Photo: Deborah Tilley · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in flats: 5.8%, a lower share than 79% of UK towns
One in ten residents give unpaid care across Wales’s towns, against 12% in Merlin's Bridge. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as White British are common here: 95%, more than in four fifths of UK towns. The village had 2,220 residents in 928 households at the 2021 Census. The share of households in terraced houses stands at 16%.
Half of Merlin's Bridge is under 41.9, younger than 70% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 55–59, with 7.7% of residents. Residents aged 15 to 24 are more common here than in 91% of UK 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
54% women, 46% men
About 86 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Above 70% of UK towns: 5.3% of adults are full-time students
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%.
By class, just over a fifth of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 34% in routine and semi-routine work (Wales’s towns: 29% and 27%). Residents who moved in within the year: 7.6% of the total. Across Wales’s towns, the share of full-time students is 8%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
2.4 people per household, more than in 72% 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.
The share of one-person households trails 65% of UK towns: 28%. Lower than in 78% of UK towns: 1.8% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home. Census figures put households with dependent children at 29% in Merlin's Bridge.
More households without a car or van than 66% 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
Households in detached houses account for 29%. For households without a car or van, the comparison across Wales’s towns is 21%.
Merlin's Bridge sits above 93% of UK towns for residents whose main language is English (99%)
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
Across Wales’s towns the share born abroad is 7.4%; in Merlin's Bridge it is 4%. For comparison, 96% of residents have English as their main language across Wales’s towns. The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (2.1%) and in the Middle East and Asia (0.7%).
Speaking Welsh: 12% in Merlin's Bridge
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
12% of residents aged 3 and over, 257 people, said in 2021 that they can speak Welsh, more than in 53% of Welsh towns (Welsh towns: 16%). Within Dyfed, Tumble has the largest share, 62%.
45% of residents describe themselves as Christian, below 76% 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: 95% of Merlin's Bridge · Dyfed’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the largest groups are Other White (2.8%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Pakistani (0.2%). Set beside that, 43% of residents describe themselves as Christian across Wales’s towns. More residents with no religion than in 88% of UK towns: 48%.
42% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, fewer than in 86% 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
109 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week. Few places have as many adults who have never married: 37% here, more than in 76% of UK towns. The share of married adults and civil partners across Wales’s towns is 43%.
Degree-level qualifications: 24% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across Wales’s towns, 31% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Merlin's Bridge, 24%, and 21% have none, against 20%.
Median age: 5 of the 7 towns around Merlin's Bridge are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merlin's Bridge | 2,220 | — | 41.9 | 21% | 29% |
| Haverfordwest | 12,088 | 1 mi | 40.4 | 20% | 28% |
| Johnston | 1,766 | 2.3 mi | 43.3 | 24% | 28% |
| Crundale | 1,065 | 2.8 mi | 45.1 | 25% | 26% |
| Neyland | 3,250 | 5.4 mi | 46.7 | 24% | 24% |
| Milford Haven | 14,251 | 5.7 mi | 42.2 | 22% | 27% |
| Pembroke Dock | 9,659 | 6.8 mi | 41.7 | 21% | 27% |
| Pembroke | 7,963 | 8.1 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 Merlin's Bridge’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 Merlin's Bridge’s residents
What is the population of Merlin's Bridge?
The 2021 Census counted 2,220 people in Merlin's Bridge’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Merlin's Bridge?
The median age was 41.9 at the 2021 Census. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 21% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Merlin's Bridge?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Dyfed’s towns. 4% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Merlin's Bridge?
48% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.7% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Merlin's Bridge good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Merlin's Bridge’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Merlin's Bridge?
257 residents aged 3 and over, 12%, 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.