Photo: Voice of Clam · Public domainA Welsh-speaking village: 50% of Bow Street’s residents speak Welsh
Households average 2.2 people, against 2.3 across Wales’s towns. Just over one in ten residents give unpaid care. Compared with other places, households in terraced houses are scarce here: 15%, fewer than in 70% of UK towns. The 2021 Census counted 1,101 residents in 511 households.
What the Census says about Bow Street’s people
A Welsh-speaking village
534 residents, 50% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 92% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
23% of Bow Street is 65 or over, a higher share than 62% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Half of Bow Street’s residents are over 45.3, older than in 56% of UK towns. The biggest five-year age group is 50–54, with 7.5% of residents. To put it in context, 21% of residents are 65 or over across Wales’s towns. In Saundersfoot, the oldest of Dyfed’s towns by this measure, it is 39%.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 5.5%, a higher share than 74% 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%.
7.4% of residents lived at another address a year before the Census, against 9.1% across Wales’s towns. For comparison, 8% of adults are full-time students across Wales’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Bow Street sits above 80% of UK towns for one-person households (34%)
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Dyfed’s towns and Wales’s towns
People per household
Wales’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 3.5%, near enough the figure across Wales’s towns. Lower than in 64% of UK towns: 26% of households have dependent children. The comparison figure for one-person households is 32% across Wales’s towns.
Households without a car or van make up 16% in Bow Street, more than in 56% 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
Households in flats: 12% here and 14% across Wales’s towns. The usual figure: just over a fifth of households have no car or van across Wales’s towns. Locally, 27% of households live in a detached house.
A smaller share of residents born outside the UK than 65% of UK towns: 4.9%
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.1%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1.6%). Fewer residents whose main language is English than in 57% of UK towns: 97%. As a reference point, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns.
Bow Street’s residents: 50% speak Welsh
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
534 residents, 50% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh at the 2021 Census, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 92% of Welsh towns. No town in Dyfed beats Tumble (62%).
Bow Street: 93% of residents describe themselves as White British, above 61% of UK towns
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 Bow Street · Dyfed’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Leading the other groups after White British: Other White (3.2%), Indian (0.9%) and Mixed or multiple (0.5%). At 47%, the share of residents with no religion is higher than in 84% of UK towns. As a reference point, 90% of residents describe themselves as White British across Wales’s towns. Across Wales’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 43%; Bow Street has 44%.
Adults who have never married: 35%, a higher share than 68% 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
Where 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across Wales’s towns, Bow Street has 45%. Against that, 38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Wales’s towns. 49 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week.
A degree-level qualification for 38% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 38% of adults in Bow Street, 31% across Wales’s towns; 13% have no qualification, against 20%.
2 of the 5 nearest towns are older than Bow Street
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow Street | 1,101 | — | 45.3 | 23% | 26% |
| Penrhyn-coch | 1,378 | 1.6 mi | 42.3 | 20% | 29% |
| Aberystwyth | 14,646 | 2.9 mi | 25 | 14% | 19% |
| Llanbadarn Fawr | 1,766 | 2.9 mi | 40.3 | 20% | 22% |
| Borth | 1,115 | 3 mi | 52.2 | 29% | 18% |
| Tywyn | 3,134 | 9.9 mi | 55.9 | 36% | 17% |
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.
- “Dyfed’s towns” and “Wales’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Dyfed (or Wales), summed the same way as Bow Street’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Bow Street’s residents
What is the population of Bow Street?
The 2021 Census counted 1,101 people in Bow Street’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Bow Street?
The median age was 45.3 at the 2021 Census. 9.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 23% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bow Street?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Dyfed’s towns. 4.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bow Street?
47% said they had no religion and 44% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 6.7% didn’t answer.
Is Bow Street good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Bow Street’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Bow Street?
534 residents aged 3 and over, 50%, 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). 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.