Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0A Welsh-speaking town: 76% of Bethesda’s residents speak Welsh
39% of households live in a terraced house; across Wales’s towns the figure is 29%. Bethesda has more one-person households than 89% of UK towns, at 36%. At the 2021 Census Bethesda was home to 3,757 people in 1,651 households. The share of adults who have never married stands at 44%.
What the Census says about Bethesda’s people
A Welsh-speaking town
2,761 residents, 76% 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).
Half of Bethesda is under 39.8, younger than 81% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 45–49: 7.6% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Wales’s towns. The census found that 17% of residents are 65 or over in Bethesda. Higher than in 90% of UK towns: 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Bethesda, 39.8. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 6.1%, a higher share than 85% 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%.
Residents who moved in within the year: 7.2%, below 81% of UK towns. As a reference point, 8% of adults are full-time students across Wales’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Above 65% of UK towns: 29% of households have dependent children
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.
Households in Bethesda hold 2.3 people on average (Wales’s towns: 2.3). Against that, 27% of households have dependent children across Wales’s towns. The share of shared households of unrelated adults stands at 2.4%.
Households in detached houses make up 16% in Bethesda, less than in 83% 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
One in ten households live in a flat or apartment, against 14% across Wales’s towns. For Bethesda, the census puts households without a car or van at 20%. To put it in context, 24% of households live in a detached house across Wales’s towns.
Fewer residents born abroad than 81% of UK towns: 3.8%
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%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Where nearly a quarter of those born abroad across Wales’s towns arrived in 2017 or later, here the share is 17%. The share of residents born outside the UK across Wales’s towns is 7.4%. For Bethesda, the census puts residents whose main language is English at 99%.
Can speak Welsh: 76% of Bethesda’s residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
76% of residents aged 3 and over, 2,761 people, said in 2021 that they can speak Welsh, more than in 99% of Welsh towns (Welsh towns: 16%). No town in Gwynedd beats Caernarfon (82%).
A higher share of residents who describe themselves as White British than 81% of UK towns, at 95%
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 Bethesda · Gwynedd’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Here nearly half of residents said they have no religion, where the figure across Wales’s towns is 47%. Against that, nine in ten residents describe themselves as White British across Wales’s towns. Locally, 42% of residents describe themselves as Christian.
Bethesda sits below 95% of UK towns for married adults and civil partners (37%)
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
Students and young renters account for much of that. 126 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. Nothing unusual on unpaid carers: 9.3%, close to the figure across Wales’s towns.
A degree-level qualification for 35% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 35% of adults in Bethesda (Wales’s towns: 31%), and no qualification by 16% (Wales’s towns: 20%).
Among 530 UK towns of 3,000 to 5,000 people, the 60th youngest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Bailrigg is the youngest (18.9); Milford on Sea the oldest (64.6). Nearest to Bethesda in age: Silver End (39.7), Teynham (39.7), Holmfield (39.9) and Wesham (40).
Bethesda and its 7 nearest towns: 5 of them are older
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bethesda | 3,757 | — | 39.8 | 17% | 29% |
| Tregarth | 1,252 | 1.5 mi | 43.8 | 20% | 30% |
| Clwt-y-bont | 1,385 | 3.8 mi | 39 | 17% | 31% |
| Bangor | 16,994 | 4.4 mi | 26.4 | 12% | 26% |
| Llanberis | 1,838 | 5.1 mi | 44.5 | 20% | 25% |
| Menai Bridge | 3,045 | 5.7 mi | 47.3 | 24% | 20% |
| Llanrug | 1,537 | 5.9 mi | 41.2 | 22% | 34% |
| Beaumaris | 1,120 | 6.1 mi | 58.1 | 39% | 17% |
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 Bethesda’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 Bethesda’s residents
What is the population of Bethesda?
The 2021 Census counted 3,757 people in Bethesda’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Bethesda?
The median age was 39.8 at the 2021 Census, younger than 81% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 17% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Bethesda?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Gwynedd’s towns. 3.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Bethesda?
49% said they had no religion and 42% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.9% were Muslim and 6.3% didn’t answer.
Is Bethesda good for families?
29% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Bethesda’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Bethesda?
2,761 residents aged 3 and over, 76%, 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.