Photo: Malc McDonald · CC BY-SA 2.0A Welsh-speaking village: 42% of Barmouth’s residents speak Welsh
A household here has 2.1 people on average; across Wales’s towns, 2.3. 41% of households are one person living alone, more than in 99% of UK towns. There were 945 households in Barmouth at the 2021 Census, home to 1,986 residents. The share of residents aged 65 and over stands at 25%.
What the Census says about Barmouth’s people
A Welsh-speaking village
816 residents, 42% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 88% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
A village of flats
38% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 98% of UK towns. 30% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Older than 69% of UK towns: half of Barmouth is over 47
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 60–64: 7.7% of residents. The figure for residents aged 15 to 24 is 9.7% in Barmouth and 12% across Wales’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
More full-time students than 84% of UK towns: 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%.
By class, nearly a quarter of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 31% in routine and semi-routine work (Wales’s towns: 29% and 27%). As a yardstick, 8% of adults are full-time students across Wales’s towns. In Barmouth, 8.9% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
23% of households have dependent children, below 86% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Gwynedd’s towns and Wales’s towns
People per household
Wales’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 3%, near enough the figure across Wales’s towns. The benchmark for households with dependent children across Wales’s towns: 27%.
38% of households live in a flat or apartment, a share 98% of UK towns don’t reach
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
Across Wales’s towns, just over a fifth of households have no car or van; in Barmouth, 30%. More households in terraced houses than in 69% of UK towns: 25%. By way of comparison, 14% of households live in a flat or apartment across Wales’s towns. On the census count, 17% of households live in a detached house.
Only 4.6% of Barmouth’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
Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (2%), then in the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (1%). The comparison figure for residents born outside the UK is 7.4% across Wales’s towns. 98% of residents have English as their main language, against 96% across Wales’s towns.
42% of people in Barmouth speak Welsh
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
42% of residents aged 3 and over, 816 people, said in 2021 that they can speak Welsh, more than in 88% of Welsh towns (Welsh towns: 16%). Top of Gwynedd: Caernarfon, at 82%.
A higher share of residents with no religion than 89% of UK towns, at 48%
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: 93% of Barmouth · Gwynedd’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Little separates the share of residents who describe themselves as Christian here, 43%, from the figure across Wales’s towns. 93% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 62% of UK towns. Residents with no religion make up 47% across Wales’s towns. Next after White British come Other White (3%), Mixed or multiple (2.4%) and Indian (0.4%).
Barmouth ranks below 89% of UK towns on married adults and civil partners: 41%
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
Heavy unpaid care, 50 hours a week or more, falls to 62 residents. 37% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 78% of UK towns. Across Wales’s towns, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership. Barmouth sits close to the norm on unpaid carers: 9.6%, about the same as across Wales’s towns.
24% of adults have qualifications at degree level
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
With 24% of its adults qualified to degree level, Barmouth compares with 31% across Wales’s towns; another 19% hold no qualification (20%).
No nearby town is as young as Barmouth
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.
- “Gwynedd’s towns” and “Wales’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Gwynedd (or Wales), summed the same way as Barmouth’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 Barmouth’s residents
What is the population of Barmouth?
The 2021 Census counted 1,986 people in Barmouth’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Barmouth?
The median age was 47 at the 2021 Census. 9.7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 25% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Barmouth?
93% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Gwynedd’s towns. 4.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Barmouth?
48% said they had no religion and 43% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.5% were Muslim and 7.7% didn’t answer.
Is Barmouth good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Barmouth’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Barmouth?
816 residents aged 3 and over, 42%, 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.