Photo: Eirian Evans · CC BY-SA 2.0A Welsh-speaking town: 38% of Ruthin’s residents speak Welsh
A household here has 2.1 people on average; across Wales’s towns, 2.3. Ruthin had 5,700 residents and 2,635 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 46 (older than just over three fifths of UK towns). Across Ruthin, 24% of households have dependent children. Few places have as many residents aged 65 and over: 25% here, more than in 71% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Ruthin’s people
A Welsh-speaking town
2,093 residents, 38% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 85% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
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.
Ruthin grew +8% from 2011 to 2024, ahead of 51% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Ruthin’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 5,500 people in 2011; 5,900 in 2024.
Between mid-2022 and mid-2023 the population rose by 90, its biggest one-year gain. Of the age groups, 65 and over changed most (+21%) and 30 to 44 least (−6%).
Ruthin is older than 61% of UK towns: a median age of 46
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 50–54 than any other five-year age: 7.3% of residents. Ruthin has more residents aged 15 to 24 than 88% of UK towns, at 11%. In Penrhyn Bay, the oldest of Clwyd’s towns by this measure, it is 34%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Ruthin, 46. 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.
Ruthin: 11% of residents lived at another address a year earlier, above 88% 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%.
At 7.5%, full-time students sit close to the figure across Wales’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year make up 9.1% across Wales’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
One-person households make up 38% in Ruthin, more than in 96% 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.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 1.4% here and 3.1% across Wales’s towns. The wider picture: 32% of households are one person living alone across Wales’s towns.
Ruthin sits above 75% of UK towns for households in detached houses (40%)
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
By its share of households without a car or van (16%), Ruthin is above 53% of UK towns. The wider picture: nearly a quarter of households live in a detached house across Wales’s towns. Households in terraced houses: 18% of the total. At 14%, the share of households in flats is higher than in 65% of UK towns.
A smaller share of residents whose main language is English than 67% of UK towns: 97%
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 the Middle East and Asia (2.9%) and in EU countries (2.2%). Few places have as many residents born outside the UK: 6.5% here, more than in 51% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 96% of residents have English as their main language across Wales’s towns. Nearly two fifths of the town’s residents born abroad came in 2017 or later, set against 23% across Wales’s towns.
Of Ruthin’s residents, 38% can speak Welsh
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Asked in 2021, 2,093 residents aged 3 and over, 38%, said they can speak Welsh; across Welsh towns, 16%: more than in 85% of Welsh towns. In Clwyd, Llanfairfechan has the highest share (44%).
Ruthin sits below 58% of UK towns for residents with no religion (40%)
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 Ruthin · Clwyd’s towns 92% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Besides White British, the main groups are Other White (2.3%), Chinese (2%) and Mixed or multiple (0.8%). On average, 47% of residents said they have no religion across Wales’s towns. Residents who describe themselves as White British are more common here than in 57% of UK towns. What’s more, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian tops 56% of UK towns: 51%.
Ruthin ranks above 73% of UK towns on adults who have never married: 36%
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
9% of residents give unpaid care; across Wales’s towns the figure is 10%. In Ruthin, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. The comparison figure for adults who have never married is 38% across Wales’s towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 36% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 36% of adults in Ruthin, 31% across Wales’s towns; 15% have no qualification, against 20%. Many still at university: 15% list A levels as their highest qualification.
302nd oldest of 624 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Ruthin in age: Drighlington (46), Middleton Cheney (46), Moreton-in-Marsh (46.1) and Kelvedon and Feering (46.1).
Around Ruthin, 4 of 7 towns have a higher 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ruthin | 5,700 | — | 46 | 25% | 24% |
| Denbigh | 8,072 | 6.5 mi | 43.5 | 21% | 27% |
| Mold | 9,890 | 7.8 mi | 45.1 | 23% | 27% |
| Soughton | 1,697 | 9 mi | 51.7 | 28% | 23% |
| Mynydd Isa | 4,738 | 9.1 mi | 50 | 29% | 25% |
| Leeswood | 1,948 | 9.2 mi | 44.1 | 18% | 28% |
| Northop | 1,030 | 9.8 mi | 50.9 | 27% | 23% |
| Pentre Halkyn | 1,082 | 10 mi | 51.1 | 29% | 22% |
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 Ruthin’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. Ruthin’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 5,700 people in 2021, against 5,700 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 Ruthin’s residents
What is the population of Ruthin?
The 2021 Census counted 5,700 people in Ruthin’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 5,900 people in mid-2024, 8% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Ruthin?
The median age was 46 at the 2021 Census, older than 61% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Ruthin?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 92% across Clwyd’s towns. 6.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Ruthin?
40% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.9% were Muslim and 7.8% didn’t answer.
Is Ruthin good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Ruthin’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Ruthin?
2,093 residents aged 3 and over, 38%, 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.