Photo: Derek Voller · CC BY-SA 2.0A Welsh-speaking town: 38% of Kidwelly’s residents speak Welsh
With a median age of 49.1, Kidwelly is older than four fifths of UK towns. The 2021 Census put the town’s population at 2,761, in 1,230 households. Locally, 35% of households live in a terraced house. Households in flats make up 5.1%, against 14% across Wales’s towns.
What the Census says about Kidwelly’s people
A Welsh-speaking town
1,030 residents, 38% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 86% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
Many carers
351 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 13% of those 5 and over: more than in 99% of UK towns. Relationships & caring ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Kidwelly: 27% of residents are 65 or over, above 82% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 55–59: nearly one in ten residents. Higher than in nearly two thirds of UK towns: 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24. By way of comparison, 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%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Kidwelly, 49.1. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
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.
More full-time students than 80% of UK towns: 5.7%
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%.
Across Wales’s towns, 29% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine or semi-routine work; Kidwelly has 26% and 31%. Compared with other places, residents who moved in within the year are scarce here: 8.1%, fewer than in 63% of UK towns. On average, 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.
A lower share of households with dependent children than 80% of UK towns, at 24%
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.
On shared households of unrelated adults, 4% here is much the same as across Wales’s towns. Each household has 2.2 people on average. 33% of households are one person living alone, more than in 74% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 27% of households have dependent children across Wales’s towns.
Above 70% of UK towns: 19% of households have no car or van
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
Where 24% of households live in a detached house across Wales’s towns, Kidwelly has 32%. The comparison figure for households without a car or van is 21% across Wales’s towns.
Only 4.2% of Kidwelly’s residents were born outside the UK
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 share of residents whose main language is English is 99%, against 96% across Wales’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (2.3%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.8%). Across Wales’s towns, residents born outside the UK come to 7.4%.
Welsh speakers make up 38% of Kidwelly
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
38% of residents aged 3 and over, 1,030 people, said in 2021 that they can speak Welsh, more than in 86% of Welsh towns (Welsh towns: 16%). Tumble leads Dyfed with 62%.
A larger share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 83% of UK towns: 96%
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: 96% of Kidwelly · Dyfed’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Beyond White British, the biggest groups are Other White (2.3%), Mixed or multiple (0.8%) and Chinese (0.5%). Across Wales’s towns, residents who describe themselves as White British come to 90%. 51% of residents describe themselves as Christian, more than in 61% of UK towns. Residents with no religion: 41%, above 52% of UK towns.
13% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 99% 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
31% of Kidwelly’s adults have never married or formed a civil partnership and 44% are married, against 38% and 43% across Wales’s towns. Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 161 residents. Adults who have never married are rarer here than in 57% of UK towns. To put it in context, 10% of residents give unpaid care across Wales’s towns.
Degree-level qualifications: 30% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Kidwelly’s adults: 30% with a degree-level qualification and 21% with none, against 31% and 20% across Wales’s towns.
514 UK towns of 2,500 to 4,000 people: this is the 165th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Keele (20.6) and the oldest West Chiltington (63.1). Nearest to Kidwelly in age: Thurston (49.1), Kingsclere (49.1), Swillington (49.2) and Marlow Bottom (49.2).
Around Kidwelly, 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kidwelly | 2,761 | — | 49.1 | 27% | 24% |
| Trimsaran | 2,190 | 2.7 mi | 44.2 | 23% | 28% |
| Carway | 1,401 | 3.3 mi | 34.6 | 13% | 34% |
| Pembrey | 2,094 | 3.6 mi | 52.5 | 30% | 22% |
| Pontyates | 1,475 | 3.8 mi | 48.2 | 26% | 23% |
| Burry Port | 4,966 | 4.1 mi | 51 | 28% | 22% |
| Pwll | 1,305 | 5.5 mi | 51.9 | 29% | 20% |
| Pontyberem | 1,484 | 6.2 mi | 47.6 | 26% | 27% |
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 Kidwelly’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 Kidwelly’s residents
What is the population of Kidwelly?
The 2021 Census counted 2,761 people in Kidwelly’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Kidwelly?
The median age was 49.1 at the 2021 Census, older than 80% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 27% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Kidwelly?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Dyfed’s towns. 4.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Kidwelly?
41% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 6.2% didn’t answer.
Is Kidwelly good for families?
24% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Kidwelly’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Kidwelly?
1,030 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). 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.