Photo: Meirion · CC BY-SA 2.0A Welsh-speaking village: 86% of Bethel’s residents speak Welsh
The share of shared households of unrelated adults is 0.7%, against 3.1% across Wales’s towns. 1,091 residents in 462 households: that is Bethel at the 2021 Census. Here, 0.4% of households live in a flat or apartment. On households without a car or van, Bethel sits lower than 81% of UK towns: 10%.
What the Census says about Bethel’s people
A Welsh-speaking village
910 residents, 86% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 99% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
Above 66% of UK towns: 24% of residents are 65 or over
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
10% of residents are aged 15 to 24 (Wales’s towns: 12%). Add to that, the median age in Bethel is 44.7, higher than in 51% of UK towns. For comparison, 21% of residents are 65 or over across Wales’s towns. The largest age band is 50–54: 7.8% of residents.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Residents who moved in within the year make up 3% in Bethel, less than in 99% of UK towns
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%.
In Bethel, 38% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 22% in routine and semi-routine work, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year make up 9.1% across Wales’s towns. Locally, 6.5% 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.
Bethel ranks above 85% of UK towns on households with dependent children: 32%
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.
The average household has 2.4 people, against 2.3 across Wales’s towns. Census figures put one-person households at 28% in Bethel. The wider picture: 27% of households have dependent children across Wales’s towns.
More detached houses than 74% of UK towns: 39% of households
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
Compared with 29% across Wales’s towns, just over a quarter of households live in a terraced house here. As a yardstick, nearly a quarter of households live in a detached house across Wales’s towns.
Below 99% of UK towns: 1% of 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 the Americas, Oceania and elsewhere (0.6%), then in the Middle East and Asia (0.2%). The benchmark for residents born outside the UK across Wales’s towns: 7.4%. The figure for residents whose main language is English is 100% in Bethel and 96% across Wales’s towns.
Bethel’s Welsh speakers make up 86% of residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Some 910 people here aged 3 and over said in 2021 that they can speak Welsh, 86% of the total, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 99% of them. No town in Gwynedd beats Caernarfon (82%).
99% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 99% 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: 99% of Bethel · Gwynedd’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
In Bethel, 54% of residents describe themselves as Christian, beside 43% across Wales’s towns. Residents with no religion account for 40%. For comparison, 90% of residents describe themselves as White British across Wales’s towns.
In Bethel, 36% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, more than in 71% 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
The share of married adults and civil partners is 47%, against 43% across Wales’s towns. 42 residents give 50 hours or more of unpaid care each week. Measured more widely, 38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership across Wales’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 39% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Bethel’s adults: 39% with a degree-level qualification and 14% with none, against 31% and 20% across Wales’s towns. 15% have A levels as their highest qualification, many of them still studying for a degree.
Around Bethel, 2 of 7 towns have a higher median age
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethel | 1,091 | — | 44.7 | 24% | 32% |
| Y Felinheli | 2,333 | 1.2 mi | 42.9 | 21% | 25% |
| Llanrug | 1,537 | 1.5 mi | 41.2 | 22% | 34% |
| Caernarfon | 9,831 | 3.1 mi | 39.6 | 19% | 28% |
| Clwt-y-bont | 1,385 | 3.4 mi | 39 | 17% | 31% |
| Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll | 2,905 | 4.1 mi | 52 | 33% | 22% |
| Llanberis | 1,838 | 4.6 mi | 44.5 | 20% | 25% |
| Menai Bridge | 3,045 | 4.6 mi | 47.3 | 24% | 20% |
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 Bethel’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 Bethel’s residents
What is the population of Bethel?
The 2021 Census counted 1,091 people in Bethel’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Bethel?
The median age was 44.7 at the 2021 Census. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 24% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bethel?
99% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Gwynedd’s towns. 1% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bethel?
40% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 5.8% didn’t answer.
Is Bethel good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Bethel’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Bethel?
910 residents aged 3 and over, 86%, 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.