Photo: Llywelyn2000 · CC BY-SA 3.0Pembrey is older than 93% of UK towns: a median age of 52.5
Across Wales’s towns, 14% of households live in a flat or apartment; in Pembrey, 1.4%. At the 2021 Census, 2,094 people lived in the village, in 896 households. One-person households: a quarter of the total. Few places have so few households with dependent children: 22% here, fewer than in 91% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Pembrey’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Pembrey’s residents are under 52.5 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 30% are 65 or over, against 21% across Wales’s towns. Ages ↓
A Welsh-speaking village
579 residents, 28% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 81% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
Many carers
299 residents gave unpaid care to someone with an illness, disability or old age in 2021, 15% 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).
Above 90% of UK towns: 30% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 70–74: 8.7% of residents, 1.5 times the share across Wales’s towns. 10% of residents are aged 15 to 24, more than in 66% of UK towns. Typically, 21% of residents are 65 or over across Wales’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 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.
A higher share of full-time students than 76% of UK towns, at 5.6%
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%.
Managerial and professional jobs take in 32% of adults here, routine and semi-routine work 27% (Wales’s towns: 29% and 27%). Measured more widely, 8% of adults are full-time students across Wales’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year account for 7.6%.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
3.1% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home, a share 79% of UK towns don’t reach
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 average, 2.3 people share a household.
A higher share of households in detached houses than 84% of UK towns, at 44%
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
12% of households have no car or van, against 21% across Wales’s towns. For Pembrey, the census puts households in terraced houses at 14%. Across the comparison, nearly a quarter of households live in a detached house across Wales’s towns.
Only 3.6% of Pembrey’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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Compared with 96% across Wales’s towns, 99% of residents have English as their main language here. The largest groups were born in EU countries (2%) and in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.8%). On average, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns.
In Pembrey, 28% of residents can speak Welsh
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Some 579 people here aged 3 and over said in 2021 that they can speak Welsh, 28% of the total, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 81% of them. Top of Dyfed: Tumble, at 62%.
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 87% 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: 96% of Pembrey · Dyfed’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (2.5%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Indian (0.1%). Higher than in 63% of UK towns: 43% of residents said they have no religion. The share of residents who describe themselves as White British across Wales’s towns is 90%. With residents who describe themselves as Christian at 49%, Pembrey is behind 53% of UK towns on that count.
A higher share of unpaid carers than 99% of UK towns, at 15%
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
Some 109 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. At 30%, the share of adults who have never married is lower than in 68% of UK towns. Typically, one in ten residents give unpaid care across Wales’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 32% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across Wales’s towns, 20% of adults have no qualification; in Pembrey, 20%, while 32% hold one at degree level (31%).
The towns around Pembrey are all younger
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
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 Pembrey’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 Pembrey’s residents
What is the population of Pembrey?
The 2021 Census counted 2,094 people in Pembrey’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Pembrey?
The median age was 52.5 at the 2021 Census. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 30% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Pembrey?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Dyfed’s towns. 3.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Pembrey?
43% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 7.4% didn’t answer.
Is Pembrey good for families?
22% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Pembrey’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Pembrey?
579 residents aged 3 and over, 28%, 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.