Photo: Michael Garlick · CC BY-SA 2.0A larger share of one-person households than 97% of UK towns: 38%
The share of married adults and civil partners trails 89% of UK towns: 41%. The 2021 Census counted 12,088 residents in 5,590 households. The census found that 25% of households have no car or van in Haverfordwest. With a median age of 40.4, Haverfordwest is younger than 78% of UK towns.
From 2011 to 2024, 54% of UK towns grew faster than Haverfordwest: +7%
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Haverfordwest’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 11,700 people in 2011; 12,500 in 2024.
By age, the 65 and over group changed most (+22%) and the 16 to 29 group least (−4%). The biggest jump came in the year to mid-2024: 300 more people.
More residents aged 15 to 24 than 88% of UK towns: 11%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 30–34, with 6.9% of residents. Residents aged 65 and over are rarer here than in 66% of UK towns. As a reference point, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Wales’s towns. In Saundersfoot, the oldest of Dyfed’s towns by this measure, it is 39%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Haverfordwest, 40.4. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 93 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
A student town: 5.4% of adults study full-time
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%.
With residents who moved in within the year at 11%, Haverfordwest is ahead of 86% of UK towns on that count. Across Wales’s towns, full-time students come to 8%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Haverfordwest households average 2.2 people, smaller than in 84% of UK towns
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.
Nothing unusual on shared households of unrelated adults: 2.5%, close to the figure across Wales’s towns. 28% of households have dependent children.
A larger share of households in flats than 80% of UK towns: 18%
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
Set against 24% across Wales’s towns, 26% of households live in a detached house in Haverfordwest. On the census count, 27% of households live in a terraced house. Measured more widely, 14% of households live in a flat or apartment across Wales’s towns.
Residents whose main language is English make up 97% in Haverfordwest, less than in 62% 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 10%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (3.6%) and in the Middle East and Asia (2.7%). 8.1% of residents were born outside the UK, a higher share than in 64% of UK towns. The comparison figure for residents whose main language is English is 96% across Wales’s towns.
Welsh speakers: 13% of Haverfordwest’s residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Asked in 2021, 1,467 residents aged 3 and over, 13%, said they can speak Welsh; across Welsh towns, 16%: more than in 57% of Welsh towns. In Dyfed, Tumble has the highest share (62%).
A smaller share of residents who describe themselves as Christian than 80% of UK towns: 45%
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: 90% of Haverfordwest · Dyfed’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
With residents with no religion at 46%, Haverfordwest is ahead of 80% of UK towns on that count. The largest groups after White British are Other White (3.7%), Mixed or multiple (1.6%) and Indian (0.7%). Nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British, a lower share than in 61% of UK towns. Across the comparison, 43% of residents describe themselves as Christian across Wales’s towns.
Haverfordwest: 37% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, above 78% 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 Haverfordwest, 9.4% of residents give unpaid care. Across Wales’s towns, the share of adults who have never married is 38%.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 28% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
At degree level, Haverfordwest counts 28% of its adults, against 31% across Wales’s towns; at the other end, 19% have no qualification (20%).
From a median age of 37 in Haverfordwest North to 49 in Crundale, Clynderwen & Maenclochog
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.
Crundale, Clynderwen & Maenclochog is the oldest area, with 32% aged 65 or over; Haverfordwest North the youngest (median age 37). Families with children are most common in Haverfordwest North (28% of households).
64th youngest of 432 UK towns of 8,000 to 16,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Aberystwyth (25) and the oldest Sidmouth (60.4). Nearest to Haverfordwest in age: Hersham (40.3), Faringdon (40.4), Towcester (40.5) and Hoo St Werburgh (40.5).
No nearby town is as young as Haverfordwest
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haverfordwest | 12,088 | — | 40.4 | 20% | 28% |
| Merlin's Bridge | 2,220 | 1 mi | 41.9 | 21% | 29% |
| Crundale | 1,065 | 2 mi | 45.1 | 25% | 26% |
| Johnston | 1,766 | 3.2 mi | 43.3 | 24% | 28% |
| Neyland | 3,250 | 6.4 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 24% |
| Milford Haven | 14,251 | 6.5 mi | 42.2 | 22% | 27% |
| Pembroke Dock | 9,659 | 7.8 mi | 41.7 | 21% | 27% |
| Pembroke | 7,963 | 9.1 mi | 46.4 | 26% | 25% |
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 Haverfordwest’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. Haverfordwest’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 11,693 people in 2021, against 12,088 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 Haverfordwest’s residents
What is the population of Haverfordwest?
The 2021 Census counted 12,088 people in Haverfordwest’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 12,500 people in mid-2024, 7% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Haverfordwest?
The median age was 40.4 at the 2021 Census, younger than 78% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Haverfordwest?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Dyfed’s towns. 8.1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Haverfordwest?
46% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 1.8% were Muslim and 6.4% didn’t answer.
Is Haverfordwest good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Families are most common in Haverfordwest North (28% of households). Schools are on Haverfordwest’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Haverfordwest?
1,467 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.