Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.0Above 89% of UK towns: 26% of households have no car or van
The median age in Wrexham is 41.2, lower than in 74% of UK towns. The 2021 Census put the town’s population at 44,781, in 19,701 households. The census found that nearly a fifth of households live in a flat or apartment locally. In Wrexham, 83% of residents describe themselves as White British, beside 90% across Wales’s towns.
What the Census says about Wrexham’s people
More born abroad than most towns
15% of residents were born outside the UK, against 6.6% across Clwyd’s towns and 7.4% across Wales’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (10%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.6%). Where people were born ↓
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.
A +2% change since 2011: slower than 74% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Wrexham’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 44,600 people in 2011; 45,600 in 2024.
The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2023 to mid-2024: 710 people. Change by age ran from +18% for the 65 and over to −17% for the 16 to 29.
Below 69% of UK towns: 19% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 7.2% of residents. As a reference point, 21% of residents are 65 or over across Wales’s towns. Residents aged 15 to 24 are more common here than in 88% of UK towns. In Penrhyn Bay, the oldest of Clwyd’s towns by this measure, it is 34%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Wrexham, 41.2. 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.
7.2% of adults are full-time students, more than in 92% 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 account for 25% of Wrexham’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 33%, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. The benchmark for full-time students across Wales’s towns: 8%. 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.
Wrexham households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 66% 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.
28% of households have dependent children, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Locally, a third of households are one person living alone. Higher than in 78% of UK towns: 3.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home.
Households in terraced houses make up 22% in Wrexham, more than in 55% 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
Across Wales’s towns, nearly a quarter of households live in a detached house; in Wrexham, 25%. Households in terraced houses: 29% across Wales’s towns, for comparison.
Residents born outside the UK make up 15% in Wrexham, more than in 86% of UK towns
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 20%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Where 96% of residents have English as their main language across Wales’s towns, Wrexham has 89%. Against that, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. Most residents from abroad were born in EU countries (10%) or in the Middle East and Asia (2.6%).
Of Wrexham’s residents, 11% can speak Welsh
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Against 16% across Welsh towns, 11% of residents aged 3 and over can speak Welsh here (4,633 people): fewer than in 63% of Welsh towns. Top of Clwyd: Llanfairfechan, at 44%.
Below 57% of UK towns: 40% of residents said they have no religion
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: 83% of Wrexham · Clwyd’s towns 92% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Across Wales’s towns, 43% of residents describe themselves as Christian; in Wrexham, 50%. Residents with no religion make up 47% across Wales’s towns. Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (10%), Mixed or multiple (1.4%) and African (0.8%).
41% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, below 89% 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
38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Wales’s towns, against 39% in Wrexham. Across the comparison, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across Wales’s towns. For Wrexham, the census puts unpaid carers at 9.5%.
28% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
In Wrexham, 28% of adults hold a degree-level qualification, against 31% across Wales’s towns, while 23% have no qualification at all (20%). The highest qualification of 15% is A levels, often students still at university.
From a median age of 34 in Caia Park to 47 in Town North, University & Rhos-ddu
The town’s 7 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Town North, University & Rhos-ddu is the oldest area, with 26% aged 65 or over; Caia Park the youngest (median age 34). Families with children are most common in Caia Park (39% of households).
78th lowest median age among 164 UK towns of 31,000 to 60,000
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 Canterbury (27.5), the youngest, and Rustington (56.2), the oldest. Nearest to Wrexham in age: Hoddesdon (41.1), Pontefract (41.2), Folkestone (41.3) and Beeston (41.4).
Among its 7 nearest neighbours, 4 are older than Wrexham
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wrexham | 44,781 | — | 41.2 | 19% | 28% |
| Rhostyllen | 2,760 | 2 mi | 41.6 | 17% | 31% |
| Marchwiel | 1,038 | 2.1 mi | 46.6 | 24% | 28% |
| Bradley | 1,316 | 2.2 mi | 45.1 | 23% | 29% |
| Gwersyllt | 7,112 | 2.2 mi | 40.4 | 18% | 31% |
| Brynteg | 9,229 | 2.3 mi | 38.6 | 16% | 32% |
| Gresford | 4,948 | 2.6 mi | 52.6 | 31% | 22% |
| Pentre Maelor | 1,814 | 2.6 mi | 34.4 | 3.4% | 35% |
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 Wrexham’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. Wrexham’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 44,277 people in 2021, against 44,781 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 Wrexham’s residents
What is the population of Wrexham?
The 2021 Census counted 44,781 people in Wrexham’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 45,600 people in mid-2024, 2% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Wrexham?
The median age was 41.2 at the 2021 Census, younger than 74% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 19% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Wrexham?
83% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 92% across Clwyd’s towns. 15% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Wrexham?
40% said they had no religion and 50% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 2% were Muslim and 6.7% didn’t answer.
Is Wrexham good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Families are most common in Caia Park (39% of households). Schools are on Wrexham’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Wrexham?
4,633 residents aged 3 and over, 11%, 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.