Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
It is a village of 1,842 residents in Dyfed, Wales.
Newcastle Emlyn does especially well on cost of living (B+) — the median home sold for £190,000, 4.4 years of area income. Getting around on foot or by bus is easy: 18% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Work and incomes lag: households earn a mean £40,941 a year, and 2.9% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Crime is the sore point (D): police record 51.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, and 10.6 home and vehicle crimes. Among UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, it has less crime per resident than 4%.
Figures: prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · income, ONS · claimants, DWP · crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026. Newcastle Emlyn has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
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 Newcastle Emlyn 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 Newcastle Emlyn is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Cadw lists them inside Newcastle Emlyn’s built-up area, along with 2 scheduled monuments.
46% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Newcastle Emlyn.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Per 10,000 residents, Newcastle Emlyn counts 168 listed buildings, higher than both Dyfed’s towns (32) and Wales’s towns (18). 46% of homes were built before 1919. Grade II* covers 3 of them. The town has 31 listed buildings on Cadw’s list: 3 Grade II*.
Cadw list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Between them, one primary and one secondary teach 755 pupils in Newcastle Emlyn. All of them are below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ysgol Y DdwylanLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 253 | – |
| Ysgol Gyfun EmlynLargest secondary schoolSecondary | Secondary | 502 | – |
Three fifths of the crimes fell under violence and sexual offences. Newcastle Emlyn logged 174 reported offences in a year (to August 2026), plus 10 complaints of anti-social conduct. There were 5.1 anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 residents (not graded), lower than both Dyfed’s towns (6.9) and Wales’s towns (10.4).
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.
At the census, 8.7% of residents said their health was bad or very bad, higher than both Dyfed’s towns (7.4%) and Wales’s towns (7.1%). 26% of residents in Newcastle Emlyn live with a disability. The nearest A&E to Newcastle Emlyn is Glangwili General Hospital, 14.2 miles away. One GP practice serves the town.
| Census 2021 | Newcastle Emlyn | Dyfed | Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 72% | 77% | 78% |
| Bad or very bad health | 8.7% | 7.4% | 7.1% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 26% | 23% | 22% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · ONS, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 21% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Work in town: 31% of resident commuters. For every resident in work, Newcastle Emlyn has 1.5 jobs. After the car, walking came next, for 16% of commuters.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Owners make up 57% of households, lower than both Dyfed’s towns (65%) and Wales’s towns (65%). The social rented sector houses just over one in ten households. Private rents average £701 a month across the Carmarthenshire council area.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £240,000 | 29 |
| Semi-detached | £180,000 | 11 |
| Terraced | £150,000 | 13 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
15% are under 15, lower than both Dyfed’s towns (16%) and Wales’s towns (17%). Aged 15 to 24: 11% of residents. Newcastle Emlyn has a median age of 49.8.
54% women, 46% men
About 87 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.
| Newcastle Emlyn | Dyfed | Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| 15–24 | 11% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 19% | 22% | 25% |
| 45–64 | 27% | 26% | 26% |
| 65+ | 29% | 24% | 21% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 19% | 20% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.6% | 6.1% | 5.6% |
| A levels or similar | 17% | 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 Newcastle Emlyn. Best known first.
CastleCastell Newydd Emlyn100 m outside town, to the east
MuseumAmgueddfa Wlân Cymru3.6 km outside town, to the east
Heritage railwayTeifi Valley Railway2.5 km outside town, to the east
MuseumAmguedffa am Blentyndod Gorllewin Cymru4.4 km outside town, to the eastMuseumMuseumNational Coracle Centre3.4 km outside town, to the westMuseumMuseumCapel Eidalwyr3.4 km outside town, to the eastPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle Emlyn | 1,842 | — | — | B+ | D | C |
| Llandysul | 1,321 | 6.7 | — | B+ | D | C |
| Aberporth | 1,075 | 7.3 | — | C+ | C− | C− |
| Cardigan | 3,767 | 8.6 | D | B− | D− | D |
| Pencader | 1,061 | 9.1 | — | A | D | C |
| St Dogmaels | 1,013 | 9.5 | — | B | B− | B− |
Llandysul, Aberporth, Pencader and St Dogmaels have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Burglary was rare, with 2 reports in the year.
31 on Cadw’s list, 3 of them Grade II*. That is 6.9 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 2 scheduled monuments.
Surface water isn’t included. Check a specific address on Natural Resources Wales’s flood risk service.
Homes cost less than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £190,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £150,000, semi-detached houses £180,000 and detached houses £240,000.
Village in Dyfed, Wales
Newcastle Emlyn is a built-up area of 1,842 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.