (38% of households).
98th lowest median age among 247 UK towns of 19,000 to 36,000
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Egham is the youngest (31.1); Rustington the oldest (56.2). Nearest to Rhyl in age: Sandhurst (41.8), Reigate (41.8), Stanley (42) and Eston (42).
Rhyl is younger than every town around it
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rhyl | 26,982 | — | 41.8 | 21% | 28% |
| Rhuddlan | 3,791 | 1.8 mi | 50.8 | 29% | 21% |
| Kinmel Bay | 9,016 | 2.3 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 25% |
| Meliden | 2,002 | 2.6 mi | 46.3 | 24% | 27% |
| Prestatyn | 16,678 | 2.6 mi | 50.3 | 29% | 23% |
| Dyserth | 2,038 | 2.9 mi | 48.9 | 24% | 25% |
| Bodelwyddan | 1,785 | 3.5 mi | 42.2 | 20% | 30% |
| St Asaph | 3,483 | 4.3 mi | 48.7 | 26% | 24% |
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 Rhyl’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. Rhyl’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 26,484 people in 2021, against 26,982 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 Rhyl’s residents
What is the population of Rhyl?
The 2021 Census counted 26,982 people in Rhyl’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 27,400 people in mid-2024, 11% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Rhyl?
The median age was 41.8 at the 2021 Census, younger than 70% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Rhyl?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 92% across Clwyd’s towns. 5.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Rhyl?
47% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.2% were Muslim and 6.8% didn’t answer.
Is Rhyl good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Families are most common in Rhyl South West (38% of households). Schools are on Rhyl’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Rhyl?
3,415 residents aged 3 and over, 13%, 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.