Photo: Jo and Steve Turner · CC BY-SA 2.0A Welsh-speaking village: 51% of Newcastle Emlyn’s residents speak Welsh
Here 13% of residents give unpaid care, where the figure across Wales’s towns is 10%. Newcastle Emlyn had 1,842 residents and 838 households at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 49.8. On the census count, 42% of households live in a detached house. At 38%, the share of one-person households is higher than in 96% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Newcastle Emlyn’s people
A Welsh-speaking village
905 residents, 51% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 92% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
Many older residents
29% of residents were 65 or over in 2021, more than in 88% of UK towns; 18% of households are someone 66 or over living alone. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
A median age of 49.8: Newcastle Emlyn is older than 84% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
More residents are 70–74 than any other five-year age: 7.4% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Wales’s towns. In Newcastle Emlyn, 29% of residents are 65 or over. 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 76% of UK towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
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 ranks above 85% of UK towns on residents who moved in within the year: 11%
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%.
27% of Newcastle Emlyn’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine and semi-routine work, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. The usual figure: nearly one in ten residents lived at another address a year earlier across Wales’s towns. In Newcastle Emlyn, 5.3% of adults are full-time students.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Households with dependent children: 23%, a lower share than 84% 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.
There is little gap on shared households of unrelated adults: 3%, about the same as across Wales’s towns. Households with dependent children make up 27% across Wales’s towns. On average, 2.1 people share a household.
Newcastle Emlyn: 16% of households live in a flat or apartment, above 74% of UK towns
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
18% of households live in a terraced house; across Wales’s towns the figure is 29%. Across Wales’s towns, households in flats come to 14%.
Newcastle Emlyn ranks below 71% of UK towns on residents born outside the UK: 4.5%
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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2.4%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1.1%). For residents born outside the UK, the comparison across Wales’s towns is 7.4%. Higher than in 68% of UK towns: 98% of residents have English as their main language.
Newcastle Emlyn’s residents: 51% speak Welsh
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Across Welsh towns, 16% of residents can speak Welsh; here 905 people, 51% of those aged 3 and over, said they can: more than in 92% of Welsh towns. No town in Dyfed beats Tumble (62%).
Residents who describe themselves as Christian make up 46% in Newcastle Emlyn, less than in 75% 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 Newcastle Emlyn · Dyfed’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Set against 90% across Wales’s towns, 95% of residents describe themselves as White British in Newcastle Emlyn. On top of that, 44% of residents said they have no religion, a higher share than in 70% of UK towns. Across Wales’s towns, the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian is 43%. The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (2.7%), Mixed or multiple (1.2%) and Chinese (0.5%).
Married adults and civil partners make up 40% in Newcastle Emlyn, less than in 90% 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
Across Wales’s towns, 38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership; in Newcastle Emlyn, 34%. Measured more widely, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across Wales’s towns. 102 people care, unpaid, for 50 hours or more a week.
Qualified to degree level: 30% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Newcastle Emlyn’s adults: 30% with a degree-level qualification and 18% with none, against 31% and 20% across Wales’s towns.
Older than Newcastle Emlyn: 2 of the 5 towns nearby
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle Emlyn | 1,842 | — | 49.8 | 29% | 23% |
| Llandysul | 1,321 | 6.7 mi | 49.1 | 27% | 22% |
| Aberporth | 1,075 | 7.3 mi | 54.9 | 35% | 20% |
| Cardigan | 3,767 | 8.6 mi | 47 | 27% | 23% |
| Pencader | 1,061 | 9.1 mi | 44.5 | 22% | 25% |
| St Dogmaels | 1,013 | 9.5 mi | 55.7 | 33% | 19% |
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 Newcastle Emlyn’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 Newcastle Emlyn’s residents
What is the population of Newcastle Emlyn?
The 2021 Census counted 1,842 people in Newcastle Emlyn’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Newcastle Emlyn?
The median age was 49.8 at the 2021 Census. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 29% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Newcastle Emlyn?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Dyfed’s towns. 4.5% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Newcastle Emlyn?
44% said they had no religion and 46% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.4% were Muslim and 8.4% didn’t answer.
Is Newcastle Emlyn good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Newcastle Emlyn’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Newcastle Emlyn?
905 residents aged 3 and over, 51%, 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.