Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A large town of 42,143 in Dyfed, Wales.
Llanelli grades D overall against UK towns: better than 12% of UK towns, and #15 of 23 in Dyfed. Its strongest subject is cost of living (A): median sale £147,000, 3.4 years of area income; rent £687 a month. Its weakest is safety (D−): 60.2 violent and sexual offences and 21.3 home and vehicle crimes per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Among UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 5%.
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 Llanelli 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 Llanelli is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists 97 buildings inside Llanelli’s built-up area, 5 of them Grade I, and 4 scheduled monuments.
38% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
The archive holds 1 old photo or postcard going back to 1811.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Llanelli.
Town centres with shops, stations and nightlife record more crime per resident: police.uk counts crimes where they happen, not where victims live.
Reported offences in Llanelli came to 5,111 over twelve months to August 2026; nuisance and anti-social incidents added 816. For its size, Llanelli records more crime per resident than 95% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people. Anti-social behaviour, shown but not graded, came to 17.5 reports per 1,000, above both Dyfed’s towns (6.7) and Wales’s towns (10.4). Violence and sexual offences accounted for 48% of recorded crime.
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 police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
Some 7,603 pupils attend Llanelli’s 17 primaries and four secondaries. Two of them are below, each with the reason it’s listed.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ysgol Gymraeg FfwrnesLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 468 | – |
| Ysgol Gyfun Y StradeLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 1,253 | – |
Disability touches 25% of Llanelli’s population. 8.9% of residents described their health as bad or very bad, above both Dyfed’s towns (7.4%) and Wales’s towns (7.1%). Self-reported good health: three quarters of the town’s residents. The nearest A&E to Llanelli is Morriston Hospital, 9.1 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Llanelli | Dyfed | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 75% | 77% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.9% | 7.4% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 25% | 23% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy.
No town in Dyfed costs less to buy into than Llanelli, at £147,000, the lowest of 23. 20% live in social housing, above Dyfed’s towns (17%) and Wales’s towns (18%) alike. Also worth knowing: the median sale, £147,000, comes from 1,324 standard sales inside the town’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £265,000 | 189 |
| Semi-detached | £165,000 | 495 |
| Terraced | £125,500 | 624 |
| Flat or maisonette | £94,000 | 16 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Llanelli’s listed buildings include Llanelly House, Grade I. Homes from before 1919 make up 38% of the total, above Dyfed’s towns (30%) and Wales’s towns (27%) alike. 2 registered parks and gardens lie locally.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 16% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Households had £41K a year before tax, close to Dyfed’s towns (£43K) and below Wales’s towns (£44K). Home was the main workplace for 16% of workers at the census. Of the commuters living in Llanelli, 50% work in the town itself. 3.8% of people aged 16 to 64 were on unemployment benefits in 2026.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Children under 15 make up 18%, above both Dyfed’s towns (16%) and Wales’s towns (17%). Half the people of Llanelli are older than 41.9. Young adults of 15 to 24 are 11% of the population.
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
| Llanelli | Dyfed | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 25% | 22% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 26% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 20% | 24% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 23% | 19% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.8% | 6.1% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 26% | 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 Llanelli. Best known first.
MuseumParc Howard Museumin town
Castle · CadwLoughor Castle400 m outside town, to the southeastHistoric houseHistoric houseStradey Castle300 m outside town, to the westHeritage railwayHeritage railwayLlanelli and Mynydd Mawr Railway4.8 km outside town, to the northHistoric siteHistoric siteGorseinon Gorsedd Circle2.7 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumHeritage Centre4.8 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
97 listed buildings in Llanelli, 5 of them Grade I.
Llanelly House: Photo: Ham · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Felinfoel Brewery: Photo: Hywel Williams · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Parish Church of St. Ellyw: Photo: Ruth Sharville · CC BY-SA 2.0 · The Post Office: Photo: Ken Day · CC BY-SA 4.0
128 notable people were born in Llanelli.
Rachel Roberts: ABC Network, Public domain · Terry Griffiths: Ger Loeffen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Robert Buckland: Richard Townshend, CC BY 3.0 · Phil Bennett: Stefano Delfrate, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jonny Clayton: Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Amy Roberts: Jérémy-Günther-Heinz Jähnick, CC BY-SA 3.0
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Llanelli | 42,143 | — | D | A | D− | D− |
| Bryn | 1,727 | 2 | — | B | B+ | C− |
| Pwll | 1,305 | 2.3 | — | A− | C | C− |
| Llangennech | 4,278 | 2.8 | B− | B+ | B+ | C+ |
| Pen-clawdd | 1,655 | 3.5 | — | B | A− | B |
| Loughor | 4,632 | 3.8 | B− | B+ | B− | C |
| Burry Port | 4,966 | 4.4 | D | A− | D− | C− |
| Hendy and Fforest | 2,996 | 4.5 | C+ | B+ | B | C |
Bryn, Pwll and Pen-clawdd have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
97 on Cadw’s list, 5 of them Grade I and 5 Grade II*. Its Grade I buildings include Llanelly House. It also has 4 scheduled monuments.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £147,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £94,000, terraced houses £125,500, semi-detached houses £165,000 and detached houses £265,000.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on Natural Resources Wales’s flood risk service.
Large town in Dyfed, Wales
Llanelli is a built-up area of 42,143 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.