Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 2,761 in Dyfed, Wales.
Kidwelly grades C− overall against UK towns: better than 23% of UK towns, and #5 of 23 in Dyfed. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A−): median sale £167,500, 3.9 years of area income; rent £687 a month. Its weakest is jobs & income (D−): mean household income £39,701; 3.9% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
Dyfed Powys Police published 32 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published. This town's Health Grade uses ONS's small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy for 2019 to 2023, and two Census 2021 measures, bad health and disability, adjusted for age. English towns' grades also use OHID's small-area early deaths, hospital admissions and child obesity, which OHID publishes for England only.
The 3 things Kidwelly does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within Wales), ordered by how far Kidwelly is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 15 buildings inside Kidwelly’s built-up area, 2 of them Grade I, and 3 scheduled monuments.
37% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 6 old photos and postcards going back to 1800.
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Kidwelly.
Kidwelly sits above both Dyfed’s towns (23%) and Wales’s towns (22%) on this measure. The nearest A&E to Kidwelly is Glangwili General Hospital, 9.1 miles away. These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy.
| Census 2021 | Kidwelly | Dyfed | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 72% | 77% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 9.6% | 7.4% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 29% | 23% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. Wales publishes no school-level results, so its schools have no letters.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ysgol Y CastellLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 218 | – |
| Ysgol GwenllianLargest Welsh-medium schoolPrimary | Primary | 123 | – |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Kidwelly has 15 listed buildings inside its built-up area on Cadw’s list: 2 Grade I, 1 Grade II*. 37% of its homes were built before 1919.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Half the homes sold went for more than £168K, below both Dyfed’s towns (£198K) and Wales’s towns (£195K).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £310,000 | 30 |
| Semi-detached | £175,500 | 20 |
| Terraced | £129,995 | 47 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
That puts Kidwelly above both Dyfed’s towns (11) and Wales’s towns (10.7). Police recorded 218 crimes inside Kidwelly’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 25 reports of anti-social behaviour. Among the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Kidwelly has more crime per resident than 79% of them.
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 22% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
On this, Kidwelly is below both Dyfed’s towns (41%) and Wales’s towns (41%). 13% of commuters went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
In the comparison, Kidwelly comes above both Dyfed’s towns (24%) and Wales’s towns (21%). Young adults of 15 to 24 are 10% of the population. Kidwelly has a median age of 49.1.
53% women, 47% men
About 90 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Kidwelly | Dyfed | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 16% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 10% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 22% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 27% | 24% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 21% | 19% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.7% | 6.1% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 30% | 30% | 31% |
ONS Census 2021 · Dyfed and Wales: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Kidwelly. Best known first.
Castle · CadwCastell Cydweliin town
MuseumKidwelly Industrial Museum700 m outside town, to the northeastAttractionAttractionFfos Las Racecourse & Convention Centre3.8 km outside town, to the eastAttractionAttractionS. V. Paul2.3 km outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
15 listed buildings in Kidwelly, 2 of them Grade I.
Kidwelly Castle: Photo: Iphrit · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Church of Saint Mary: Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Town Gate: Photo: Rose and Trev Clough · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Kidwelly Bridge/Pont Cydweli: Photo: Peter Broster · CC BY-SA 4.0
5 notable people were born in Kidwelly.
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kidwelly | 2,761 | — | C− | A− | C− | C− |
| Trimsaran | 2,190 | 2.7 | — | A | C− | C− |
| Carway | 1,401 | 3.3 | — | B+ | C | C |
| Pembrey | 2,094 | 3.6 | — | B | C | C− |
| Pontyates | 1,475 | 3.8 | — | A− | C− | C |
| Burry Port | 4,966 | 4.1 | D | A− | D− | C− |
| Pwll | 1,305 | 5.5 | — | A− | C | C− |
| Pontyberem | 1,484 | 6.2 | — | A | C+ | C |
Trimsaran, Carway, Pembrey, Pontyates, Pwll and Pontyberem have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
15 on Cadw’s list, 2 of them Grade I and 1 Grade II*. That is 2.2 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Kidwelly Castle. It also has 3 scheduled monuments.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £167,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £129,995, semi-detached houses £175,500 and detached houses £310,000.
Police recorded 218 crimes inside Kidwelly’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, 50% of them violence and sexual offences, a police category that includes harassment and stalking.
Town in Dyfed, Wales
Kidwelly is a built-up area of 2,761 people, in the Carmarthenshire council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Cadw listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered historic parks and gardens via DataMapWales, October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. 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.