Photo: Eirian Evans · CC BY-SA 2.0A Welsh-speaking town: 61% of Dolgellau’s residents speak Welsh
A household here has 2.1 people on average; across Wales’s towns, 2.3. Few places have as many one-person households: 38% here, more than in 96% of UK towns. There were 1,234 households in Dolgellau at the 2021 Census, home to 2,599 residents. Across Dolgellau, 42% of adults are married or in a civil partnership.
What the Census says about Dolgellau’s people
A Welsh-speaking town
1,541 residents, 61% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 95% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
Older than most towns
Half of Dolgellau’s residents are under 50.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 26% are 65 or over, against 21% across Wales’s towns. Ages ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Dolgellau at 2,700 in 2011 and 2,700 in 2024, down 0%, against 4% for Wales: slower growth than in 85% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
A ±0% change since 2011: slower than 85% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Dolgellau’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 2,700 people in 2011; 2,700 in 2024.
The 65 and over age group changed most (+9%) and the 0 to 15 least (−9%).
Half of Dolgellau is over 50.3, older than 86% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
No age band is larger than 60–64: 9.4% of residents, 1.5 times the share across Wales’s towns. Census figures put residents aged 65 and over at 26% in Dolgellau.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Dolgellau, 50.3. The typical town is 44.4.
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. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
4.6% of adults are full-time students, below 58% 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%.
Managerial and professional jobs account for 27% of Dolgellau’s adults, routine and semi-routine work for 30%, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. In Dolgellau, 8.6% of residents lived at another address a year earlier. Across Wales’s towns, full-time students come to 8%.
Only 21% of households have dependent children in Dolgellau
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.
At 2.8%, shared households of unrelated adults sit close to the figure across Wales’s towns. Elsewhere, 27% of households have dependent children across Wales’s towns.
More households in flats than 73% of UK towns: 16%
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
Households without a car or van make up 21%, close to the figure across Wales’s towns. The share of households in terraced houses stands at 28%. As a reference point, 14% of households live in a flat or apartment across Wales’s towns.
Fewer residents born outside the UK than 79% of UK towns: 3.9%
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
The figure for residents whose main language is English is 99% in Dolgellau and 96% across Wales’s towns. Measured more widely, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. Residents born abroad were most often born in EU countries (1.8%), then in the Middle East and Asia (1%).
Welsh speakers make up 61% of Dolgellau
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Welsh speakers number 1,541, or 61% of residents aged 3 and over, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 95% of them. Top of Gwynedd: Caernarfon, at 82%.
Above 87% of UK towns: 96% of residents describe themselves as White British
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 Dolgellau · Gwynedd’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
In Dolgellau, just over two in five residents said they have no religion, beside 47% across Wales’s towns. For residents who describe themselves as White British, the comparison across Wales’s towns is 90%. The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (2.5%), Mixed or multiple (0.7%) and Indian (0.2%).
38% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership, a share 83% of UK towns don’t reach
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
For 84 residents, unpaid care runs to 50 hours or more a week. Little separates the share of unpaid carers here, 9.7%, from the figure across Wales’s towns.
Degree level: the highest qualification of 33% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
17% of Dolgellau’s adults have no qualification (20% across Wales’s towns), and 33% have one at degree level (31%).
Ranked by age, 121st oldest of 514 UK towns this size
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Ages run from 20.6 in Keele to 63.1 in West Chiltington. Nearest to Dolgellau in age: Caddington (50.3), Laleham (50.3), Scotter (50.4) and Martham (50.4).
The towns around Dolgellau are all younger
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dolgellau | 2,599 | — | 50.3 | 26% | 21% |
| Barmouth | 1,986 | 7.4 mi | 47 | 25% | 23% |
| Machynlleth | 2,161 | 10.5 mi | 48.4 | 26% | 23% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “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 Dolgellau’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Dolgellau’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 2,599 people in 2021, against 2,599 in the built-up area.
- 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 Dolgellau’s residents
What is the population of Dolgellau?
The 2021 Census counted 2,599 people in Dolgellau’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 2,700 people in mid-2024, about as many as in 2011.
What is the average age in Dolgellau?
The median age was 50.3 at the 2021 Census, older than 86% of UK towns. 9.5% of residents were 15 to 24 and 26% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Dolgellau?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Gwynedd’s towns. 3.9% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Dolgellau?
42% said they had no religion and 49% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.2% were Muslim and 7.6% didn’t answer.
Is Dolgellau good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Dolgellau’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Dolgellau?
1,541 residents aged 3 and over, 61%, 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) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. 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.